Installation
Prerequisites
Serverpod is tested on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Before you can install Serverpod, you need to have Flutter installed.
Check your Flutter installation by running the following command in your terminal:
$ flutter doctor
Serverpod supports SQLite as a database, which means you can develop locally without installing Docker or running a separate database server. You can also use Postgres which includes support for vectors and other advanced features.
Using Postgres locally instead of SQLite
If you want to use Postgres rather than SQLite on your machine, install Docker and use it to run PostgreSQL locally. Each Serverpod project ships with its own docker-compose.yaml, so you do not need to assemble custom containers. The Getting Started guide walks you through the details.
Check your Docker installation by running the following command in your terminal:
$ docker info
If you are using Docker Desktop and you get an error, make sure that Docker is running. You can check this by looking for the Docker icon in your system tray or taskbar. If it's not running, start Docker Desktop and try again.
Install Serverpod
Serverpod is installed using the Dart package manager. To install Serverpod, run the following command in your terminal:
$ dart install serverpod_cli 3.5.0-beta.6
This command will install the Serverpod command-line interface (CLI) globally on your machine. You can verify the installation by running:
$ serverpod
If everything is correctly configured, the help for the serverpod command is now displayed.
If the Serverpod CLI is already installed globally, deactivate it before installing or upgrading:
$ dart pub global deactivate serverpod_cli
Install the VS Code extension (recommended)
The Serverpod VS Code extension makes it easy to work with your Serverpod projects. It provides real-time diagnostics and syntax highlighting for model files in your project.
You can install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace or search for Serverpod from inside VS Code.
Install Serverpod Insights (optional)
Serverpod Insights is a companion app bundled with Serverpod. It allows you to access your server's logs and health metrics. Insights is available for Mac and Windows, but we will be adding support for Linux in the future.
