Docker setup

Get VectorAI DB running locally using Docker in just a few minutes.

Prerequisites

Before installing, ensure you have:

• At least 8 GB RAM (16 GB+ recommended)
• 10 GB disk space (100 GB+ recommended)

Docker Required: VectorAI DB runs as a Docker container. Make sure Docker is installed and running on your system before proceeding. Get Docker

For best performance, use the recommended configuration outlined above.

Pull and run VectorAI DB

Pull and run the VectorAI DB Docker container:

docker pull actian/vectorai:latest
docker run -d --name vectorai \
  -v ./local_data:/var/lib/actian-vectorai \
  -p 6573-6575:6573-6575 \
  -e ACTIAN_VECTORAI_ACCEPT_EULA=YES \
  actian/vectorai:latest

The gRPC server is available at localhost:6574. The Local UI is available at localhost:6575.

Using Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  vectorai:
    image: actian/vectorai:latest
    container_name: vectorai
    ports:
      - "6573:6573"
      - "6574:6574"
      - "6575:6575"
    volumes:
      - ./local_data:/var/lib/actian-vectorai
    environment:
      - ACTIAN_VECTORAI_ACCEPT_EULA=YES
    restart: unless-stopped

Start the service:

docker-compose up -d

Stop the service:

docker-compose down

Verify installation

Python SDK Required: To verify your installation, you need to have the VectorAI Python SDK installed. Install it using pip install actian-vectorai-client or follow the Python SDK installation guide.

Test your installation by checking the server health:

from actian_vectorai import VectorAIClient

with VectorAIClient("localhost:6574") as client:
    info = client.health_check()
    print(f"Connected to {info['title']} v{info['version']}")

Troubleshooting

Common issues

The table below lists common installation issues and their solutions.

Issue	Solution
Connection failed	Ensure Docker container is running: docker ps
Port already in use	Stop services using port 6574 or use a different port: -p 6576:6574
Permission denied	Run Docker commands with appropriate permissions or add user to docker group
Container exits	Check logs: docker logs <container-id>
Container exits (Linux / WSL2)	Volume mount permission mismatch: the container runs as UID 999. Run chown -R 999:999 ./local_data on the host, then restart the container.

View Docker logs

Check container logs for errors:

# List running containers
docker ps

# View logs
docker logs <container-id>

# Follow logs in real-time
docker logs -f <container-id>

Next steps

Quickstart

Follow the quickstart guide to create your first collection

Core Concepts

Learn about vector databases and embeddings

Python SDK

Get started with the Python SDK