Installations from Binaries

ArcadeDB is released for Java 21 or later. A Java 17 backport is built from the separate java17 branch, usually some time after the main release. On Java 25 or later, bin/server.sh also turns on compact object headers (-XX:+UseCompactObjectHeaders), which shrinks every object header; set ARCADEDB_OPTS_HEADERS to an empty value to opt out.

Packages are available through the GitHub releases page or Maven Central. The GitHub releases page also carries the experimental native executables, which need no Java at all: see how-to/operations/native-image.adoc#native-image.

Java 17 packages, with a -java17 version suffix, are available through the GitHub packages page.

Download the package suitable for your platform and follow the instructions below.

  1. Unpack tar -xzf arcadedb-26.10.2.tar.gz

    • Change into directory: cd arcadedb-26.10.2

  2. Launch server

    • Linux / MacOS: bin/server.sh

    • Windows: bin\server.bat

  3. Exit server via CTRL+C

  4. Interact with server

  5. Exit server via CTRL+C

Binaries

Linux / Mac Windows

Server

bin/server.sh

bin\server.bat

Console

bin/console.sh

bin\console.bat

macOS via Homebrew

ArcadeDB is available as an official Homebrew formula. Install it with:

brew install arcadedb

After installation the following commands are available on your PATH:

arcadedb-server
arcadedb-console

Use these instead of bin/server.sh and bin/console.sh mentioned above.

On the first launch, set the root password by passing it on the command line:

arcadedb-server -Darcadedb.server.rootPassword=<your-password>

Replace <your-password> with a strong password. The server stores the (hashed) credential under its configuration directory, so subsequent launches can be started with arcadedb-server alone.

To upgrade to the latest release:

brew update
brew upgrade arcadedb

Manual installation on macOS

If you prefer not to use Homebrew:

  1. Download the latest release from https://github.com/ArcadeData/arcadedb/releases

  2. Extract the archive to your preferred location (e.g., /usr/local/arcadedb)

  3. Add the bin directory to your PATH:

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/arcadedb/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Windows via Scoop

Instead of using manual install you can use Scoop installer, instructions are available on their project website.

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install arcadedb

This downloads and installs ArcadeDB on your box and makes following two commands available:

arcadedb-console
arcadedb-server

You should use these instead of bin\console.bat and bin\server.bat mentioned above.

Custom Package Builder

The ArcadeDB Modular Distribution Builder (arcadedb-builder.sh) allows you to create custom ArcadeDB packages containing only the modules you need. This results in smaller distributions, reduced dependencies, and simplified deployments.

Prerequisites

The builder requires the following tools:

  • curl or wget - for downloading files

  • tar - for extracting and creating archives

  • unzip and zip - for creating zip archives

  • sha256sum or shasum - for checksum verification

  • docker (optional) - for Docker image generation

Quick Start

Run directly with curl (one-liner):

curl -fsSL https://github.com/ArcadeData/arcadedb/releases/download/26.10.2/arcadedb-builder.sh | bash -s -- --version=26.10.2 --modules=gremlin,studio

Download and run interactively:

curl -fsSLO https://github.com/ArcadeData/arcadedb/releases/download/26.10.2/arcadedb-builder.sh
chmod +x arcadedb-builder.sh
./arcadedb-builder.sh

Preview without building (dry run):

./arcadedb-builder.sh --version=26.10.2 --modules=gremlin,studio --dry-run

Available Modules

Core Modules (always included)

  • engine - Database engine

  • server - HTTP/REST API, clustering

  • network - Network communication

Optional Modules

Module Description

console

Interactive database console

studio

Web-based administration interface

gremlin

Apache Tinkerpop Gremlin support

postgresw

PostgreSQL wire protocol compatibility

mongodbw

MongoDB wire protocol compatibility

redisw

Redis wire protocol compatibility

grpcw

gRPC wire protocol support

graphql

GraphQL API support

metrics

Prometheus metrics integration

mcp

Model Context Protocol server for LLM clients. See MCP Server.

Omitting mcp produces a distribution that registers no /api/v1/mcp endpoint at all.

Usage Examples

Minimal build (PostgreSQL protocol only):

./arcadedb-builder.sh --version={revnumber} --modules=postgresw

Development build:

./arcadedb-builder.sh \
  --version=26.10.2 \
  --modules=console,gremlin,studio \
  --output-name=arcadedb-dev

Production build (no Studio):

./arcadedb-builder.sh \
  --version=26.10.2 \
  --modules=postgresw,metrics \
  --output-name=arcadedb-prod

CI/CD build:

./arcadedb-builder.sh \
  --version=26.10.2 \
  --modules=gremlin,studio \
  --quiet \
  --skip-docker \
  --output-dir=/tmp/builds

Command-Line Options

Option Description

--version=VERSION

ArcadeDB version to build (required for non-interactive mode)

--modules=MODULES

Comma-separated list of modules

--output-name=NAME

Custom name for distribution

--output-dir=DIR

Output directory (default: current directory)

--local-repo[=PATH]

Use local Maven repository or custom JAR directory

--local-base=FILE

Use local base distribution file

--docker-tag=TAG

Build Docker image with specified tag

--skip-docker

Skip Docker image build

--dockerfile-only

Only generate Dockerfile, don’t build image

--dry-run

Show what would be done without executing

-v, --verbose

Enable verbose output

-q, --quiet

Suppress non-error output

-h, --help

Show help message

Output Files

The builder creates:

  • {output-name}.zip - Zip archive

  • {output-name}.tar.gz - Compressed tarball

  • Docker image with tag {docker-tag} (if not skipped)

For more detailed documentation, see the Builder README and Modular Builder Guide.