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This document will get you up and running with Meltano in-depth. There is also a short install guide for first-time Meltano users.
Short on time, or just curious what the fuss is about? Watch the "0 to DataOps" speedrun to get a sense of the Meltano experience in just a few minutes!
In the section below, we will install Meltano locally on your system, so that you can use it on the command line and from your browser.
For MacOS (Including the M1), Linux Distributions, and more!
Before you install Meltano, make sure you have the following requirements installed and up to date.
You may refer to https://realpython.com/installing-python/ for platform specific installation instructions.
Use the following command to check that you have a supported Python version installed:
python --version
Currently Python 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 and 3.11 are supported. Some plugins do not yet support Python 3.11.
pip is a package installer that comes automatically with Python 3+.
pipx is a wrapper around pip which cleanly installs executable python tools (such as Meltano) into their own virtual environments.
# install pipx and ensure it is on the path
python3 -m pip install --user pipx
python3 -m pipx ensurepath
# Be sure pipx is available on your path
source ~/.bashrc
Why use pipx and virtual environments?
Your local environment may use a different version of Python or other dependencies that are difficult to manage. The pipx installer automatically creates a virtual environment and provides a "clean" isolated space without version conflicts or other compatibility issues.
Now that you have pipx installed, run the following command to install the Meltano package into its own pipx-backed virtual environment:
pipx install meltano
Once the installation completes, you can check if it was successful by running:
meltano --version
Some components of Meltano are optional and not installed by default. See the guide on installing optional components for more information.
Now that you’ve installed Meltano and its requirements, you can continue setting up your Meltano project by following the Getting Started guide.
Please note that Windows is not fully supported yet so some features like the UI, and the ELT command may not work yet. See the GitHub Windows Label for more information.
If you’d like all of Meltano’s features to work, you can install Meltano inside the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). You may also try installing Meltano on Docker.
Before you install Meltano, make sure you have the following requirements installed and up to date.
You may refer to https://realpython.com/installing-python/ for platform specific installation instructions.
Use the following command to check that you have a supported Python version installed:
python --version
Currently Python 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 and 3.11 are supported. Some plugins do not yet support Python 3.11.
pip is a package installer that comes automatically with Python 3+.
pipx is a wrapper around pip which cleanly installs executable python tools (such as Meltano) into their own virtual environments.
# install pipx and ensure it is on the path
python3 -m pip install --user pipx
python3 -m pipx ensurepath
#Be sure pipx is available on your path
RefreshEnv
Why use pipx and virtual environments?
Your local environment may use a different version of Python or other dependencies that are difficult to manage. The pipx installer automatically creates a virtual environment and provides a "clean" isolated space without version conflicts or other compatibility issues.
Now that you have pipx installed, run the following command to install the Meltano package into its own pipx-backed virtual environment:
pipx install meltano
Once the installation completes, you can check if it was successful by running:
meltano --version
Now that you’ve installed Meltano and its requirements, you can continue setting up your Meltano project by following the Getting Started guide.
Docker is an alternative installation option to using a virtual environment to run Meltano. To use these instructions you will need to install Docker onto your computer and have it running when you execute the commands below.
We maintain the meltano/meltano Docker image on Docker Hub, which comes with Python and Meltano pre-installed.
To get the latest version of Meltano, pull the latest tag. Images for specific versions of Meltano are tagged v<X.Y.Z>, e.g. v1.55.0.
By default, these images come with a version of Python chosen for a balance of stability and compatibility, currently Python 3.9.
If you’d like to use a different version of Python instead, add a -python<X.Y> suffix to the image tag, e.g. latest-python3.7 and v1.54.0-python3.7.
# download or update to the latest version
docker pull meltano/meltano
# Or choose a specific version of Meltano and/or Python:
# docker pull meltano/meltano:v1.55.0
# docker pull meltano/meltano:latest-python3.7
# docker pull meltano/meltano:v1.55.0-python3.8
# check the currently installed version
docker run meltano/meltano --version
Once you have Docker installed, running, and have pulled the pre-built image you can use Meltano just as you would in our Getting Started Guide. However, the command line syntax is slightly different. For example, let’s create a new Meltano project:
cd /your/projects/directory
docker run -v "$(pwd)":/projects \
-w /projects \
meltano/meltano init yourprojectname
Then you can cd into your new project:
cd yourprojectname
Now that you’re successfully running Meltano, you can continue setting up your Meltano project by following the Getting Started guide.
Note that wherever you are asked to run the meltano command, you will want to run it through docker run as in the snippet above.
Are you having installation or deployment problems? We are here to help you. Check out Getting Help on the different ways to get in touch with us.
We release new versions of Meltano every week. To keep tabs on the latest releases, follow along on the Meltano blog, or have a look at our CHANGELOG.
You can update Meltano to the latest version by running the following command in your terminal from inside a Meltano project:
meltano upgrade