SonarQube Installation¶

By Sameer Alam · Updated 14 September 2026

What You'll Learn¶

• Which SonarQube edition and version to install, and what it needs from the host
• How to prepare PostgreSQL and the kernel settings Elasticsearch requires
• Two installation paths: Docker Compose for labs and small teams, or a native Ubuntu install
• How to confirm the server actually started

Choose an Edition¶

This page installs the Community Build, which uses version numbers like 26.9.0.129388. Paid SonarQube Server releases use year-based versions like 2026.1 and are downloaded from the SonarSource website after you request a license. See Paid Platforms for how they compare.

Requirements¶

SonarQube runs three Java processes — the web server, the compute engine that processes analysis reports, and an embedded Elasticsearch for search. Memory planning has to cover all three.

Step 1: Kernel Settings (Both Paths)¶

Elasticsearch refuses to start without these. On Docker, set them on the host, not in the container.

sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-sonarqube.conf <<'EOF'
vm.max_map_count=524288
fs.file-max=131072
EOF
sudo sysctl --system

sysctl vm.max_map_count fs.file-max   # verify

Option A: Docker Compose¶

The fastest way to a working server. Pin the image tag so upgrades are deliberate.

services:
  sonarqube:
    image: sonarqube:26.9.0.129388-community
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      SONAR_JDBC_URL: jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_USERNAME: sonar
      SONAR_JDBC_PASSWORD: ${SONAR_DB_PASSWORD:?set SONAR_DB_PASSWORD in .env}
    volumes:
      - sonarqube_data:/opt/sonarqube/data
      - sonarqube_extensions:/opt/sonarqube/extensions
      - sonarqube_logs:/opt/sonarqube/logs
    ulimits:
      nofile:
        soft: 131072
        hard: 131072
      nproc: 8192
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:9000:9000"
    restart: unless-stopped

  db:
    image: postgres:17
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: sonar
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${SONAR_DB_PASSWORD:?set SONAR_DB_PASSWORD in .env}
      POSTGRES_DB: sonar
    volumes:
      - postgresql_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U sonar -d sonar"]
      interval: 10s
      retries: 5
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  sonarqube_data:
  sonarqube_extensions:
  sonarqube_logs:
  postgresql_data:

echo "SONAR_DB_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -base64 24)" > .env
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f sonarqube    # wait for "SonarQube is operational"

The port is bound to 127.0.0.1. Put a TLS reverse proxy in front before exposing it — see Configuration.

Option B: Native Install on Ubuntu¶

Install Java 21¶

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y openjdk-21-jre-headless unzip
java -version

Install and prepare PostgreSQL¶

sudo apt install -y postgresql
sudo -u postgres psql

CREATE USER sonar WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'use-a-long-random-password';
CREATE DATABASE sonar OWNER sonar;
\q

Making sonar the database owner is enough — SonarQube creates its own schema on first start.

Create a dedicated user¶

Elasticsearch will not run as root, and SonarQube should never need it.

sudo useradd --system --home-dir /opt/sonarqube --shell /usr/sbin/nologin sonar

Download and unpack¶

Check the downloads page or the release list for the current Community Build version.

SONAR_VERSION=26.9.0.129388
cd /tmp
wget "https://binaries.sonarsource.com/Distribution/sonarqube/sonarqube-${SONAR_VERSION}.zip"
unzip -q "sonarqube-${SONAR_VERSION}.zip"
sudo mv "sonarqube-${SONAR_VERSION}" /opt/sonarqube
sudo chown -R sonar:sonar /opt/sonarqube

Raise process limits¶

sudo tee /etc/security/limits.d/99-sonarqube.conf <<'EOF'
sonar   -   nofile   131072
sonar   -   nproc    8192
EOF

The systemd unit on the next page sets the same limits for the service itself.

Verify the Installation¶

After you start the service (Docker above, or systemd in Configuration):

curl -s http://localhost:9000/api/system/status
# {"id":"...","version":"26.9.0.129388","status":"UP"}

Common Mistakes¶

• Skipping vm.max_map_count, so es.log shows max virtual memory areas vm.max_map_count [65530] is too low and the server never comes up.
• Running SonarQube as root — Elasticsearch refuses to start.
• Copying a paid-edition version like 2026.1.x into the Community Build download URL; those files are not published there.
• Using the embedded H2 database beyond a quick demo — it can't be upgraded or scaled.
• Using sonarqube:latest in Compose, so a restart silently upgrades and blocks on a database migration.

Interview Questions¶

• What are SonarQube's three processes, and why does memory sizing have to account for all of them?
• Why does SonarQube need vm.max_map_count raised, and where do you set it when running in Docker?
• What's the difference between SonarQube Community Build and the paid Server editions?

Next¶

Continue to SonarQube Configuration to connect the database, run it as a service, and put it behind HTTPS.