---
title: Initializing the cluster
intro: 'A {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %} cluster must be set up with a license and initialized using the administrative shell (SSH).'
redirect_from:
  - /enterprise/admin/clustering/initializing-the-cluster
  - /enterprise/admin/enterprise-management/initializing-the-cluster
versions:
  enterprise-server: '*'
---

{% data reusables.enterprise_clustering.clustering-requires-https %}

### Installing {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %}

1. On each cluster node, provision and install {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %}. For more information, see "[Setting up a {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %} instance](/enterprise/{{ currentVersion }}/admin/guides/installation/setting-up-a-github-enterprise-server-instance)."
2. Using the administrative shell or DHCP, **only** configure the IP address of each node. Don't configure any other settings.

### Configuring the first node

1. Connect to the node that will be designated as MySQL primary in `cluster.conf`. For more information, see "[About the cluster configuration file](/enterprise/{{ currentVersion }}/admin/guides/clustering/initializing-the-cluster/#about-the-cluster-configuration-file)."
2. In your web browser, visit `https://<ip address>:8443/setup/`.
{% data reusables.enterprise_installation.upload-a-license-file %}
{% data reusables.enterprise_installation.save-settings-in-web-based-mgmt-console %}
{% data reusables.enterprise_installation.instance-will-restart-automatically %}

### Initializing the cluster

To initialize the cluster, you need a cluster configuration file (`cluster.conf`). For more information, see “[About the cluster configuration file](/enterprise/{{ currentVersion }}/admin/guides/clustering/initializing-the-cluster/#about-the-cluster-configuration-file)".

1. From the first node that was configured, run `ghe-cluster-config-init`.  This will initialize the cluster if there are nodes in the cluster configuration file that are not configured.
2. Run `ghe-cluster-config-apply`. This will validate the `cluster.conf` file, apply the configuration to each node file and bring up the configured services on each node.

To check the status of a running cluster use the `ghe-cluster-status` command.

### About the cluster configuration file

The cluster configuration file (`cluster.conf`) defines the nodes in the cluster, and what services they run.
For more information, see "[About cluster nodes](/enterprise/{{ currentVersion }}/admin/guides/clustering/about-cluster-nodes)."

This example `cluster.conf` defines a cluster with five nodes.

  - Two nodes (called `ghe-app-node-\*`) run the `web-server` and `job-server` services responsible for responding to client requests.
  - Three nodes (called `ghe-data-node-\*`) run the services responsible for storage and retrieval of {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %} data.

The names of the nodes can be any valid hostname you choose. The names are set as the hostname of each node, and will also be added to `/etc/hosts` on each node, so that the nodes are locally resolvable to each other.

Specify the first cluster node you configured as the MySQL primary via `mysql-server` and `mysql-master`.

```ini
[cluster]
  mysql-master = ghe-data-node-1
  redis-master = ghe-data-node-1
  primary-datacenter = default
[cluster "ghe-app-node-1"]
  hostname = ghe-app-node-1
  ipv4 = 192.168.0.2
  # ipv6 = fd12:3456:789a:1::2
  web-server = true
  job-server = true
[cluster "ghe-app-node-2"]
  hostname = ghe-app-node-2
  ipv4 = 192.168.0.3
  # ipv6 = fd12:3456:789a:1::3
  web-server = true
  job-server = true
[cluster "ghe-data-node-1"]
  hostname = ghe-data-node-1
  ipv4 = 192.168.0.4
  # ipv6 = fd12:3456:789a:1::4
  consul-server = true
  consul-datacenter = default
  git-server = true
  pages-server = true
  mysql-server = true
  elasticsearch-server = true
  redis-server = true
  memcache-server = true
  metrics-server = true
  storage-server = true
[cluster "ghe-data-node-2"]
  hostname = ghe-data-node-2
  ipv4 = 192.168.0.5
  # ipv6 = fd12:3456:789a:1::5
  consul-server = true
  consul-datacenter = default
  git-server = true
  pages-server = true
  mysql-server = true
  elasticsearch-server = true
  redis-server = true
  memcache-server = true
  metrics-server = true
  storage-server = true
[cluster "ghe-data-node-3"]
  hostname = ghe-data-node-3
  ipv4 = 192.168.0.6
  # ipv6 = fd12:3456:789a:1::6
  consul-server = true
  consul-datacenter = default
  git-server = true
  pages-server = true
  mysql-server = true
  elasticsearch-server = true
  redis-server = true
  memcache-server = true
  metrics-server = true
  storage-server = true
```

Create the file `/data/user/common/cluster.conf` on the configured first node. For example, using `vim`:

   ```shell
   ghe-data-node-1:~$ sudo vim /data/user/common/cluster.conf
   ```