Quick install

Quickly install ClickHouse using the CLI or curl

If you don’t need to install ClickHouse for production, the quickest way to get set up is using the ClickHouse CLI or running an install script using curl.

ClickHouse CLI

The ClickHouse CLI (clickhousectl) helps you install and manage local ClickHouse versions, launch servers, and run queries.

1. Install the ClickHouse CLI

   curl https://clickhouse.com/cli | sh
   

   A chctl alias is also created automatically for convenience.

2. Install ClickHouse

   clickhousectl local install stable
   
3. Start clickhouse-server

   clickhousectl local server start
   

   The server runs in the background. To verify it’s running:

   clickhousectl local server list
   
4. Start clickhouse-client

   clickhousectl local client
   

   You will see something like this:

   ClickHouse client version 24.5.1.117 (official build).
   Connecting to localhost:9000 as user default.
   Connected to ClickHouse server version 24.5.1.
   
   local-host :)
   

   You’re now ready to start sending SQL commands to ClickHouse!

   The Quick Start walks you through the steps for creating tables and inserting data.

Curl script

Install ClickHouse via script using curl

If you don’t need to install ClickHouse for production, you can run an install script using curl. The script will determine a suitable binary for your OS.

1. Install ClickHouse using curl

   Run the following comand to download a single binary for your operating system.

   curl https://clickhouse.com/ | sh
   

   For Mac users: If you’re getting errors that the developer of the binary can’t be verified, please see here.

2. Start clickhouse-local

   clickhouse-local allows you to process local and remote files using ClickHouse’s powerful SQL syntax and without the need for configuration. Table data is stored in a temporary location, meaning that after a restart of clickhouse-local previously created tables are no longer available.

   Run the following command to start clickhouse-local:

   ./clickhouse
   
3. Start clickhouse-server

   Should you wish to persist data, you’ll want to run clickhouse-server. You can start the ClickHouse server using the following command:

   ./clickhouse server
   
4. Start clickhouse-client

   With the server up and running, open a new terminal window and run the following command to launch clickhouse-client:

   ./clickhouse client
   

   You will see something like this:

   ./clickhouse client
   ClickHouse client version 24.5.1.117 (official build).
   Connecting to localhost:9000 as user default.
   Connected to ClickHouse server version 24.5.1.
   
   local-host :)
   

   Table data is stored in the current directory and will still be available after a restart of the ClickHouse server. If necessary, you can pass -C config.xml as an additional command line argument to ./clickhouse server and provide further configuration in a configuration file. All available configuration settings are documented here and in the example configuration file template.

   You’re now ready to start sending SQL commands to ClickHouse!

   The Quick Start walks you through the steps for creating tables and inserting data.