[[installing-watcher]] == Installing Watcher The <> steps through a basic Watcher installation. This section provides some additional information about the installation prerequisites, deployment options, and the installation process for RPM/DEB package installations. [float] [[installation-prerequisites]] === Watcher Installation Prerequisites All you need to use Watcher is: * Java 7 or later * Elasticsearch {version} * Elasticsearch License plugin For information about installing the latest Oracle JDK, see http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index-jsp-138363.html[Java SE Downloads]. For information about installing Elasticsearch, see {ref}/_installation.html[Installation] in the Elasticsearch Reference. If you are using Shield, you’ve already installed the License plugin. If you haven't, installing Shield is part of the basic installation instructions in the <> guide. [float] [[deploying-existing-cluster]] === Deploying Watcher on an Existing Cluster Deploying watcher directly to the nodes of an existing cluster is generally the easiest way to get started with Watcher. Keep in mind, however, that this requires stopping and starting all of the nodes in your cluster. For larger clusters, we recommend <>. When you deploy Watcher on an existing cluster, you use the <> to search the cluster's indexes and load the results into a watch's payload. To deploy to an existing cluster, you need to install the License and Watcher plugins on every node in the cluster. For general installation instructions, see the <> guide. If you are using the Elasticsearch DEB/RPM packages, see <> for more information. [float] [[deploying-separate-cluster]] === Deploying Watcher as a Separate Cluster If you have a larger cluster, we recommend running Watcher on a separate monitoring cluster. If you're using a separate cluster for Marvel, you can install Watcher on the nodes you're using to store your Marvel data. When you deploy watcher on a separate cluster, you use the <> to send search requests to the cluster you are monitoring and load the results into a watch's payload. To deploy to a separate monitoring cluster, you need to install the License and Watcher plugins on every node in the monitoring cluster. For general installation instructions, see the <> guide. If you are using the Elasticsearch DEB/RPM packages, see <> for more information. [float] [[package-installation]] === Installing Watcher on a DEB/RPM Package Installation If you use the DEB/RPM packages to install Elasticsearch, by default Elasticsearch is installed in `/usr/share/elasticsearch` and the configuration files are stored in `/etc/elasticsearch`. (For the complete list of default paths, see {ref}/setup-dir-layout.html#_deb_and_rpm[Directory Layout] in the Elasticsearch Reference.) To install the Watcher and License plugins on a DEB/RPM package installation, you need to run `bin/plugin -i` from the `/usr/share/elasticsearch` directory with superuser permissions, and specify the location of the configuration files by setting `-Des.path.conf`. For example: [source,shell] ---------------------------------------------------------- cd /usr/share/elasticsearch sudo bin/plugin -i license -Des.path.conf=/etc/elasticsearch sudo bin/plugin -i watcher -Des.path.conf=/etc/elasticsearch ---------------------------------------------------------- [float] [[offline-installation]] === Installing Watcher on Offline Machines Elasticsearch’s `bin/plugin` script requires direct Internet access to download and install the License and Watcher plugins. If your server doesn’t have Internet access, you can manually download and install the plugins. To install Watcher on a machine that doesn't have Internet access: . Manually download the License and Watcher binaries: ** https://download.elastic.co/elasticsearch/license/license-latest.zip[ https://download.elastic.co/elasticsearch/license/license-latest.zip] . Transfer the zip files to the offline machine. . Run `bin/plugin` with the `-u` option to install the plugins using the zip files. For example: + [source,shell] ---------------------------------------------------------- bin/plugin -i watcher -u file:///path/to/file/watcher-{version}.zip <1> ---------------------------------------------------------- <1> Note that you must specify an absolute path to the zip file after the `file://` protocol.