Documentation

InfluxDB OSS

v1

InfluxDB file system layout

This page documents an earlier version of InfluxDB. InfluxDB v2 is the latest stable version.

The InfluxDB file system layout depends on the operating system, installation method, or containerization platform used to install InfluxDB.

InfluxDB file structure

The InfluxDB file structure includes of the following:

Data directory

Directory path where InfluxDB stores time series data (TSM files). To customize this path, use the [data].dir configuration option.

WAL directory

Directory path where InfluxDB stores Write Ahead Log (WAL) files. To customize this path, use the [data].wal-dir configuration option.

Metastore directory

Directory path of the InfluxDB metastore, which stores information about users, databases, retention policies, shards, and continuous queries. To customize this path, use the [meta].dir configuration option.

InfluxDB configuration files

Some operating systems and package managers store a default InfluxDB configuration file on disk. For more information about using InfluxDB configuration files, see Configure InfluxDB.

File system layout

macOS Linux Windows Docker Kubernetes

macOS default directories

Path Default
Data directory ~/.influxdb/data/
WAL directory ~/.influxdb/wal/
Metastore directory ~/.influxdb/meta/

macOS file system overview

  • ~/.influxdb/
    • data/
      • TSM directories and files
    • wal/
      • WAL directories and files
    • meta/
      • meta.db

When installing InfluxDB on Linux, you can download and install the influxd binary, or you can use a package manager. Which installation method you use determines the file system layout.

Installed as a standalone binary

Linux default directories (standalone binary)

Path Default
Data directory ~/.influxdb/data/
WAL directory ~/.influxdb/wal/
Metastore directory ~/.influxdb/meta/

Linux file system overview (standalone binary)

  • ~/.influxdb/
    • data/
      • TSM directories and files
    • wal/
      • WAL directories and files
    • meta/
      • meta.db

Installed as a package

InfluxDB 2.0 supports .deb- and .rpm-based Linux package managers. The file system layout is the same with each.

Linux default directories (package)

Path Default
Data directory /var/lib/influxdb/data/
WAL directory /var/lib/influxdb/wal/
Metastore directory /var/lib/influxdb/meta/
Default config file path /etc/influxdb/influxdb.conf

Linux file system overview (package)

  • /var/lib/influxdb/
    • data/
      • TSM directories and files
    • wal/
      • WAL directories and files
    • meta/
      • meta.db
  • /etc/influxdb/
    • influxdb.conf (influxd configuration file)

Windows default paths

Path Default
Data directory %USERPROFILE%\.influxdb\data\
WAL directory %USERPROFILE%\.influxdb\wal\
Metastore directory %USERPROFILE%\.influxdb\meta\

Windows file system overview

  • %USERPROFILE%\.influxdb\
    • data/
      • TSM directories and files
    • wal/
      • WAL directories and files
    • meta/
      • meta.db

Docker default directories

Path Default
Data directory /var/lib/influxdb/data/
WAL directory /var/lib/influxdb/wal/
Metastore directory /var/lib/influxdb/meta/

Dockerhub file system overview

  • /var/lib/influxdb/
    • data/
      • TSM directories and files
    • wal/
      • WAL directories and files
    • meta/
      • meta.db

Kubernetes default paths

Path Default
Data directory /var/lib/influxdb/data/
WAL directory /var/lib/influxdb/wal/
Metastore directory /var/lib/influxdb/meta/

Kubernetes file system overview

  • /var/lib/influxdb/
    • data/
      • TSM directories and files
    • wal/
      • WAL directories and files
    • meta/
      • meta.db

Directory permissions

The user running the influxd process should have the following permissions for directories in the InfluxDB file system:

Directory path Permission
.../influxdb/ 755
.../influxdb/data/ 755
.../influxdb/meta/ 755
.../influxdb/wal/ 700

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Introducing InfluxDB Clustered

A highly available InfluxDB 3.0 cluster on your own infrastructure.

InfluxDB Clustered is a highly available InfluxDB 3.0 cluster built for high write and query workloads on your own infrastructure.

InfluxDB Clustered is currently in limited availability and is only available to a limited group of InfluxData customers. If interested in being part of the limited access group, please contact the InfluxData Sales team.

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The future of Flux

Flux is going into maintenance mode. You can continue using it as you currently are without any changes to your code.

Flux is going into maintenance mode and will not be supported in InfluxDB 3.0. This was a decision based on the broad demand for SQL and the continued growth and adoption of InfluxQL. We are continuing to support Flux for users in 1.x and 2.x so you can continue using it with no changes to your code. If you are interested in transitioning to InfluxDB 3.0 and want to future-proof your code, we suggest using InfluxQL.

For information about the future of Flux, see the following: