Install the Mini DBA Engine container on Linux

Use this page when you want to install the Mini DBA Engine container on a Linux VM close to the database servers it monitors. The Engine collects monitoring data, stores its own configuration and history, validates its licence, and exposes the private Engine endpoint used by Mini DBA Console.

The supported Linux release is the versioned Docker Compose bundle. Do not use a native Linux package or run the Engine executable directly on the host.

What you need before installing

• A 64-bit Linux VM or physical host with Docker Engine and Docker Compose v2. Confirm that the command is docker compose, not the retired docker-compose command.
• A private, stable network path from the Engine host to every database server that it will monitor.
• A persistent data drive or durable mounted filesystem. Do not keep production Engine data only in the container writable layer.
• For a split deployment, a private IPv4 address on the Engine VM and a firewall rule that permits TCP 8734 only from the Console VM or its approved private subnet.
• Permission to run Docker commands. Either use an administrator account with sudo, or use a user that has been deliberately added to the Docker group according to your organisation's security policy.

The Engine data drive must stay mounted across reboots. Its size must accommodate the number of monitored servers and the monitoring-history retention you choose; do not use a disposable OS temporary disk. Keep operational headroom and monitor free space. The bundle verifies the selected mount with findmnt and displays its free space during installation.

Download the supported bundle

1. Open Linux container installation.
2. Select Download Linux Containers, complete the download form, and save the ZIP file.
3. Download the accompanying SHA-256 checksum from the same page.
4. Copy both files to the Engine VM using your approved file-transfer method.
5. Verify the ZIP before extracting it.

Run each command in order. Replace the example file paths with the location where you saved the download.

cd ~/Downloads
sha256sum minidba-linux-container-2026.1.zip
cat minidba-linux-container-2026.1.zip.sha256
mkdir -p ~/minidba-linux-container
unzip minidba-linux-container-2026.1.zip -d ~/minidba-linux-container
cd ~/minidba-linux-container/split-vm/engine

The hash printed by sha256sum must match the value in the .sha256 file. Do not continue if it does not match.

Prepare the persistent Engine data drive

Mount the selected data drive before creating the directory. For example, if your operations team has mounted a durable disk at /data, prepare an Engine data directory as follows:

findmnt /data
df -h /data
sudo install -d -m 0750 /data/minidba-engine

findmnt /data must show the intended data filesystem, not an empty directory on the OS disk. Add the disk to /etc/fstab or use your cloud platform's persistent mounting mechanism before installation. Do not run the installer while the expected drive is absent: it could create a new ordinary directory at the mount point and place operational state on the OS disk.

The installer assigns the bind-mounted files to the non-root appuser used inside the container. Do not manually guess a host user or numeric UID. If you create the directory with sudo, the installer performs the required ownership setup using the exact released image.

Install the Engine

Choose the Engine VM's RFC 1918 private IPv4 address. This is the address the Console will use, not a public internet address. Then run:

cd ~/minidba-linux-container/split-vm/engine
bash install.sh 10.0.1.10 /data/minidba-engine

The command checks Docker and Compose availability, writes the component .env file, pulls the released Engine image, prepares data-directory ownership, and starts the container. It publishes the Engine only on the supplied private IP at TCP 8734.

Confirm the result:

docker compose ps
docker compose logs --tail 100 engine
ss -ltn | grep 8734

The endpoint to enter later in Console Settings is:

net.tcp://10.0.1.10:8734/MiniDBAService/tcp

Replace 10.0.1.10 with the real private address or private DNS name. Do not expose TCP 8734 to the public internet.

Engine files you must preserve

The host directory passed to the installer is mounted in the container as /var/lib/minidba-engine. It is the Engine application-data directory, not an image or install directory. Back up the complete directory before an upgrade or host rebuild.

Important Engine files and folders include:

• Logs/ - monitoring history and Engine log data.
• conf.xml - Engine configuration.
• alerts.db and trig.db - alert state and alert configuration.
• license.xml - validated Engine licence state.
• activation.key - optional one-time activation bootstrap, consumed after a successful activation.
• ConnectivityLogs/ and Index Jobs/ - operational diagnostics and work data when present.

Use the Console for routine configuration. Do not edit database, licence, or configuration files directly while the Engine is running unless Mini DBA support has given you a specific recovery procedure.

Day-to-day commands

Run these commands from split-vm/engine:

docker compose ps
docker compose logs -f engine
docker compose restart engine
docker compose stop engine
docker compose up -d engine
docker compose pull engine
docker compose up -d engine

Stopping or replacing the container does not delete /data/minidba-engine. Do not use docker compose down -v as an upgrade procedure. Back up the data directory, update the versioned image reference in .env only when you are ready to upgrade, pull the image, and start the Engine again.

Next steps

Install the Mini DBA Console container, allow its private address through the Engine firewall on TCP 8734, then add this Engine endpoint in Console Settings. After the Engine is connected, activate licensing and add database servers using the platform-specific connection guides.