# create-node ## Description Create a SingleStore node on a specific host. Before running this command, SingleStore must be installed on the host. Use `sdb-deploy install` to install SingleStore on the host. The `--password` flag specifies the SingleStore`root` password for the node being created; it is required unless you use the `--no-start` flag. You can use the `--password` flag in conjunction with the `--user` flag to specify a SingleStore user that is different from the `root` user and the user’s password. Note that the `MEMSQL_PASSWORD` environment variable is a safer alternative option for setting the password. Wrap the password string in single quotes (') to avoid having the shell try to interpret any special characters included in the string. The `create-node` command will create a SingleStore node on a registered host by creating its config file and associated data directories on the filesystem. This command will also start the node by default. If you are managing the node state with `systemd` (via the `sdb-systemd-client` command), consider running this command with the `--no-start` flag, and then start the node using either the [sdb-admin start-node](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/start-node.md) or [sdb-admin restart-node](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/restart-node.md) commands. After the node is created, run the `sdb-admin enable-systemd-client` command to enable `systemd` management for the new node. **Examples** ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password TEST_PASSWORD ``` This will create a node on `host1` with its files in the default install directory on `host1`. The node will also be started and the database root password will be set to `TEST_PASSWORD`. If you do not want to use the `--password` flag to pass in the database root password you may also set the environment variable `MEMSQL_PASSWORD`. The `--password` option must be specified if the node will be started, but it may be set to the empty string (equivalent to no password) for convenience in demo or testing situations: ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password "" ``` If you only want to lay out the node's data and directories on the filesystem but do not want to start the process, use the `--no-start` flag: ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --no-start ``` Note that you must *not* specify a password with the `--no-start` flag and thus, when the node is eventually started, its SingleStore root password will not be set. You must run [sdb-admin change-root-password](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/change-root-password.md) to set it. To configure the port (default `3306`): ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password TEST_PASSWORD --port 3307 ``` By default, the node's data and directories will be rooted in a base install directory (named via randomly generated UUID) which is in the default install directory. To find out where the default install directory is on `host1`, run `memsqlctl env` on `host1`. Note that the `singlestoredb-server``.rpm` and `.deb` packages configure the default install dir to be `/var/lib/memsql`. If you want to change where the node's base install directory is on `host1`: ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password TEST_PASSWORD --base-install-dir /memsql_node_1 ``` This will lay out all of the node's data and directories on `host1` in `/memsql_node_1`. The filesystem will resemble: ``` /memsql_node_1 memsql.cnf data/ auditlogs/ plancache/ tracelogs/ ``` If you want to change the location of only one directory and leave the rest in a directory rooted in the default install directory on `host1`: ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password TEST_PASSWORD --datadir /data/memsql_node_1/data ``` The filesystem will resemble: ``` {default install dir} {base dir} memsql.cnf auditlogs/ plancache/ tracelogs/ /data/memsql_node_1 data/ ``` In addition, the `--role` option can be used to assign a role to the node after creation. Possible roles are `leaf`, `aggregator`, and `master`. To create an aggregator node: ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password TEST_PASSWORD --role aggregator ``` Some additional flags can be used to set role-specific options. For example, the role of `master` requires a license to be provided or the `MEMSQL_LICENSE` environment variable to be set: ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password TEST_PASSWORD --role master --license your_license ``` The `--set-configs` option can be used to set configuration variables before starting the node. Only those variables that can be set on startup are permitted: ```shell sdb-admin create-node --host host1 --password TEST_PASSWORD --port 3307 --role leaf \ --set-configs http_api=ON,max_connection_threads=200 ``` ## Usage ``` Usage: sdb-admin create-node [flags] For flags that can accept multiple values (indicated by VALUES after the name of the flag), separate each value with a comma. Flags: --aggregator-role {follower, voting_member} The role that an aggregator will be assigned when added. This option identifies whether the added aggregator will be a candidate for Master Aggregator failover. Possible roles are voting_member and follower. The default value is follower. (default follower) --allow-ipv6 Allow the node to use IPv6 --auditlogsdir STRING Absolute path to the auditlogs dir on the target host --availability-group INT Availability group to assign to the leaf node --base-install-dir STRING Absolute path to the base install directory on the target host --bind-address STRING The bind address --datadir STRING Absolute path to the data dir on the target host --disable-auto-restart Disable automatic restarting of memsqld on error --force-master Force-assigns the role of master, even if a master exists -h, --help Help for create-node --host string Where to create the node --license LICENSE License to apply to the master node --memsql-config STRING Absolute path to the node config file path on the target host --no-start Do not start the node -p, --password STRING The database user's password. If a password is specified on the command line, it must not contain an unescaped '$' character as it will be replaced by the shell. If a password is not specified on the command line and --no-start is not set, Toolbox will attempt to read the password from the ‘MEMSQL_PASSWORD’ environment variable. If this variable is present but does not contain a value, or if the variable does not exist, Toolbox will prompt for a password --plancachedir STRING Absolute path to the plancache dir on the target host -P, --port PORT The port --role {master, aggregator, leaf, unknown} Role that a node will be assigned when created. Possible roles are LEAF, AGGREGATOR, and MASTER (default Unspecified) --set-configs key=value Set configuration variables for the node. Only those variables that can be set on startup are permitted. For example: --set-configs http_api=ON,max_connection_threads=200 (ADVANCED) --skip-feature-flags-enabling Skip automated enabling feature flags for SingleStore versions 9.1 and later (ADVANCED) --ssl-fips-mode string Whether the node operates in OpenSSL/FIPS mode --tracelogsdir STRING Absolute path to the tracelogs dir on the target host --user STRING The database user for setting a role --user-password STRING The database user's password for setting the role. If a password is specified on the command line, it must not contain an unescaped '$' character as it will be replaced by the shell Global Flags: --backup-cache FILE_PATH File path for the backup cache --cache-file FILE_PATH File path for the Toolbox node cache -c, --config FILE_PATH File path for the Toolbox configuration --disable-colors Disable color output in console, which some terminal sessions/environments may have difficulty with --disable-spinner Disable the progress spinner, which some terminal sessions/environments may have issues with -j, --json Enable JSON output --parallelism POSITIVE_INTEGER Maximum number of operations to run in parallel --runtime-dir DIRECTORY_PATH Where to store Toolbox runtime data --ssh-control-persist SECONDS Enable SSH ControlPersist and set it to the specified duration in seconds --ssh-max-sessions POSITIVE_INTEGER Maximum number of SSH sessions to open per host, must be at least 3 --ssh-strict-host-key-checking Enable strict host key checking for SSH connections --ssh-user-known-hosts-file FILE_PATH Path to the user known_hosts file for SSH connections. If not set, /dev/null will be used --state-file FILE_PATH Toolbox state file path -v, --verbosity count Increase logging verbosity: valid values are 1, 2, 3. Usage -v=count or --verbosity=count -y, --yes Enable non-interactive mode and assume the user would like to move forward with the proposed actions by default ``` ## Remarks This command is interactive unless you use either `--yes` or `--json` flag to override interactive behavior. *** Modified at: May 15, 2026 Source: [/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/create-node/](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/create-node/) (An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)