Installation

Install Expanso Edge to run data pipelines on your infrastructure.

System Requirements

Expanso Edge has a minimal footprint and runs on most modern systems:

• CPU: 0.5 cores
• RAM: 64 MB
• Disk: 150 MB

These requirements may increase based on your pipeline configuration, data volume, and buffering needs.

Supported platforms:

• Linux (kernel 3.10+)
• macOS (10.15+)
• Windows (10+)
• Docker

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Install Expanso Edge

Linux / macOS

# Install Expanso Edge
curl -fsSL https://get.expanso.io/edge/install.sh | bash

# Verify installation
expanso-edge version

Expected output:

Expanso Edge v1.x.x

Windows

Windows Installation

The automated PowerShell installer is not yet available. For Windows installation:

Option 1: Use Docker (Recommended)

# Pull and run Expanso Edge via Docker
docker pull ghcr.io/expanso-io/expanso-edge:nightly
docker run ghcr.io/expanso-io/expanso-edge:nightly version

Option 2: Manual Installation Contact [email protected] for Windows binary download instructions.

Option 3: WSL2 Install via Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2):

# Inside WSL2 Ubuntu/Debian
curl -fsSL https://get.expanso.io/edge/install.sh | bash

Docker

# Pull Expanso Edge image
docker pull ghcr.io/expanso-io/expanso-edge:nightly

# Run Expanso Edge
docker run -d \
  --name expanso-edge \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  ghcr.io/expanso-io/expanso-edge:nightly run

Kubernetes

Step 1: Create a Secret for the bootstrap token

# Get your bootstrap token from Expanso Cloud, then create a Secret
kubectl create secret generic expanso-bootstrap \
  --from-literal=token=YOUR_BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN

Step 2: Deploy Expanso Edge as a sidecar.

In this example, we are deploying the edge node as a sidecar for nginx, but this can be replaced with your own app. Additionally, you can run Expanso Edge by itself if that suits your usecase.

cat <<'EOF' | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-app
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-app
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: my-app
          image: nginx:alpine
          ports:
            - containerPort: 80
          volumeMounts:
            - name: shared-logs
              mountPath: /var/log/nginx

        - name: expanso-edge
          image: ghcr.io/expanso-io/expanso-edge:nightly
          args:
            - run
            - --bootstrap-token
            - "$(EXPANSO_EDGE_BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN)"
          env:
            - name: EXPANSO_EDGE_BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: expanso-bootstrap
                  key: token
          volumeMounts:
            - name: expanso-cache
              mountPath: /var/lib/expanso
            - name: shared-logs
              mountPath: /var/log/nginx

      volumes:
        - name: expanso-cache
          emptyDir: {}
        - name: shared-logs
          emptyDir: {}
EOF

Kubernetes Best Practices

• Use Secrets for tokens: Never hardcode bootstrap tokens in manifests. Use Kubernetes Secrets and reference them via secretKeyRef.
• Prefer stdout/stderr: Kubernetes captures container stdout/stderr logs by default. Emitting logs there integrates with cluster logging drivers.
• Use a shared volume for file logs: If your app writes logs to files, mount them on an emptyDir (or hostPath for host-level logs) and point Expanso at those paths.

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Run Expanso Edge

Once installed, start the edge node. Note, this does not apply if you have installed the edge using Docker or kubernetes, since they will be already running.

expanso-edge run

Expanso Edge will prompt you for a registration token to join your network. Get this token from your network in Expanso Cloud.

Options

# Run with custom name (defaults to hostname)
expanso-edge run --name my-edge-node

# Run with config file
expanso-edge run --config /path/to/config.yaml

# Run with verbose logging
expanso-edge run --verbose

# Or set log level
expanso-edge run --log-level debug

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Install expanso-cli (Optional)

expanso-cli is the command-line interface for interacting with Expanso Cloud and edge nodes via API.

When you need it:

• Local development with Local Mode
• CI/CD automation and scripting
• Programmatic job deployment
• API access without writing code

When you don't need it:

• Running pipelines with expanso-edge run --config (standalone mode)
• Using Expanso Cloud web UI only

Installation:

curl -fsSL https://get.expanso.io/cli/install.sh | sh

Verify installation (once installed):

expanso-cli version

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What's Next?

• Quick Start: Build your first pipeline
• Core Concepts: Understand how Expanso works
• Components: Explore available inputs, processors, and outputs
• Local Mode: Use expanso-cli for local development