Download the CockroachDB Binary

Perform on each node.

wget https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/cockroach-latest.linux-amd64.tgz
tar xvzf cockroach-latest.linux-amd64.tgz
mv cockroach-latest.linux-amd64/cockroach /usr/bin/
chmod +x /usr/bin/cockroach

Create cockroach user and directories

Perform on each node.

groupadd cockroach
useradd -r cockroach -g cockroach
su - cockroach
cd /home/cockroach
mkdir -p certs my-safe-directory cockroach_db

Check ntp status

Check NTP is running and configured correctly. CockroachDB replies on syncronised clocks to function correctly.

service ntpd.service status

Secure the Cluster

Perform on each node.

Copy all keysgenerate on the first host to the others but regenerate the node certificates (This means the command with create-node). For further details see Secure a Cluster.

cockroach cert create-ca --certs-dir=certs --ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key # These keys, in both dirs, need to be copied to each host
ls -l certs
cockroach cert create-node localhost $(hostname) --certs-dir=certs --ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key
ls -l certs
cockroach cert create-client root --certs-dir=certs --ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key --overwrite
ls -l certs

Start the nodes

node1

su - cockroach
cockroach start --background --host=node1 --http-host=node1 --port=26257 --http-port=8080 --store=/home/cockroach/cockroach_db --certs-dir=/home/cockroach/certs;

node2

su - cockroach
cockroach start --background --host=node2 --http-host=node2 --port=26257 --http-port=8080 --store=/home/cockroach --join=node1:26257 --certs-dir=/home/cockroach/certs

node3

su - cockroach
cockroach start --background --host=node3 --http-host=node3 --port=26257 --http-port=8080 --store=/home/cockroach --join=node1.ucid.local:26257 --certs-dir=/home/cockroach/certs

Check the status of the cluster

sudo su - cockroach
cockroach node ls --certs-dir=certs --host node1
cockroach node status --certs-dir=certs --host node1

Create a cron to start CockroachDB on boot

Create the file /etc/cron.d/cockroach_start with the below cron command for each node…

node1

@reboot cockroach cockroach start --background --host=node1 --http-host=node1 --port=26257 --http-port=8080 --store=/home/cockroach/cockroach_db --join="node2:26257,node3:26257" --certs-dir=/home/cockroach/certs;

node2

@reboot cockroach cockroach start --background --host=node2 --http-host=node2 --port=26257 --http-port=8080 --store=/home/cockroach --join="node1:26257,node3:26257" --certs-dir=/home/cockroach/certs;

node3

@reboot cockroach cockroach start --background --host=node3 --http-host=node3 --port=26257 --http-port=8080 --store=/home/cockroach --join="node1:26257,node2:26257" --certs-dir=/home/cockroach/certs;

Reboot the nodes to ensure the CockroachDB comes up and all join the cluster successfully.