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Run Exasol locally

Local deployments run on supported macOS, Linux, and Windows computers.

  • On macOS, the launcher manages a virtual machine containing Podman and the database. An Apple Silicon Mac with at least 8 GB of memory is required.
  • On Linux, the database runs directly in Podman on the host. Install Podman and make sure it is available in PATH.
  • On Windows, the database runs through Podman's default machine. Windows Package Manager (winget) and the prerequisites for a Podman machine are required.

After installing the launcher, run:

exasol install local

The launcher starts a single-node Exasol database. Run exasol info at any time to display connection information.

The launcher selects and saves a database port during initialization, preferring 8563, and keeps it stable across restarts. To choose one explicitly, run exasol install local --ports db:9563. To change the port later, stop the deployment first, update the configuration, and restart it:

exasol stop
exasol config set --ports db:9563  # or: exasol config set --ports auto
exasol start

If another process claims the saved port while the deployment is stopped, startup reports the conflict and shows the same explicit and automatic replacement commands.

On macOS, the managed virtual machine uses about half of the detected host memory by default. An explicitly configured memory value must be at least 4096 MB. Linux and Windows use host-managed resources, so the virtual-machine sizing options do not apply. The initial local database credentials are sys / exasol.

Windows host preparation

If Podman is missing, the launcher can offer to install it. It also creates or starts Podman's default machine when necessary, without changing the configuration of an existing machine. Because installing Podman changes shared host state, the launcher displays the exact command and asks for approval.

Use --auto-approve for unattended preparation. A command that cannot prompt refuses this host change unless the option is present, unlike other confirmations, which an unattended run approves automatically. Stopping or destroying an Exasol deployment leaves the shared Podman machine running.

Next steps

If the local deployment does not behave as expected, see Troubleshooting.