Install CouchDB on Ubuntu 20.04

CouchDB is a cross-platform document database released by the Apache Software Foundation. CouchDB is classified as a NoSQL database. So it stores data in JSON-based document format. CouchDB is an open-source project written in the Erlang programming language.

This tutorial demonstrates how to install CouchDB on Ubuntu 20.04.

Install CouchDB

Download GPG key:

sudo wget -qO /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/couchdb-key.asc https://couchdb.apache.org/repo/keys.asc

Add the CouchDB repository:

echo "deb https://apache.jfrog.io/artifactory/couchdb-deb/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/couchdb.list

Run the following command to update the package lists:

sudo apt update

We will use non-interactive installation. So define the following answers which will be used during installation:

sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "couchdb couchdb/adminpass string pwd123"
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "couchdb couchdb/adminpass_again string pwd123"
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "couchdb couchdb/bindaddress string 0.0.0.0"

Don't forget to change admin password.

Note that 0.0.0.0 binds CouchDB to all network interfaces. So it accepts connections from any IPv4 address.

Install the CouchDB:

sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt install -y couchdb

To make sure that CouchDB service is running you can use the following command:

sudo service couchdb status

We can also stop, start and restart the CouchDB service:

sudo service couchdb stop
sudo service couchdb start
sudo service couchdb restart

Testing CouchDB

Open your browser and navigate to http://<IP_ADDRESS>:5984/_utils, where <IP_ADDRESS> is IP address of your machine. Type admin username and password to login to administration panel.

Uninstall CouchDB

If you wish to completely remove CouchDB and related dependencies, execute the following command:

sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt purge --autoremove -y couchdb

Remove GPG key and repository:

sudo rm -rf /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/couchdb-key.asc
sudo rm -rf /etc/apt/sources.list.d/couchdb.list

Remove CouchDB user:

sudo deluser couchdb

You can also remove CouchDB data:

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/couchdb