Install or Update MI via Installation Packages (for MI v5.x)

This article provides a step-by-step instruction on how to install Metric Insights v5.x on your virtual machine and describes the ways available to update the system to a newer version.

NOTE: Metric Insights by default installs to /opt. MySQL by default installs to /var. The installer and the application makes use of /tmp. If the three directories live as separate partitions on the host server, please ensure there is adequate disk space to support the application and database. 

Metric Insights app directory = /opt/mi
MySQL default directory = /var/lib/mysql
Temp files = /tmp

1. Connect to the server by ssh

  1. Use ssh root@000.000.000.000 and replace the zeros with the server IP address
  2. When prompted, enter the root password provided by your IT specialist

2. Download MI installation package

Download MI installation package
  1. Depending on the system version your organization plans to install, Metric Insights team will provide you with a link to a corresponding installation package version
  2. Along with a link, Username and Password should be provided by the MI support team.; enter credentials into corresponding fields
  3. Check the box to confirm your agreement with terms and conditions of Metric Insights usage
  4. Click Submit

The download process of the .zip archive containing all files required to install the system will begin.

3. Operating Systems Supported

Operating Systems Supported

3.1. Additional Actions for Operating Systems

Different operating systems require specific additional steps to be performed before and after installation process. Refer to the table below to learn additional commands that should be run for successful package installation.


If you are using a firewall on the linux machine, inbound TCP ports 443 and 8443 are necessary for Metric Insights to work correctly. To open them use the following commands:

Examples for iptables:

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --sport 80 -m state --state ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --sport 443 -m state --state ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8443 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --sport 8443 -m state --state ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT

Examples for ufw:

ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw allow 8443/tcp

Examples for firewall-cmd:

firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=80/tcp --permanent
firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=443/tcp --permanent
firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=8443/tcp --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload
Operating System Additional steps
Centos 6, 7
    1. yum -y update
    2. sudo yum install epel-release
Debian 7 If you cannot get access to ssh root@000.000.000.000, run the following command to verify whether the ssh service has been previously installed:
    service ssh status
If it is installed, the system will return the OK status, informing you that ssh is running. If the system perceives this command as unknown, install ssh servoce on Debian:
    apt-get install ssh
RedHat 7
    1. yum -y update
    2. cd /tmp/
    3. wget https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
    4. sudo yum install epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
    5. subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-optional-rpms

4. Ensure required Linux packages to support the application are available

See this article for more details: Operating system linux package requirements / dependencies

5. Unpack the downloaded zip archive using the following command 

tar -xvf MetricInsights-Installer-<version_number>.tar.gz

6. Change directory to the new install location 

cd MetricInsights-Installer-<version_number>

7. Initiate the installation process 

./installer.py -vv

NOTE: The installer must be run as root or a user with sudo access.

For additional parameters to use with the installer, please see ./installer.py --help

If you encounter any errors, please contact support@metricinsights.com.

8. Post-checks once the install is complete

Once the installation is complete, confirm the version of Metric Insights from the command line by running this command:

mi-version

Also confirm that major system services for the application are running without issue:

  • MySQL/MariaDB service
  • Apache service
  • Cron service
  • NTP service

Next, log into the UI and confirm the version number in the lower left-hand corner of the homepage. Also check Admin > Status Monitor to get an overview of the application's status.

9. If upgrading by running the installer

First, back up your application before running the installer to upgrade. Run this utility from the command line:

mi-app-backup -vv

By default, the backup file will save to /var/backups/mi-app-backups/. To specify a different path and for additional parameters to use with the utility, please see mi-app-backup --help.