Deploying OceanBase on Ubuntu Using OBD (Ob‑Deploy) – A Step‑by‑Step Guide

The author, a senior database expert, explains that OceanBase officially supports only CentOS in its remote repository, making deployment on Ubuntu or Debian inconvenient.

Available deployment methods for OceanBase

1. OCP platform

Requires high‑end hardware (e.g., 32 CPU cores, 128 GB RAM, 1.5 TB SSD) and is not suitable for casual testing.

2. OBD (ob‑deploy) tool

Works on any OS that meets OceanBase hardware requirements; can run on a minimal 2 CPU, 8 GB RAM machine, making it a “poor‑man” deployment option.

3. Docker

Lowest hardware demands and OS‑agnostic, also suitable for lightweight setups.

4. Manual RPM installation

Involves downloading the RPM package and manually handling scripts and initialization; on Ubuntu it requires the alien tool to convert RPMs, which can be error‑prone.

The author chooses method 2 (OBD) on Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS with OceanBase 4.0, which bundles all installation files into oceanbase-all-in-one.tar.gz and includes an automated shell script for one‑click installation.

Step 1: Create data and redo directories

root@ytt-pc:/home# mkdir -p /data/1 /data/log1
root@ytt-pc:/home# chown -R admin.admin /data/1 /data/log1/

Step 2: Extract the tarball and run the install script

root@ytt-pc-super:/home/ytt/下载/oceanbase-all-in-one/bin# ./install.sh
...
add /home/ytt/下载/oceanbase-all-in-one/rpms/prometheus-2.37.1-10000102022110211.el7.x86_64.rpm to local mirror
Disable remote ok
...
Setup Environment: source ~/.oceanbase-all-in-one/bin/env.sh
Quick Start: obd demo
More Details: obd -h

After successful installation, the local package list can be inspected:

root@ytt-pc-super:~# obd mirror list local
+------------------------------------------+
|               local Package List          |
+-------------------+---------+------------+--------+------------------------------------------+
| name              | version | release    | arch   | md5                                      |
+-------------------+---------+------------+--------+------------------------------------------+
| grafana           | 7.5.17  | 1          | x86_64 | 1bf1f338d3a3445d8599dc6902e7aeed4de4e0d6 |
| obagent           | 1.2.0   | 4.el7      | x86_64 | 0e8f5ee68c337ea28514c9f3f820ea546227fa7e |
| obproxy-ce        | 4.0.0   | 5.el7      | x86_64 | de53232a951184fad75b15884458d85e31d2f6c3 |
| oceanbase-ce      | 4.0.0   | 100000272022110114.el7 | x86_64 | 42611dc51ca9bb28f36e60e4406ceea4a74914c7 |
| ... (other packages omitted) |
+------------------------------------------+

Step 3: Create a simple 1‑0‑0 configuration file (obytt100.yaml)

root@ytt-pc-super:/home/ytt/config# cat obytt100.yaml
oceanbase-ce:
  servers:
    - 127.0.0.1
  global:
    memory_limit: 9G
    system_memory: 3G
    datafile_size: 30G
    log_disk_size: 30G
    devname: lo
    cpu_count: 32
    production_mode: false
    cluster_id: 100
    cluster: obytt100
    appname: obytt100
    127.0.0.1:
      mysql_port: 2881
      rpc_port: 2882
      home_path: /home/admin/oceanbase-ce
      data_dir: /data/1
      redo_dir: /data/log1
      zone: zone1
obproxy-ce:
  servers:
    - 127.0.0.1
  global:
    home_path: /home/admin/obproxy-ce
    skip_proxy_sys_private_check: true
    enable_strict_kernel_release: false
    proxy_mem_limited: 2G
    prometheus_listen_port: 2884
    listen_port: 2883
    127.0.0.1:
      enable_cluster_checkout: false
      depends:
        - oceanbase-ce

Step 4: Deploy the cluster with OBD

root@ytt-pc-super:/home/ytt/config# obd cluster deploy obytt100 -c obytt100.yaml
[WARN] Use centos 7 remote mirror repository for ubuntu 22.04
... 
obytt100 deployed

Step 5: Start OceanBase and OBProxy

root@ytt-pc-super:/home/ytt/config# obd cluster start obytt100
... 
Start obproxy ok
obproxy program health check ok
Connect to obproxy ok
Initialize cluster ok
Wait for observer init ok
+---------------------------------------------+
|               observer                     |
+-----------+---------+------+-------+--------+
| ip        | version | port | zone  | status |
+-----------+---------+------+-------+--------+
| 127.0.0.1 | 4.0.0.0 | 2881 | zone1 | ACTIVE |
+---------------------------------------------+
obclient -h127.0.0.1 -P2881 -uroot -Doceanbase
... 
+---------------------------------------------+
|               obproxy                      |
+-----------+------+-----------------+--------+
| ip        | port | prometheus_port | status |
+-----------+------+-----------------+--------+
| 127.0.0.1 | 2883 | 2884            | active |
+---------------------------------------------+
obclient -h127.0.0.1 -P2883 -uroot -Doceanbase
obytt100 running

Step 6: Verify the deployment

root@ytt-pc-super:/home/ytt/config# obclient -h127.1 -P2883 -uroot@sys#obytt100 -e "show databases"
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| LBACSYS            |
| mysql              |
| oceanbase          |
| ORAAUDITOR         |
| SYS                |
| test               |
+--------------------+

Conclusion

Deploying an OceanBase cluster on non‑CentOS/RedHat Linux requires using the OBD tool to bypass the remote CentOS repository and install the software locally.