---
layout: default
navsection: installguide
title: Install the API server
...
{% comment %}
Copyright (C) The Arvados Authors. All rights reserved.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-3.0
{% endcomment %}

h2. Install prerequisites

The Arvados package repository includes an API server package that can help automate much of the deployment.

h3(#install_ruby_and_bundler). Install Ruby and Bundler

{% include 'install_ruby_and_bundler' %}

h2(#install_apiserver). Install API server and dependencies

On a Debian-based system, install the following packages:

<notextile>
<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">sudo apt-get install bison build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev git arvados-api-server</span>
</code></pre>
</notextile>

On a Red Hat-based system, install the following packages:

<notextile>
<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">sudo yum install bison make automake gcc gcc-c++ libcurl-devel git arvados-api-server</span>
</code></pre>
</notextile>

{% include 'install_git' %}

h2(#configure_application). Configure the API server

Edit @/etc/arvados/config.yml@ to set the keys below.  Only the most important configuration options are listed here.  The example configuration fragments given below should be merged into a single configuration structure.  Correct indentation is important.  The full set of configuration options are listed in "config.yml":{{site.baseurl}}/admin/config.html

h3(#uuid_prefix). ClusterID

The @ClusterID@ is used for all database identifiers to identify the record as originating from this site.  It is the first key under @Clusters@ in @config.yml@.  It must be exactly 5 lowercase ASCII letters and digits.  All configuration items go under the cluster id key (replace @zzzzz@ with your cluster id in the examples below).

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  <span class="userinput">zzzzz</span>:
    ...</code></pre>
</notextile>

h3(#configure). PostgreSQL.Connection

Replace the @xxxxxxxx@ database password placeholder with the "password you generated during database setup":install-postgresql.html#api.

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    PostgreSQL:
      Connection:
        host: <span class="userinput">localhost</span>
        user: <span class="userinput">arvados</span>
        password: <span class="userinput">xxxxxxxx</span>
        dbname: <span class="userinput">arvados_production</span>
      </code></pre>
</notextile>

h3. API.RailsSessionSecretToken

The @API.RailsSessionSecretToken@ is used for for signing cookies.  IMPORTANT: This is a site secret. It should be at least 50 characters.  Generate a random value and set it in @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">ruby -e 'puts rand(2**400).to_s(36)'</span>
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
</code></pre></notextile>

Example @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    API:
      RailsSessionSecretToken: <span class="userinput">yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h3(#blob_signing_key). Collections.BlobSigningKey

The @Collections.BlobSigningKey@ is used to enforce access control to Keep blocks.  This same key must be provided to the Keepstore daemons when "installing Keepstore servers.":install-keepstore.html  IMPORTANT: This is a site secret. It should be at least 50 characters.  Generate a random value and set it in @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">ruby -e 'puts rand(2**400).to_s(36)'</span>
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
</code></pre></notextile>

Example @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    Collections:
      BlobSigningKey: <span class="userinput">xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h3(#omniauth). Login.ProviderAppID, Login.ProviderAppSecret, Services.SSO.ExternalURL

The following settings enable the API server to communicate with the "Single Sign On (SSO) server":install-sso.html to authenticate user log in.

Set @Services.SSO.ExternalURL@ to the base URL where your SSO server is installed.  This should be a URL consisting of the scheme and host (and optionally, port), without a trailing slash.

Set @Login.ProviderAppID@ and @Login.ProviderAppSecret@ to the corresponding values for @app_id@ and @app_secret@ used in the "Create arvados-server client for Single Sign On (SSO)":install-sso.html#client step.

Example @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    Services:
      SSO:
        ExternalURL: <span class="userinput">https://sso.example.com</span>
    Login:
      ProviderAppID: <span class="userinput">arvados-server</span>
      ProviderAppSecret: <span class="userinput">wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h3. Services.Workbench1.ExternalURL

Set @Services.Workbench1.ExternalURL@ to the URL of your workbench application after following "Install Workbench.":install-workbench-app.html

Example @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    Services:
      Workbench1:
        ExternalURL: <span class="userinput">https://workbench.zzzzz.example.com</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h3. Services.Websocket.ExternalURL

Set @Services.Websocket.ExternalURL@ to the @wss://@ URL of the API server websocket endpoint after following "Install the websocket server":install-ws.html .

