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Version: 1.5.0

Install Memgraph on Windows with WSL

This article briefly outlines the basic steps necessary to install and run Memgraph on Windows with the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Prerequisites​

Before you proceed with the installation guide make sure that you have:

  • Downloaded the latest Memgraph Debian Package which can be found here.
  • Windows Subsystem for Linux installed. You can find instructions on how to install it here.
  • The Debian app from the Microsoft Store.

Installation guide​

After downloading Memgraph as a Debian package and starting your Debian app, install Memgraph by running the following:

sudo dpkg -i /path/to/memgraph_<version>.deb
Where is the download directory?

Usually, you can find the download directory in this location /mnt/<drive>/Users/<username>.

Why use sudo?

In order to perform some actions on your operating system like installing new software, you may need superuser privileges (commonly called root). 

Normally, you would start Memgraph using systemd, but unfortunately, this is not an option in WSL. We can bypass this inconvenience by using the command runuser which allows us to run commands with a substitute user and group ID.

Start the Memgraph server by issuing the following command:

sudo runuser -l memgraph -c '/usr/lib/memgraph/memgraph'

If Memgraph has been installed correctly, you will see something like this:

You are running Memgraph v1.4.0-community

At this point, Memgraph is ready for you to submit queries.

caution

Potential installation error You could get errors while installing the package with the above commands if you don't have all of Memgraph's dependencies installed. The issues mostly look like the following:

dpkg: error processing package memgraph (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 memgraph

To install missing dependencies and finish the installation of the Memgraph package, just issue the following command:

sudo apt-get install -f

The above command will install all missing dependencies and will finish configuring the Memgraph package.

Configuration​

The Memgraph configuration is available in /etc/memgraph/memgraph.conf. If the Memgraph configuration is altered, Memgraph needs to be restarted.

Where to next?​

To learn how to query the database, take a look at the Querying guide or Memgraph Playground for interactive tutorials.
Visit the Building applications page if you need to connect to the database programmatically.

Getting help​

If you run into problems during the installation process, check out our installation troubleshooting guide to see if have already covered the topic. For more information on the installation process and for additional questions, visit the Getting help page.