TUI Installer

The Lakehousecat TUI Installer (lhc-installer) is the fastest way to run Lakehousecat locally. It is a terminal application that guides you through the complete setup — from system check to a running instance — with no manual Kubernetes or Helm commands required.

Recommended for evaluation

The TUI Installer is the recommended path for local evaluation. It handles Minikube cluster creation, operator deployment, and instance configuration automatically.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure the following are installed and running:

Requirement	Minimum	Notes
Operating System	macOS, Linux, or Windows	macOS (Intel/Apple Silicon), Linux (amd64/arm64), Windows 10/11 (amd64/arm64)
RAM	16 GB minimum, 24 GB recommended	Available to Docker — checked via docker info. Below 16 GB installation is blocked; 16–24 GB shows a warning
CPU	8 cores minimum, 10 cores recommended	Available to Docker — checked via docker info. Below 8 cores installation is blocked; 8–9 cores shows a warning
Disk	50 GB free	SSD strongly recommended
Docker	Any recent version	Must be running before launch. On Windows: Docker Desktop required
Minikube	Any recent version	Must be installed. macOS: brew install minikube · Windows: winget install Kubernetes.minikube

kubectl and helm are bundled automatically if not present on your system.

Install the TUI

macOS and Linux

Download and run the installer with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://install.lakehousecat.com | bash

Alternatively, download the binary directly and make it executable:

chmod +x lhc-installer
./lhc-installer

Windows

Run the following command in PowerShell 5.1 or later:

iex (iwr https://install.lakehousecat.com/install.ps1).Content

This downloads the lhc-installer.exe binary for your architecture (amd64 or arm64) and launches the TUI installer.

Windows Prerequisites

Docker Desktop must be installed and running before launching the installer. Minikube runs inside Docker Desktop and uses it as its driver — no separate VM or WSL2 configuration is required beyond what Docker Desktop sets up automatically.

Windows — not yet fully tested

The Windows installer binary is built and available, but has not been fully tested end-to-end. macOS and Linux are the validated platforms. If you run into issues on Windows, please report them.

The installer detects your architecture automatically. ARM64 (Snapdragon/Qualcomm) and AMD64 (Intel/AMD) Windows devices are both supported.

Installation Flow

The TUI walks you through seven screens in sequence. Each step is tracked and resumed automatically if you restart the installer.

Step 1 — Welcome

The installer displays a welcome message and disclaimer. Press Enter or y to accept and continue, or n to quit.

Step 2 — System Requirements Check

The installer verifies your system meets the minimum requirements:

• Available RAM ≥ 16 GB (hard minimum) / ≥ 24 GB recommended
• Available CPU cores ≥ 8 (hard minimum) / ≥ 10 recommended
• Free disk space ≥ 50 GB

You can continue with a warning if requirements are not fully met, but performance may be degraded.

Step 3 — Dependency Check

The installer checks four dependencies:

Dependency	Behavior if missing
Docker	Installation stops — Docker must be installed and running
Minikube	Installation stops — Minikube must be installed
kubectl	Bundled automatically
Helm	Bundled automatically

Step 4 — Registration

The installer opens your browser to the Lakehousecat portal for registration. This step:

1. Starts a local callback server (temporary, runs only during this step)
2. Opens your browser to the Lakehousecat portal login page
3. You sign in or create a free account at portal.lakehousecat.com
4. The portal redirects back to the installer with your license credentials

The following information is received automatically and stored in ~/.lhc/state.json:

• Handshake Key — used to authenticate the Kubernetes operator
• Customer ID — your account identifier
• Email — used as the admin account for the Lakehousecat instance

Registration times out after 5 minutes if the browser flow is not completed.

Step 5 — Setup & Deployment

The installer runs seven sequential steps automatically:

Step	Action
1. Create Minikube cluster	Starts a Minikube cluster with the profile lakehousecat using the Docker driver. Resources are allocated automatically based on your system (up to 8 CPUs and 24 GB RAM).
2. Add Helm repository	Adds https://charts.lakehousecat.com as the lakehousecat Helm repository.
3. Create namespace	Creates the lhc-operator namespace in Kubernetes.
4. Create license service proxy	Deploys a small in-cluster proxy that allows the operator to reach the Lakehousecat licensing service.
5. Create handshake secret	Creates the lhc-handshake-secret Kubernetes secret in lhc-operator using your handshake key from registration.
6. Install Lakehousecat operator	Installs the lakehousecat-operator Helm chart and waits up to 10 minutes for the operator to be ready.
7. Setup Lakehousecat instance	Applies the evaluation Lakehousecat Custom Resource in the lhc-instance namespace, pre-configured with your account details.

Step 6 — Deployment Progress

The installer monitors the deployment until all services are running. Lakehousecat deploys a complete stack of interconnected services — this process typically takes 30–60 minutes depending on your system resources and image pull times.

Step 7 — Access

When deployment is complete, the installer displays your access credentials and automatically starts a port-forward to the ingress controller:

URL:      http://127.0.0.1:42027
Email:    <your-email>
Password: <generated-admin-password>

The port-forward runs in the background while the TUI is open. Open the displayed URL in your browser and log in with the credentials shown.

If the automatic port-forward fails, the installer shows the manual fallback command to run in a separate terminal:

kubectl port-forward -n ingress-nginx svc/ingress-nginx-controller 42027:80

Evaluation Instance Configuration

The evaluation instance is pre-configured for local use:

• Tier: FREE (1 user, 10 data sources)
• Replicas: 1 per service (no high availability)
• Storage: SeaweedFS in standalone mode (50 Gi)
• Monitoring: Disabled
• Architecture: Detected automatically (amd64 or arm64)

Resource allocation per service is optimized for a single-machine evaluation environment. Autoscaling requires a STANDARD or higher subscription.

State and Resumability

Installation state is persisted to ~/.lhc/state.json. If the installer exits unexpectedly, restarting it resumes from the last completed step — you do not need to restart from scratch.

Uninstall

To remove the evaluation setup including the Minikube cluster:

lhc-installer --uninstall

This removes the lakehousecat Minikube profile and all associated data.

Next Steps

Once your instance is running:

• Follow the Guides to connect a data source and create your first model
• Review Subscription tiers to upgrade from FREE to STANDARD or higher
• For production deployments, see the Kubernetes Cluster guides