Documentation

InfluxDB OSS

v1

InfluxDB file system layout

This page documents an earlier version of InfluxDB OSS. InfluxDB OSS 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/

Homebrew default directories

Path Default
Data directory /opt/homebrew/var/influxdb/data/
WAL directory /opt/homebrew/var/influxdb/wal/
Metastore directory /opt/homebrew/var/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/

Docker Hub 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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