Data file location

Couchbase Server stores data files (database and indices) under the var > lib > couchbase > data path.

The disk path for the database and indices files is set during the initial setup of the server node. The default disk path is typically used for development purposes only. If the server node is used for production, configure a different disk path.

Platform Default directory
Linux /opt/couchbase/var/lib/couchbase/data
Windows C:\Program Files\couchbase\server\var\lib\couchbase\data
Mac OS X ~/Library/Application Support/Couchbase/var/lib/couchbase/data

Changing the data file path

The disk path where the data and index files are stored cannot be changed on a running server. To change the disk path, the node must be removed from the cluster, configured with the new path, and added back to the cluster. The data file path can be changed for each node via the Web UI at setup, REST API, or CLI. Once a node or cluster has already been setup and is storing data, the path cannot be changed while the node is part of a running cluster.

The quickest and easiest method is to provision a new node with the correct disk path configured and then use swap rebalance to add the new node in while taking the old node out. This ensures that cluster performance is not impacted.

To change the disk path by replacing a node (with swap rebalance):

  1. Setup a new node with a different disk path.
  2. Swap rebalance the new node for the existing node.
  3. Repeat the process for every node in the cluster.

To change the disk path of an existing node (without swap rebalance):

  1. Remove the node from the cluster and rebalance.
  2. Change the path on the running node either via the REST API or using the Couchbase CLI (commands above).
  3. Re-add the node back to the cluster and rebalance.
To change the disk path on multiple nodes, swap out each node and change the disk path individually.
Important: Changing the data path for a node that is already part of a cluster permanently deletes the stored data.
Tip: When using the command line tool, the data file and index file path settings cannot be changed individually. To change the setting individually, use the REST API.

CLI example


couchbase-cli node-init -c 10.5.2.54:8091 \
	--node-init-data-path=new_path \
	-u user -p password