# Install from binary

This documentation is for  
an as-yet unreleased  
version of Cerbos PDP. Choose 0.53.0 from the version picker at the top right or navigate to [https://docs.cerbos.dev](https://docs.cerbos.dev/) for the latest version.

Cerbos PDP binaries are available for multiple operating systems and architectures. See the [releases page](https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos/releases/tag/v0.54.0-prerelease) for all available downloads.

| OS    | Arch     | Bundle                                      |
|-------|----------|---------------------------------------------|
| Linux | x86-64  | `cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz` |
| Linux | arm64   | `cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_arm64.tar.gz` |
| MacOS | universal| `cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Darwin_all.tar.gz` |
| MacOS | x86-64  | `cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz` |
| MacOS | arm64   | `cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz` |

You can download the binaries by running the following command. Substitute `<BUNDLE>` with the appropriate value from the above table.

```sh
curl -L -o cerbos.tar.gz "https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos/releases/download/v0.54.0-prerelease/<BUNDLE>"
tar xvf cerbos.tar.gz
chmod +x cerbos
```

Cerbos PDP binaries are signed using [sigstore](https://www.sigstore.dev/) tools during the automated build process and the verification bundle is published along with the binary as `<BUNDLE>.sigstore.json`.

The following example demonstrates how to verify the Linux X86_64 bundle archive.

```sh
# Download the bundle archive
curl -L \  
  -o cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz \  
  "https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos/releases/download/v0.54.0-prerelease/cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz"
# Download the verification bundle
curl -L \  
  -o cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz.sigstore.json \  
  "https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos/releases/download/v0.54.0-prerelease/cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz.sigstore.json"
# Verify the signature
cosign verify-blob \  
  --certificate-oidc-issuer="https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com" \  
  --certificate-identity="https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos/.github/workflows/release.yaml@refs/tags/v0.54.0-prerelease" \  
  --bundle="cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz.sigstore.json" \  
  "cerbos_0.54.0-prerelease_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz"
```

## Linux packages

Cerbos PDP DEB and RPM packages can be installed on any Linux distribution that supports one of those package formats. You can download the appropriate package for your system from the [releases page](https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos/releases/tag/v0.54.0-prerelease).

Cerbos PDP packages are currently only designed to work with systems where `systemd` is the init system. If you use a different init system, consider installing cerbos from the tarballs instead.

The packages install the `cerbos` and `cerbosctl` binaries to `/usr/local/bin` and create a systemd service to automatically start the Cerbos PDP server. The default configuration is setup to look for policies in `/var/cerbos/policies` but you can change this by editing `/etc/cerbos/yaml` and reloading the service with `sudo systemctl restart cerbos`.

```sh
# Show status of the service
sudo systemctl status cerbos

# Restart the service
sudo systemctl restart cerbos

# View logs
sudo journalctl -xeu cerbos.service
```

## Homebrew

You can install Cerbos PDP binaries using Homebrew as well.

```sh
brew tap cerbos/tap
brew install cerbos
```

## npm

You can install Cerbos PDP binaries from the npm registry. This removes a separate setup step for JavaScript projects and allows you to lock Cerbos PDP to a specific version to ensure a consistent development environment.

[cerbos](https://www.npmjs.com/package/cerbos) and [cerbosctl](https://www.npmjs.com/package/cerbosctl) are available as separate packages.

```sh
npm install --save-dev cerbos cerbosctl
```

Note that the npm packages rely on platform-specific optional dependencies, so make sure you don’t omit these when installing dependencies (for example, don’t pass the `--no-optional` flag to `npm`).

## Nix flake

A [Nix flake](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes) is available at [https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos-flake](https://github.com/cerbos/cerbos-flake).

```none
# Launch a Cerbos PDP server
nix run github:cerbos/cerbos-flake#cerbos -- server --set=storage.disk.directory=/path/to/policy_directory

# Launch a REPL
nix run github:cerbos/cerbos-flake#cerbos -- repl

# Launch cerbosctl
nix run github:cerbos/cerbos-flake#cerbosctl

# Start a Nix shell session with cerbos and cerbosctl installed
nix shell github:cerbos/cerbos-flake
```