How to Install Consul Server on Ubuntu 22.04

Introduction

Consul is a distributed service mesh and key-value store designed for modern, scalable infrastructure. Installing Consul server on Ubuntu 22.04 allows you to set up and manage a Consul cluster for service discovery, configuration, and orchestration. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of installing Consul server on Ubuntu 22.04.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

• An Ubuntu 22.04 server with sudo privileges
• A stable internet connection

Step 1: Install Consul

Download the latest Consul binary from the official website:

curl -O https://releases.hashicorp.com/consul/1.11.0/consul_1.11.0_linux_amd64.zip

Unzip the downloaded file:

sudo apt install unzip
unzip consul_1.11.0_linux_amd64.zip

Move the Consul binary to the /usr/local/bin directory:

sudo mv consul /usr/local/bin/

Step 2: Create Consul Configuration Directory

Create a directory to store Consul configuration files:

sudo mkdir /etc/consul.d

Step 3: Create Consul Configuration File

Create a Consul configuration file /etc/consul.d/config.json and add the following content:

sudo nano /etc/consul.d/config.json

{
  "datacenter": "dc1",
  "data_dir": "/var/lib/consul",
  "log_level": "INFO",
  "server": true,
  "bootstrap_expect": 1,
  "ui": true
}

Step 4: Start Consul Server

Start the Consul server using the configuration file:

sudo consul agent -config-dir=/etc/consul.d

Step 5: Access Consul Web UI

Open a web browser and navigate to http://your_server_ip:8500/ui to access the Consul Web UI.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed and configured Consul server on Ubuntu 22.04. You can now use Consul to set up a distributed service mesh and key-value store for your infrastructure.