SonarQube Installation and Setup

This topic walks you through installing SonarQube on your local machine or a server. You will install the SonarQube server, connect it to a database, and verify that the web interface loads correctly.

System Requirements

Before installing, confirm your machine meets these requirements:

• RAM: Minimum 2 GB, recommended 4 GB or more
• CPU: 2 cores minimum
• Java: Java 17 or later (required to run SonarQube)
• Operating System: Linux, Windows, or macOS
• Database: PostgreSQL 14+ (recommended), Microsoft SQL Server, or Oracle

Installation Overview

STEP 1: Install Java 17+
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STEP 2: Install PostgreSQL and create a database
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STEP 3: Download SonarQube Community Edition
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STEP 4: Configure sonar.properties
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STEP 5: Start SonarQube
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STEP 6: Open browser at http://localhost:9000

Step 1: Install Java

SonarQube runs on the Java Virtual Machine. Download Java 17 or later from adoptium.net (Temurin distribution is free and widely used).

After installation, open a terminal and verify:

java -version

You should see output like: openjdk version "17.0.x"

Step 2: Set Up PostgreSQL

SonarQube needs a relational database to store scan results and configuration. PostgreSQL is the recommended choice for most teams.

After installing PostgreSQL, create a dedicated database and user:

-- Run these commands in the PostgreSQL shell (psql)
CREATE USER sonar WITH PASSWORD 'sonar_password';
CREATE DATABASE sonarqube OWNER sonar;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE sonarqube TO sonar;

Write down the username, password, and database name — you will need them in the next step.

Step 3: Download SonarQube

Visit sonarqube.org/downloads and download the Community Edition ZIP file. Extract the archive to a permanent location such as:

• Linux: /opt/sonarqube
• Windows: C:\sonarqube

Step 4: Configure sonar.properties

Open the file at conf/sonar.properties inside the extracted folder. Find and update these three lines:

sonar.jdbc.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost/sonarqube
sonar.jdbc.username=sonar
sonar.jdbc.password=sonar_password

Save the file. These settings tell SonarQube how to connect to your PostgreSQL database.

Linux-Specific: Kernel Settings

SonarQube uses Elasticsearch internally. Elasticsearch requires a specific Linux kernel setting. Add this line to /etc/sysctl.conf:

vm.max_map_count=524288

Apply the setting without rebooting:

sudo sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=524288

Windows and macOS users can skip this step.

Step 5: Start SonarQube

Navigate to the bin folder inside the SonarQube directory, then go into the folder for your operating system:

Linux:
  bin/linux-x86-64/sonar.sh start

Windows:
  bin\windows-x86-64\StartSonar.bat

macOS:
  bin/macosx-universal-64/sonar.sh start

The first startup takes 2–3 minutes as SonarQube initializes the database and indexes.

Step 6: Open the Web Interface

Open a browser and navigate to:

http://localhost:9000

Log in with the default credentials:

• Username: admin
• Password: admin

SonarQube immediately asks you to change the default password. Choose a strong password and save it.

What the First Login Looks Like

+----------------------------------------------+
|           SONARQUBE  9000                    |
+----------------------------------------------+
|                                              |
|   Welcome! Change your password first.       |
|                                              |
|   New password: [______________]             |
|   Confirm:      [______________]             |
|                                              |
|          [Update and Continue]               |
|                                              |
+----------------------------------------------+

Installing SonarQube with Docker (Alternative)

If you have Docker installed, you can run SonarQube without a manual setup. Run this single command:

docker run -d --name sonarqube \
  -p 9000:9000 \
  sonarqube:community

Docker automatically downloads the SonarQube image and starts it. The web interface is available at http://localhost:9000 after about 60 seconds. This method uses an embedded H2 database, which works for learning but is not suitable for team use.

Checking Logs if Something Goes Wrong

SonarQube writes logs to the logs folder. Check these files when troubleshooting:

• logs/sonar.log — main startup log
• logs/web.log — web server log
• logs/es.log — Elasticsearch (search engine) log

Most installation failures are caused by wrong database credentials, Java not being found, or the vm.max_map_count setting missing on Linux.

Verifying the Installation

After login, the SonarQube dashboard appears with no projects yet. The status bar at the bottom of the page shows all system components as green when everything is running correctly.

STATUS BAR
+--------+-----------+----------+-----------+
| DB     | WebServer | Search   | Compute   |
| GREEN  | GREEN     | GREEN    | GREEN     |
+--------+-----------+----------+-----------+

If any component shows red or yellow, check the corresponding log file for the error message.