# Installing from ZIP file Don’t start this journey alone! As a DCE subscriber, Sonar will assist with the setup and configuration of your cluster. Get in touch with your account manager to receive appropriate onboarding resources. ## Prerequisites You have: 1. Prepared the cluster environment by setting up the network and provisioning the nodes and load balancer. See [installation-requirements](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/installation-requirements "mention"). 2. Performed the pre-installation steps. See [pre-installation](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/pre-installation "mention"). 3. Installed your database. See [installing-the-database](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/installing-the-database "mention"). ## Step 1: Install an application node and create your ZIP installation package 1. On a single application node of the cluster, download and install SonarQube Server DCE: * Download the [distribution](https://www.sonarsource.com/products/sonarqube/downloads/). * Unzip the downloaded ZIP file into the directory you want to use to install your SonarQube (except a directory starting with a digit). The figure below shows this directory. It is called `` in this documentation.
Unzip the downloaded ZIP file into the directory of your choice.
2. Perform the basic setup (see [basic-installation](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/from-zip-file/basic-installation "mention")): * Set access to the database. * If using Oracle, add the JDBC driver. * Set the web server connection parameters. 3. Add the cluster-related parameters to `/conf/sonar.properties`. See [#sample-configuration](#sample-configuration "mention") below. 4. You can perform advanced setup: see [advanced-setup](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/from-zip-file/advanced-setup "mention"). In particular, store the JWT token to keep the user sessions alive on server restart. This is also a good opportunity to install a plugin: see [install-a-plugin](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/plugins/install-a-plugin "mention"). 5. Zip the directory ``. This archive is a customized SonarQube Server DCE package that can be copied to other nodes. ## Step 2: Test your node installation 1. On the application node where you created your ZIP package, comment out all cluster-related parameters in `/conf/sonar.properties`. 2. Configure the load balancer to proxy with single application node. 3. Start the node and test access through load balancer. 4. Request license from Sonar Sales Team. 5. After applying license, you will have a full-featured SonarQube Server system operating on a single node. ## Step 3: Deploy your ZIP package on other nodes 1. Unzip SonarQube Server package on the other nodes. 2. Complete the basic installation (see [basic-installation](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/from-zip-file/basic-installation "mention")): * On the application nodes: * Set access to the database. * If using Oracle, add the JDBC driver. * Set the web server connection parameters. * On the search nodes: * Configure the Elasticsearch storage path. 3. Configure node-specific parameters in `/conf/sonar.properties` on all search and application nodes. Make sure the cluster-related parameters are properly set. 4. You can perform advanced setup (see [advanced-setup](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/from-zip-file/advanced-setup "mention")): * On all nodes: * Adjust java executable path. * Enable IPv6. * On the application nodes: * Self-signed certificates. * Change DNS cache TTL. * Store JWT token in order to keep user sessions alive on server restart. 5. Start all search nodes. To start a node, see [from-zip-file](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/from-zip-file/starting-stopping-server/from-zip-file "mention"). 6. After all search nodes are running, start all application nodes. 7. Configure the load balancer to proxy with all application nodes. {% hint style="info" %} Once SonarQube Server UI is up, you can encrypt sensitive properties stored in `/conf/sonar.properties`. See [encrypting-settings](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/instance-administration/security/encrypting-settings "mention"). {% endhint %} ## Sample Configuration The following example represents a sample configuration of a SonarQube Server Data Center Edition’s `sonar.properties` file. The example assumes: * The VMs having IP addresses ip1 and ip2 (server1, server2) are application nodes * The VMs having IP addresses ip3, ip4, and ip5 (server3, server4 and server5) are search nodes {% hint style="info" %} In the example, the hosts followed by ports are written using the IPv4 notation (e.g. `ip3:9001`). If you use IPv6 addresses, enclose the IP address in square brackets (`[ip3]:9001`). {% endhint %} The system properties indicated below are described in [#general](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/system-properties/dce-specific#general "mention"). The configuration to be added to `sonar.properties` for each node is the following: ### Application nodes server1: ```css-79elbk ... sonar.cluster.enabled=true sonar.cluster.node.type=application sonar.cluster.node.host=ip1 sonar.cluster.node.port=9003 sonar.cluster.hosts=ip1,ip2 sonar.cluster.search.hosts=ip3:9001,ip4:9001,ip5:9001 sonar.auth.jwtBase64Hs256Secret=YOURGENERATEDSECRET ... ``` server2 ```css-79elbk ... sonar.cluster.enabled=true sonar.cluster.node.type=application sonar.cluster.node.host=ip2 sonar.cluster.node.port=9003 sonar.cluster.hosts=ip1,ip2 sonar.cluster.search.hosts=ip3:9001,ip4:9001,ip5:9001 sonar.auth.jwtBase64Hs256Secret=YOURGENERATEDSECRET ... ``` ### Search nodes server3 ```css-79elbk ... sonar.cluster.enabled=true sonar.cluster.node.type=search sonar.cluster.node.search.host=ip3 sonar.cluster.node.search.port=9001 sonar.cluster.node.es.host=ip3 sonar.cluster.node.es.port=9002 sonar.cluster.es.hosts=ip3:9002,ip4:9002,ip5:9002 ... ``` server4 ```css-79elbk ... sonar.cluster.enabled=true sonar.cluster.node.type=search sonar.cluster.node.search.host=ip4 sonar.cluster.node.search.port=9001 sonar.cluster.node.es.host=ip4 sonar.cluster.node.es.port=9002 sonar.cluster.es.hosts=ip3:9002,ip4:9002,ip5:9002 ... ``` server5 ```css-79elbk ... sonar.cluster.enabled=true sonar.cluster.node.type=search sonar.cluster.node.search.host=ip5 sonar.cluster.node.search.port=9001 sonar.cluster.node.es.host=ip5 sonar.cluster.node.es.port=9002 sonar.cluster.es.hosts=ip3:9002,ip4:9002,ip5:9002 ... ``` ## Related pages * [dce-topology](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/dce-topology "mention") * [installation-requirements](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/installation-requirements "mention") * [pre-installation](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/pre-installation "mention") * [on-kubernetes-or-openshift](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/on-kubernetes-or-openshift "mention") * **Configuring network security features:** * [securing-behind-proxy](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/network-security/securing-behind-proxy "mention") * [elasticsearch-security-features](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/network-security/elasticsearch-security-features "mention") * [network-rules](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/network-security/network-rules "mention") * [starting-stopping-cluster](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/starting-stopping-cluster "mention") --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.3/server-installation/data-center-edition/from-zip-file.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.