Install influxdb with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• influxdb3

Project history

InfluxDB's early identity was a purpose-built database for time-series data, with line protocol ingestion, retention policies, continuous queries, and the InfluxQL query language. Its ecosystem grew with Telegraf for collection, Chronograf for UI, Kapacitor for processing and alerting, and client libraries across common languages.

InfluxDB 2.0 changed the product shape by combining database APIs, background processing, dashboards, and exploration features in one platform, organizing data around organizations and buckets rather than only the v1 database/retention-policy model. The v2 release notes describe 2.0 GA as the first production-ready open-source 2.0 release and highlight Flux, v1 compatibility, templates, stacks, and upgrade paths from v1.

InfluxDB 3 is a larger architectural reset. InfluxData described InfluxDB 3 as the successor to the IOx work, with storage in Apache Parquet, query execution through Apache Arrow DataFusion, and SQL/InfluxQL-oriented access. The public InfluxDB repository presents InfluxDB 3 Core as a Rust-built database for real-time events, analytics, and monitoring, with compatibility for v1/v2 write APIs and InfluxQL query compatibility.

Adoption history

InfluxDB adoption is broad in monitoring and observability stacks because the line protocol, Telegraf agent, client libraries, dashboards, and package-manager distribution made it easy to collect metrics from machines, applications, IoT devices, networks, and financial or behavioral streams. The input metadata shows packages across Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu development packages, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Scoop, and openSUSE.

The v3 transition split use cases more explicitly: InfluxDB 3 Core and Enterprise targeted high-ingest, low-latency, analytic, and object-storage-backed workloads, while v1/v2 compatibility remained important for existing write paths and InfluxQL users.

How it is used

Operators use InfluxDB to ingest line protocol, store timestamped measurements, query recent and historical data, power dashboards, retain or downsample metrics, and back monitoring or automation systems. InfluxDB 3 Core emphasizes SQL, InfluxQL, Flight SQL, Parquet persistence, object-storage or local-disk deployment, and an embedded Python VM for plugins and triggers.

Packaging differs by era: the server package provides the database daemon or influxdb3 binary, while v2-era administration often uses the separately packaged influx CLI.

Why package nerds care

InfluxDB is significant to package nerds because its package history mirrors product architecture: v1 server plus ecosystem daemons, v2 platform plus split CLI, and v3 database engine with Rust, Arrow, DataFusion, and Parquet dependencies. Formula names, binary names, branches, and docs paths all encode those version-line transitions.

It is also one of the canonical examples of infrastructure software whose package is both a local developer tool and a production service, so service files, data directories, upgrade paths, and client compatibility matter as much as the binary.

Timeline

• 2013: InfluxDB repository created for an open-source time-series database.
• 2020: InfluxDB 2.0 GA released with Flux, v1 compatibility, templates, stacks, and upgrade paths.
• 2021: InfluxDB 2.1 announced that the influx CLI would move to a separate repository and release stream.
• 2025: InfluxData announced the open-source InfluxDB 3 plan and copied IOx work into the InfluxDB repository.
• 2025: InfluxDB 3 Core and Enterprise reached general availability.
• 2026: InfluxDB 3 Core repository and release notes continued the v3 release train.

Related projects

• Telegraf, Chronograf, Kapacitor, Flux, the separate influx-cli repository, Apache Arrow, Apache DataFusion, Apache Parquet, Flight SQL, and the earlier IOx codebase are the main related projects and technologies in InfluxDB's package history.

Sources

• https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb/v2/reference/release-notes/influxdb/
• https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb
• https://www.influxdata.com/blog/influxdb-3-0-system-architecture/
• https://www.influxdata.com/blog/influxdb-3-oss-ga/
• https://www.influxdata.com/blog/the-plan-for-influxdb-3-0-open-source/