Installation

This section explains how to install Bacalhau on your machine, verify it's working, and understand basic requirements. Bacalhau is distributed as a single self-contained binary that can function as a client, orchestrator node, and compute node—greatly simplifying deployment and management of your distributed compute network.

Install the Bacalhau Binary

To install the CLI, choose your environment, and run the command(s) below.

Linux/macOS (CLI)

curl -sL https://get.bacalhau.org/install.sh | bash

• This fetches the latest Bacalhau release and places it in /usr/local/bin or a similar path.

• You many need sudo mode or root access to install the binary at the desired path

Windows (CLI)

Windows users can download the latest release tarball from Github and extract bacalhau.exe to any location available in the PATH environment variable.

Docker

Base Image

docker pull ghcr.io/bacalhau-project/bacalhau:latest

• Suitable for running orchestrators, clients or compute nodes with no docker support

Docker in Docker

docker pull ghcr.io/bacalhau-project/bacalhau:latest-dind

• Suitable for running compute nodes that can run docker based jobs

• Require --privileged mode when running the container

Verify the Installation

bacalhau version

This should print:

• The local binary version

• The version of the orchestrator this client is connected to, if any

• The latest available version of bacalhau in case you are running an outdated version.

If you get command not found, verify your PATH includes the Bacalhau binary.

Upgrading Bacalhau

To upgrade Bacalhau to the latest version, run the installation script. If Bacalhau is already installed, this will update it to the most recent version available.

Requirements & Tips

• Docker:

  • Must be installed and running on any compute node to handle Docker-based jobs.

• AWS Credentials (if you’re using S3):

  • For S3 inputs or outputs, the node needs valid AWS credentials (e.g., environment variables).

• Running an Orchestrator & Compute:

  • See Quick Start for how to run a local or hybrid node with bacalhau serve --orchestrator --compute.

• bacalhau devstack:

  • Perfect for local development or running tests.

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Next Steps

• Head over to Basic CLI Usage to learn how to submit, describe, and stop jobs.

• Check Common Workflows for steps on mounting data (S3, local folders) and publishing outputs.

• Explore References for advanced node management (Docker Compose, devstack, multi-node clusters).