Installation

Install Rapid BI Catalog on Linux — online installation for connected machines and offline installation for air-gapped environments.

Online installOffline installUbuntuCentOSRedHatAmazon Linux

Prerequisites

  • GPG — installers are signature-verified, so GPG must be available. Each release is checked against its .sha256 and .asc signature using the published signing.pub.
  • An HTTPS domain ready before setup — terminated by the app or a reverse proxy. See HTTPS Configuration.
  • SMTP details for invitations, password resets, and notifications. See Settings.
  • Run as a normal user — not root.
Recommended: install on an encrypted volume
Rapid BI Catalog already encrypts sensitive data at rest, but an encrypted volume adds defense in depth. See Data Privacy & Encryption.

Installation on Machines With Internet Access

From the command line, run the script for your Linux distribution. Make sure you are not logged in as the root user.

Ubuntu 24

Terminal
curl https://app.rapidlens.com/releases-bicatalog/v7.0.0/online/scripts/ubuntu/install.sh | sh

CentOS

Terminal
curl https://app.rapidlens.com/releases-bicatalog/v7.0.0/online/scripts/centos/install.sh | sh

RedHat 9

Terminal
curl https://app.rapidlens.com/releases-bicatalog/v7.0.0/online/scripts/redhat/install.sh | sh

Amazon Linux 2023

Terminal
curl https://app.rapidlens.com/releases-bicatalog/v7.0.0/online/scripts/amzn/install.sh | sh

Choose the Installation Location

The installer asks where to install. Press n to accept the default location (/usr/local/lib), or y to enter a custom absolute path.

Finding the install location later
The installer creates the bicatalog command that points to wherever it was installed. To find the real path later, run which bicatalog (shows the command's location) and then readlink $(which bicatalog) (resolves it to the actual installation path).

What the Installer Does

After you choose the location, the installer automatically:

  • Downloads the release and verifies its integrity with a checksum and a GPG signature (any mismatch aborts the install).
  • Installs the bicatalog command and registers a background service (bicatalogui) that runs the web application.
  • Prepares the application's data directories on first run.

Provide HTTPS, Then Start the Service

Rapid BI Catalog runs only over HTTPS, so the web service does not start automatically until TLS is provisioned. Before the first start, do one of the following, then start the service:

  • Direct HTTPS — place your PEM certificate and private key on the server (at the paths the installer prints), or
  • TLS-offload — if a reverse proxy terminates TLS in front of the app, enable that mode.
Terminal
sudo systemctl start bicatalogui

See HTTPS Configuration for both modes in detail.

Verify Installation

Once the installation is complete, run the following command to verify:

Terminal
bicatalog -V

Access Rapid BI Catalog

Access typeURL
Locallocalhost:3333
Remote<Server's IP>:3333
Firewall Note
If you cannot access Rapid BI Catalog, ensure that port 3333 is allowed in the firewall settings on the machine where it is installed. Also whitelist app.rapidlens.com in your network or firewall for online installations.

Installation on Machines Without Internet Access

  1. From a machine with internet access, log on to the customer portal at app.rapidlens.com using your username and password. Download the Linux bundled installer.
  2. Copy the bundled installer to the machine where you want to install Rapid BI Catalog.
  3. Extract the bundled installer:
Terminal
tar -xvzf bicatalog-offline-bundle
Before Continuing
Verify that Chromium and all required dependencies have been installed via your system's package manager. These components are essential for certain Rapid BI Catalog features to operate correctly.
  1. Run the installer (ensure you are not logged in as root):
Terminal
./offline_install.sh
  1. Verify and access using the same steps as the online install above.

Non-Production Environment Restrictions

The Rapid BI Catalog license supports deployment across four environments: Production, UAT, QA, and Development. Non-production environments may have specific usage limits applied, such as file processing limits.

You can view a detailed breakdown of permissions for each of your four license slots at any time via the customer portal at app.rapidlens.com.

Next Steps