How to Install ArangoDB on Ubuntu 20.04

ArangoDB is an open-source NoSQL database used in modern web applications, which supports models for document, graph, and key-value data. It's managed through a web or command-line interface and uses a declarative query language called AQL (ArangoDB Query Language).

Prerequisites

Deploy a new Ubuntu 20.04 Vultr cloud server.
Set up a non-root user with sudo privileges.
Verify your server is up to date.

Install ArangoDB

Import repository key.

$ curl -fsSL https://download.arangodb.com/arangodb38/DEBIAN/Release.key | sudo apt-key add -

Update the sources list.

$ echo 'deb https://download.arangodb.com/arangodb38/DEBIAN/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/arangodb.list

$ sudo apt-get update

Install ArangoDB.
```
$ sudo apt-get install arangodb3
```

Verify the installation was successful.

$ arangod --version

server-version: 3.8.x

Start ArangoDB.
```
$ sudo systemctl start arangodb3
```
Monitor the database with status.
```
$ sudo systemctl status arangodb3
```

Hardening Database

Hardening will make blocking unauthorized use of endpoints more strict.

To edit database server settings, navigate and edit the arangod.conf file.
```
$ sudo nano /etc/arangodb3/arangod.conf
```
Under the [server] section, append the following text if it's not already there.
```
harden = true
```
Under the [javascript] section, append the following text.
```
harden = true
```
Restart the database to take effect.
```
$ sudo systemctl restart arangodb3
```
Verify changes were successful by checking for errors in status.
```
$ sudo systemctl status arangodb3
```

Access CLI

To access ArangoDB through the command line, use the arangosh command.

$ arangosh

Access Web Interface

This is meant for development or internal network purposes only. For production applications, continue down the doc for configuring the server through a reverse proxy.

By default, the ArangoDB web interface is only available locally.

To make the server available on the internet, navigate and edit the arangod.conf file.
```
$ sudo nano /etc/arangodb3/arangod.conf
```
Under the [server] section, replace the endpoint URL with your server's IP. For example:
```
endpoint = tcp://192.0.2.123:8529
```
Restart the server.
```
$ sudo systemctl restart arangodb3
```
Verify changes were successful by checking for errors in status.
```
$ sudo systemctl status arangodb3
```
Navigate to your server's IP address at port 8529 in a web browser.
```
http://192.0.2.123:8529/
```

Access Web Interface through Reverse Proxy

For a production application, it is better to host the database locally and access it through a reverse proxy. This makes it easier to manage multiple services, enforce rate-limiting, SSL, and IP-filtering.

Install Nginx.
```
$ sudo apt-get install nginx
```

Delete default Nginx server block.

$ sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

Create a new Nginx server block.

$ sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/arangodb.conf

Add the following text to the file.

limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=mylimit:10m rate=10r/s;

server {

        listen 80; # Listen on ArangoDB port.

        listen [::]:80; # ipv6 support.



        server_name _;



        location / {

                limit_req zone=mylimit burst=20 nodelay; # Basic Rate limiting at 10 requests/sec.

                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8529;

        }

}

Adjust the rate-limiting rates and zones according to your application and needs.

Restart Nginx for changes to take effect.
```
$ sudo systemctl restart nginx
```
Navigate to your server's IP address in a web browser.
```
http://192.0.2.123/
```

You should see the ArangoDB web interface login menu. As a test, try refreshing the page in rapid succession. Soon, the webpage should respond with a 503 HTTP error, which would indicate a successful rate-limited request.

Conclusion

For more information, refer to the official ArangoDB documentation.

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