Install

Install the NextSQL binaries, then initialize a data directory.

Published versioned builds, checksums, and a feature comparison are on Downloads.

Packages

Build Linux (.deb, .tar.gz, .run) and Windows (.zip, setup.exe) installers from a checkout:

./scripts/build-installers.sh

The packages copy nextsql, nextsqld, and nextsql-bench plus a default config. They do not create a data directory, write a root unlock key, or start the server. After install:

printf 'secret\n' > /tmp/nextsql.pw && chmod 600 /tmp/nextsql.pw
nextsql init --data-dir /var/lib/nextsql --key-file /etc/nextsql/root.key \
  --user app --password-file /tmp/nextsql.pw
sudo systemctl enable --now nextsql

Windows defaults: binaries in %ProgramFiles%\NextSQL, data in %ProgramData%\NextSQL\data, key in %ProgramData%\NextSQL\keys\root.key. Start with Start-Service NextSQL after nextsql init.

Keep the root unlock key off the data volume in production. Details: `packaging/README.md`.

Install with Go

Requires Go 1.22+ so go install can fetch and compile the engine onto your PATH.

go install github.com/bzync/nextsql/cmd/nextsql@latest
go install github.com/bzync/nextsql/cmd/nextsqld@latest
go install github.com/bzync/nextsql/cmd/nextsql-bench@latest

Confirm:

nextsql version
# nextsql 0.1.0-dev (phase 15)

nextsql is the CLI. nextsqld is the server. nextsql-bench is optional (official measurements with encryption, WAL, and fsync on).

Go puts binaries in $(go env GOPATH)/bin (often ~/go/bin). Put that directory on your PATH.

What you will create next

A data directory is not a single file. After nextsql init and the first server start you typically have:

DATA-DIR/
  nextsql.lock          advisory deployment/offline-migration lock
  nextsql.instance      encrypted deployment/default realm/database registry
  nextsql.instance.keys wrapped registry keys — never the registry root
  nextsql.db            encrypted pages (16 KiB logical)
  nextsql.db.keys       wrapped DEKs only — never the root unlock key
  nextsql.db.wal/       encrypted WAL control + segments
  nextsql.db.undo/      encrypted UNDO log
  nextsql.users         password hashes (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256)
  nextsql.acl           roles and grants
  nextsql.audit         JSON-lines audit log (mode 0600)
  raft/                 present only when Raft HA is enabled

The database root unlock key is a separate --key-file (NSKY, mode 0600). Initialization also creates a deployment registry root at --instance-key-file (default KEY-FILE.instance). Keep both off the data volume. The registry foundation currently verifies one default database; it is not yet selectable multi-database hosting.

Automated installs may place the corresponding file paths and logical names in a protected mode-0600 host env file and run nextsql init --env-file PATH: NEXTSQL_DATA_DIR, NEXTSQL_KEY_FILE, NEXTSQL_INSTANCE_KEY_FILE, NEXTSQL_REALM_NAME, NEXTSQL_DATABASE, NEXTSQL_SERVER_USER, and NEXTSQL_SERVER_PASSWORD_FILE (preferred) or NEXTSQL_SERVER_PASS. These are server/bootstrap settings, not client login fallback. Key values are paths, not raw key bytes. Keep this host provisioning file out of application containers and source control.

Drivers

Official drivers ship with the engine. They are not a separate download.

See Drivers.

Build from source (optional)

If you are changing the engine itself:

git clone https://github.com/bzync/nextsql.git
cd nextsql
go build -o nextsql       ./cmd/nextsql
go build -o nextsqld      ./cmd/nextsqld
go build -o nextsql-bench ./cmd/nextsql-bench

go test ./...
go test -race ./...          # needs a C compiler
go test ./tests/integration ./tests/crash ./tests/ha

Next

Initialize a data directory and run SQL →