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Install Compartment

Use this flow when you are creating a new Compartment runtime.

Compartment has two install steps:

  • install the CLI on the machine you are using;
  • install the Compartment system on the target server.

1. Install the CLI

Section titled “1. Install the CLI”
Terminal window
curl -fsSL https://compartment.dev/install.sh | sh

The public bootstrapper installs the CLI only by default.

If you are already on the target server and want the installer to continue directly into system setup, use:

Terminal window
curl -fsSL https://compartment.dev/install.sh | sh -s -- --init-install

2. Install the system on the target server

Section titled “2. Install the system on the target server”

The current shipped system install command is:

Terminal window
compartment install

That command requires the CLI to already exist on the server. When you run the bootstrapper with --init-install, it installs the CLI first and then starts this same command.

Default registry installs verify runtime image signatures with the bundled CLI verifier before they activate runtime files or start containers. If verification fails, rerun the install after upgrading to a matching CLI or fixing the published image signatures; the install directory stays retryable.

The install creates a host service named compartment-node-agent.service. This service is used for deployments, logs, resource lifecycle operations, and runtime network cleanup. Install and update it with the packaged Compartment CLI for the runtime version you are running.

3. Complete the install prompts

Section titled “3. Complete the install prompts”

The install flow asks for:

  • the first admin email;
  • the first organization name;
  • the first admin password;
  • public HTTP and HTTPS ports.

By default, compartment install uses the production managed-domain broker. Use --base-domain, --local-runtime, or --dev when you need an explicit non-managed-domain mode.

If you use compartment install --dev on a machine that already talks to other Compartment installs, pass --remote <name> to keep the local dev session under its own remote profile:

Terminal window
compartment install --dev --remote local-dev

4. Check runtime status

Section titled “4. Check runtime status”
Terminal window
sudo compartment system status

After install, the command prints the active Console URL and a Login your CLI on this server block.

5. Log in from another machine

Section titled “5. Log in from another machine”

On another machine, install the CLI and then use compartment login against the existing control-plane URL when that URL uses a certificate trusted by the machine:

Terminal window
compartment login --api-url https://console.example.com --organization acme-dev

Pass --email <email> only when you want the browser login form prefilled for a specific user.

If the same machine talks to more than one install, name the remote profile during login:

Terminal window
compartment login --remote prod-eu --api-url https://console.example.com

If you want the public bootstrapper to install the CLI and immediately start the login flow, use:

Terminal window
curl -fsSL https://compartment.dev/install.sh | sh -s -- --init-login --api-url https://console.example.com

The installer prompts for the email address. For non-interactive automation, pass --email <email>.

Automation note: treat the install and system surfaces as contract-bound. Use the documented CLI flags and published responses, and do not depend on internal probe or control-plane routes that are not part of the public install workflow.

Next steps: