Please use the form below to provide your feedback. Because your feedback is valuable to us, the information you submit in this form is recorded in our issue tracking system (JIRA), which is publicly available. You can track the status of your feedback using the ticket number displayed in the dialog once you submit the form.

A newer version of this documentation is available.

View Latest

Prepare to Install Sync Gateway

    March 23, 2025
    + 12

    Prerequisites for installing Sync Gateway; to synchronize your data from cloud to edge.
    This is Step 2 in the Start Here! topic group. It introduces the prerequisites for the installation of Sync Gateway

    Related Start Here! topics: Introduction | Install | Verify

    Introduction

    Steps in Getting Started

    Introduction | Prepare | Install | Verify

    In this Getting Started topic we will discuss the prerequisites you need to have in place before you begin installing the Sync Gateway package.

    On completion of this page you should:

    Your next step will be covered in Install

    Couchbase Requirements

    Before you can usefully use Sync Gateway, you will need an operational Couchbase Server installation. You should ensure that you are using compatible versions of Couchbase Server and Sync Gateway — see: Compatibility Requirements.

    You can get Couchbase Server from our Downloads page

    You will then need to configure Couchbase Server by adding a Bucket and an RBAC User for Sync Gateway — see: Configure Server for Sync Gateway.

    Users of Couchbase Server 6.0 should ensure they have addressed the known issue (MB-41255) by upgrading to one of the recommended Couchbase Server versions (6.0.5, 6.5.2, or 6.6.1).

    The known issue can cause re-balance failures and/or failed replica writes of deleted or expired documents that use Xattrs.

    This impacts Sync Gateway deployments running with shared bucket access enabled, which use Xattrs for metadata storage.

    Network Port Requirements

    Sync Gateway uses specific ports for communication with the outside world, mostly Couchbase Lite databases replicating to and from Sync Gateway — see Table 1 for details.

    Table 1. Sync Gateway Network Port Requirements
    Port Description

    4984

    Public port. External HTTP port used for replication with Couchbase Lite databases and other applications accessing the REST API on the Internet.

    The Public REST API is used for client replication. The default port for the Public REST API is 4984.

    4985

    Admin port. Internal HTTP port for unrestricted access to the database and to run administrative tasks.

    The Admin REST API is used to administer user accounts and roles. It can also be used to look at the contents of databases in superuser mode. The default port for the Admin REST API is 4985. By default, the Admin REST API is reachable only from localhost for safety reasons.

    4986

    Metrics port. By default 4986 is the internal HTTP port designated for providing access to Sync Gateway’s Metrics REST API. Like the admin port, it is bound to 127.0.0.1 by default.

    The Metrics REST API returns Sync Gateway metrics, in JSON and-or Prometheus-compatible formats, for performance monitoring and-or diagnostic purposes,

    Couchbase Server Host Ports

    For mobile deployment on premise or in the cloud (for example, AWS or Red Hat) open the following ports on the host to enable Couchbase Server to operate correctly:

    • Unencrypted: 8091-8093, 11210

    • Encrypted: 18091-18093, 11207

    Check that any firewall configuration allows communication on the specified ports.

    Compatibility with Couchbase Server

    Users of Couchbase Server 6.0 should ensure they have addressed the known issue (MB-41255) by upgrading to one of the recommended Couchbase Server versions (6.0.5, 6.5.2, or 6.6.1).

    The known issue can cause re-balance failures and/or failed replica writes of deleted or expired documents that use Xattrs.

    This impacts Sync Gateway deployments running with shared bucket access enabled, which use Xattrs for metadata storage.
    Table 2. Sync Gateway/Couchbase Server Compatibility Matrix

    Sync Gateway ↓

    Couchbase Server →

    4.0[1]

    4.1[1]

    4.5[1]

    4.6[1]

    5.0

    5.1

    5.5-7.1

    1.3[2]

    feed_type: "DCP"

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    1.4[2] feed_type: "DCP"

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    1.5[3]

    shared_bucket_access: false

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    1.5[3]

    shared_bucket_access: true

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    2.0

    shared_bucket_access: false

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    2.0

    shared_bucket_access: true

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    2.1

    shared_bucket_access: false

    use_views: true

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    2.1

    shared_bucket_access: true

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    2.1

    use_views: false

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔

    2.5-2.8

    shared_bucket_access: false

    use_views: true

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    2.5-2.8

    shared_bucket_access: true

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔

    ✔

    ✔

    2.5-2.8

    use_views: false

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✖

    ✔
    Couchbase Server Bucket Types
    Use only Couchbase bucket types in Couchbase for Mobile and Edge. We do not support the use of Couchbase Server’s Ephemeral or Memcached bucket types — for more on bucket types see: Couchbase Server bucket types.

    Compatibility with Couchbase Lite

    The table below summarizes the compatible versions of Couchbase Lite with Sync Gateway.

    Table 3. Sync Gateway and Couchbase Lite Compatibility Matrix

    Sync Gateway Versions ↓

    Couchbase Lite →

    1.4 [4]

    2.0

    2.1

    2.5 - 2.8

    3.0.0

    3.1.0

    3.2.0

    1.4 [2] and 1.5 [3]

    yes

    no

    no

    no

    no

    no

    no

    2.0 and 2.1

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    2.5 to 2.8
    with delta sync disabled

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    2.5 to 2.8
    with delta sync enabled

    no

    no

    no

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    3.0.0

    no

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    3.1.0

    no

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    3.2.0

    no

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    yes

    Supported Operating Systems

    Table 4. Supported Operating Systems for Development, Testing, and Production
    Operating System Supported Versions

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

    7.x and 8.x

    CentOS

    7.x and 8.x

    Ubuntu

    16.04 LTS and 18.04

    Debian

    8.x and 9.x

    Windows Server

    2012 (64-bit) DEPRECATED at Sync Gateway 2.8+ 2016 (64-bit)
    Table 5. Supported Operating Systems for Development and Testing Only
    Operating System Supported Versions

    macOS

    10.15(Catalina)
    10.14 (Mojave)

    Windows Desktop

    2010
    Table 6. Supported Cloud Environments for Development, Testing, and Production
    Platform Operating System Supported Versions

    AWS

    Amazon Linux AMI

    2017.09
    2018.03

    Azure

    Ubuntu

    16.04

    Google Cloud

    Ubuntu

    16.04

    Docker (Docker Hub)

    CentOS

    7

    OpenShift (RedHat Portal)

    RHEL

    7.2

    Configure Server for Sync Gateway

    STEP 1 — Create a Bucket

    We will use this bucket to test the deployment of Sync Gateway, later in the Getting Started section.

    1. Login to Couchbase Server’s Admin Console

      1. Go to http://localhost:8091

      2. Enter your administrator credentials

    2. Within the Admin Console’s toolbar,

      1. Select the Buckets tab

      2. Add Bucket to continue

        cb create bucket

      3. In the pop-up window, enter get-started-bucket for the name and click Add Bucket. You can leave the other options to their defaults.

        Couchbase Server Bucket Types
        Use only Couchbase bucket types in Couchbase for Mobile and Edge. We do not support the use of Couchbase Server’s Ephemeral or Memcached bucket types — for more on bucket types see: Couchbase Server bucket types.
      cb create bucket popup

    STEP 2 — Create RBAC User

    To connect to Couchbase Server, you must create an RBAC user. These user credentials are used in a later section to start Sync Gateway.

    1. Open the Security tab and click the Add User button.

      create user

    2. Create the RBAC user with appropriate access roles.

      The steps to do this are shown in Example 1. Note that they differ, depending on your Couchbase Server version.

      Example 1. Select RBAC roles
      This content relates only to ENTERPRISE EDITION

      1. In the pop-up window, provide

        • A Username (sync_gateway)

        • A Password (password).

      2. Assign the Sync Gateway role to the user

        Sync Gateway RBAC Role Description

        user settings 6 6
        Users are encouraged to move away from using the Application Access and Read-Only Admin roles for this purpose.

    STEP 3 — Set-up Network Access

    When installing Couchbase Server on the cloud, ensure that network permissions (or firewall settings) allow incoming connections to Couchbase Server ports.

    For mobile deployment on premise or in the cloud (for example, AWS or Red Hat) open the following ports on the host to enable Couchbase Server to operate correctly:

    • Unencrypted: 8091-8093, 11210

    • Encrypted: 18091-18093, 11207

    Check that any firewall configuration allows communication on the specified ports.

    If this is not done, the Couchbase Server node can experience difficulty joining a cluster.

    You can refer to the Couchbase Server Ports guide to see the full list of available ports and their associated services.

    Related Content

    Getting Started
    Product Information
    Community
    1. This Couchbase Server version is End of Support
    2. This Sync Gateway version is End of Support
    3. This Sync Gateway version is End of Life
    4. This Couchbase Lite version is End of Support