Install NATS on Debian/Ubuntu

Introduction

This tutorial teaches you how to install a NATS server directly on Debian-based linux (not via Docker).

Overview

The installation consists of multiple steps each of which will be explained in detail. Those steps are as follows:

1. Create a user with name nats who belongs to the group nats.


2. Download the latest NATS release build.


3. Unzip the folder and copy it to /usr/bin.


4. Add NATS to systemd.


5. Run the NATS server and confirm it is working.


6. Enable it, so it can run at startup.

Step 1: Create the user nats

In order to add a user, we will use the useradd command, like so.

sudo useradd -s /bin/bash -d /home/nats/ -m -G sudo nats

To add a password for the user (not really needed, just a standard practice):

sudo passwd nats

Step 2: Download NATS

As per the documentation, one can download NATS by using the following shell command.

curl -sf https://binaries.nats.dev/nats-io/nats-server/[email protected] | sh

Note that you may want to change the version of NATS if there are newer releases.

Step 3: Add NATS to /usr/bin

This step is straightforward. First, open the file explorer and unzip NATS.

Step 6: Enable NATS

To enable NATS which would run it at startup, simply run the command below:

sudo systemctl enable nats

Conclusion

This simple tutorial ensures that the installation of NATS on Debian-based linux is smooth and easy. Let me know below if you have any questions or inquiries about it.

Happy building!