Binary Installation

Binary installation gives you direct control over the Memos process and is ideal for production deployments where you want to manage the service directly.

Download Binary

Latest Release

Download the latest binary for your platform from GitHub Releases:

# Linux x86_64
wget https://github.com/usememos/memos/releases/latest/download/memos_linux_amd64.tar.gz

# Linux ARM64  
wget https://github.com/usememos/memos/releases/latest/download/memos_linux_arm64.tar.gz

# macOS Intel
wget https://github.com/usememos/memos/releases/latest/download/memos_darwin_amd64.tar.gz

# macOS Apple Silicon
wget https://github.com/usememos/memos/releases/latest/download/memos_darwin_arm64.tar.gz

# Windows x86_64
# Download from GitHub releases page

Extract and Install

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf memos_*.tar.gz

# Move to system location (Linux/macOS)
sudo mv memos /usr/local/bin/

# Make executable
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/memos

Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a configuration file or set environment variables:

# Create config directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/memos

# Create environment file
sudo tee /etc/memos/memos.env << EOF
MEMOS_MODE=prod
MEMOS_PORT=5230
MEMOS_DATA=/var/lib/memos
MEMOS_DRIVER=sqlite
# MEMOS_DSN=postgresql://user:pass@localhost/memos
EOF

Data Directory

Create and set permissions for the data directory:

# Create data directory
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/memos

# Create memos user (recommended)
sudo useradd --system --home /var/lib/memos --shell /bin/false memos

# Set ownership
sudo chown -R memos:memos /var/lib/memos

Running Memos

Manual Start

# Load environment and start
export $(cat /etc/memos/memos.env | xargs)
memos

As a Service (systemd)

Create a systemd service file:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/memos.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Memos
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=memos
Group=memos
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/memos
EnvironmentFile=/etc/memos/memos.env
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/memos
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

# Security settings
NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true
ProtectHome=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/memos

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Enable and start the service:

# Reload systemd
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable auto-start
sudo systemctl enable memos

# Start service
sudo systemctl start memos

# Check status
sudo systemctl status memos

Database Configuration

SQLite (Default)

No additional configuration needed. Database file will be created in the data directory.

PostgreSQL

Install PostgreSQL:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install postgresql-server postgresql-contrib

Create database and user:

-- Connect as postgres user
sudo -u postgres psql

-- Create database
CREATE DATABASE memos;

-- Create user
CREATE USER memos WITH PASSWORD 'your-secure-password';

-- Grant permissions
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE memos TO memos;

\q

Update configuration:

sudo tee -a /etc/memos/memos.env << EOF
MEMOS_DRIVER=postgres
MEMOS_DSN=postgresql://memos:your-secure-password@localhost:5432/memos
EOF

Reverse Proxy Setup

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name memos.example.com;
    
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:5230;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        
        # WebSocket support
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

Apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName memos.example.com
    
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPass / http://localhost:5230/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:5230/
    
    # WebSocket support
    RewriteEngine on
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:UPGRADE} websocket [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:CONNECTION} upgrade [NC]
    RewriteRule ^/?(.*) "ws://localhost:5230/$1" [P,L]
</VirtualHost>

Monitoring and Logs

Service Logs

# View recent logs
sudo journalctl -u memos -f

# View logs from specific date
sudo journalctl -u memos --since "2025-08-19"

# Export logs
sudo journalctl -u memos > memos.log

Health Check

# Simple health check
curl -f http://localhost:5230/healthz || echo "Service unhealthy"

# Detailed status
systemctl status memos

Updates

Manual Update

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop memos

# Backup current binary
sudo cp /usr/local/bin/memos /usr/local/bin/memos.backup

# Download and install new version
wget https://github.com/usememos/memos/releases/latest/download/memos_linux_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf memos_linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv memos /usr/local/bin/

# Start service
sudo systemctl start memos

# Verify
sudo systemctl status memos

Automated Updates

Create an update script:

#!/bin/bash
# /usr/local/bin/update-memos.sh

set -e

echo "Updating Memos..."

# Download latest release
LATEST_URL=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/usememos/memos/releases/latest | grep "browser_download_url.*linux_amd64.tar.gz" | cut -d'"' -f4)

# Download and extract
cd /tmp
wget -O memos.tar.gz "$LATEST_URL"
tar -xzf memos.tar.gz

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop memos

# Backup and replace
sudo cp /usr/local/bin/memos /usr/local/bin/memos.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d)
sudo mv memos /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/memos

# Start service
sudo systemctl start memos

echo "Memos updated successfully!"

Troubleshooting

Service Won't Start

Check logs: sudo journalctl -u memos -f
Verify permissions: ls -la /var/lib/memos
Test configuration: memos --help
Check port availability: sudo netstat -tlnp | grep :5230

Performance Issues

Check system resources: htop
Monitor database size: du -sh /var/lib/memos
Review query performance in logs
Consider upgrading to PostgreSQL for large datasets

Database Issues

# SQLite integrity check
sqlite3 /var/lib/memos/memos_prod.db "PRAGMA integrity_check;"

# Backup database
cp /var/lib/memos/memos_prod.db /var/lib/memos/backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).db

Backup Reminder: Always backup your data directory before performing updates or major configuration changes.

Next Steps

Configure HTTPS for secure access
Set up authentication for team access
Configure backups for data protection
Monitor your instance for optimal performance

Binary Installation

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