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Installing OpenBao

There are several options to install OpenBao:

  1. Install from a Package Manager.

  2. Use a precompiled binary.

  3. Install from source.

  4. Helm for Kubernetes

Package manager​

info

OpenBao does not yet have a package repository. For now you need to download and install packages manually.

OpenBao manages packages for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, RHEL, Amazon Linux, and other distributions. Download the appropriate package for your operating system and architecture.

Precompiled binaries​

To install the precompiled binary, download the applicable package for your system. OpenBao is packaged as a zip file.

Once the zip is downloaded, unzip the file into your designated directory. The bao binary inside is all that is necessary to run OpenBao (or bao.exe for Windows). No additional files are required to run OpenBao.

Copy the binary to your system. If you intend to access it from the command-line, ensure that you place the binary somewhere on your PATH.

Refer to the [OpenBao Tutorials][learn-vault-dev-server] to start a server, put your first secret, and use other features of OpenBao.

Compiling from source​

To compile from source, you will need Go installed and properly configured (including a GOPATH environment variable set), as well as a copy of git in your PATH.

Clone the OpenBao repository from GitHub into your GOPATH:

$ mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/openbao && cd $_
$ git clone https://github.com/openbao/openbao.git
$ cd openbao

Bootstrap the project. This will download and compile libraries and tools needed to compile OpenBao:

$ make bootstrap

Build OpenBao for your current system and put the binary in ./bin/ (relative to the git checkout). The make dev target is just a shortcut that builds bao for only your local build environment (no cross-compiled targets).

$ make dev

Verifying the installation​

To verify OpenBao is installed, run bao -h on your system. You should see the help output. If you are executing it from the command line, ensure it is on your PATH to avoid receiving an error that OpenBao is not found.

$ bao -h