Example @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    Services:
      Websocket:
        ExternalURL: <span class="userinput">wss://ws.zzzzz.example.com</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h3(#git_repositories_dir). Git.Repositories

The @Git.Repositories@ setting specifies the directory where user git repositories will be stored.

The git server setup process is covered on "its own page":install-arv-git-httpd.html. For now, create an empty directory in the default location:

<notextile>
<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/arvados/git/repositories</span>
</code></pre></notextile>

If you intend to store your git repositories in a different location, specify that location in @config.yml@.  Example:

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    Git:
      Repositories: <span class="userinput">/var/lib/arvados/git/repositories</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h3(#enable_legacy_jobs_api). Containers.JobsAPI.Enable

Enable the legacy "Jobs API":install-crunch-dispatch.html .  Note: new installations should use the "Containers API":crunch2-slurm/install-prerequisites.html

Disabling the jobs API means methods involving @jobs@, @job_tasks@, @pipeline_templates@ and @pipeline_instances@ are disabled.  This functionality is superceded by the containers API which consists of @container_requests@, @containers@ and @workflows@.  Arvados clients (such as @arvados-cwl-runner@) detect which APIs are available and adjust behavior accordingly.  Note the configuration value must be a quoted string.

* 'auto' -- (default) enable the Jobs API only if it has been used before (i.e., there are job records in the database), otherwise disable jobs API .
* 'true' -- enable the Jobs API even if there are no existing job records.
* 'false' -- disable the Jobs API even in the presence of existing job records.

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    Containers:
      JobsAPI:
        Enable: <span class="userinput">'auto'</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h4(#git_internal_dir). Containers.JobsAPI.GitInternalDir

Only required if the legacy "Jobs API" is enabled, otherwise you should skip this.

The @Containers.JobsAPI.GitInternalDir@ setting specifies the location of Arvados' internal git repository.  By default this is @/var/lib/arvados/internal.git@.  This repository stores git commits that have been used to run Crunch jobs.  It should _not_ be a subdirectory of the directory in @Git.Repositories@.

Example @config.yml@:

<notextile>
<pre><code>Clusters:
  zzzzz:
    Containers:
      JobsAPI:
        GitInternalDir: <span class="userinput">/var/lib/arvados/internal.git</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h2(#set_up). Set up Nginx and Passenger

The Nginx server will serve API requests using Passenger. It will also be used to proxy SSL requests to other services which are covered later in this guide.

First, "Install Nginx and Phusion Passenger":https://www.phusionpassenger.com/library/walkthroughs/deploy/ruby/ownserver/nginx/oss/install_passenger_main.html.

Edit the http section of your Nginx configuration to run the Passenger server. Add a block like the following, adding SSL and logging parameters to taste:

<notextile>
<pre><code>
server {
  listen 127.0.0.1:8000;
  server_name localhost-api;

  root /var/www/arvados-api/current/public;
  index  index.html index.htm index.php;

  passenger_enabled on;
  # If you're using RVM, uncomment the line below.
  #passenger_ruby /usr/local/rvm/wrappers/default/ruby;

  # This value effectively limits the size of API objects users can
  # create, especially collections.  If you change this, you should
  # also ensure the following settings match it:
  # * `client_max_body_size` in the server section below
  # * `client_max_body_size` in the Workbench Nginx configuration (twice)
  # * `API.MaxRequestSize` in config.yml
  client_max_body_size 128m;
}

upstream api {
  server     127.0.0.1:8000  fail_timeout=10s;
}

proxy_http_version 1.1;

# When Keep clients request a list of Keep services from the API server, the
# server will automatically return the list of available proxies if
# the request headers include X-External-Client: 1.  Following the example
# here, at the end of this section, add a line for each netmask that has
# direct access to Keep storage daemons to set this header value to 0.
geo $external_client {
  default        1;
  <span class="userinput">10.20.30.0/24</span>  0;
}
</code></pre>
</notextile>

Restart Nginx to apply the new configuration.

<notextile>
<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">sudo nginx -s reload</span>
</code></pre>
</notextile>

h2. Prepare the API server deployment

{% assign railspkg = "arvados-api-server" %}
{% include 'install_rails_reconfigure' %}

{% include 'notebox_begin' %}
You can safely ignore the following messages if they appear while this command runs:

<notextile><pre>Don't run Bundler as root. Bundler can ask for sudo if it is needed, and installing your bundle as root will
break this application for all non-root users on this machine.</pre></notextile>

<notextile><pre>fatal: Not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git</pre></notextile>
{% include 'notebox_end' %}