Install

One command. It just works.

Install the LinkMesh Server on any Linux VM in a single command. The .deb / .rpm postinstall bootstraps the internal CA, the TLS certificate, the JWT secret, the GitOps config repo, and the default admin user, then starts the systemd service. Open the web UI and enroll your first Collector.

Full step-by-step guide including UI walkthrough and Kubernetes install: Quickstart on docs.linkmesh.io →

How it fits together

Server is the control plane. Your collectors enroll over one connection.

You install one thing: the Server (the .deb / .rpm below). Each OpenTelemetry Collector then enrolls with it over a single HTTPS connection on port 443 — otelcol-contrib via OpAMP, Grafana Alloy via remotecfg — authenticating with a bearer token. The collector pulls its config from LinkMesh and manages itself; your telemetry never flows through LinkMesh — it goes straight from the collector to your own backends. Optionally, the LinkMesh agent runs alongside as an edge connector for guided onboarding and service/log discovery — it carries no telemetry and doesn't run your collector. See Trust for the data-handling specifics, and Architecture on docs for the component topology in depth.

Quickstart — Linux

Install the Server

Pick the line that matches your distro and paste it on a fresh Linux VM. That's the whole install — the postinstall handles CA, certs, JWT, GitOps repo, and the admin user, then starts the systemd service.

Ubuntu / Debian

curl -fsSL https://artifacts.saas.opensight.ch/binaries/linkmesh-server/latest/linkmesh-server_latest_amd64.deb -o linkmesh-server.deb && sudo apt install -y ./linkmesh-server.deb

RHEL / Rocky / AlmaLinux

curl -fsSL https://artifacts.saas.opensight.ch/binaries/linkmesh-server/latest/linkmesh-server-latest.x86_64.rpm -o linkmesh-server.rpm && sudo dnf install -y ./linkmesh-server.rpm

After install — sign in

Open the web UI at http://YOUR_HOST:8080 and sign in as user admin. The one-time first-login password is printed to the install journal — run this on the server to read it:

sudo journalctl -u linkmesh-server | grep "INITIAL ADMIN PASSWORD"

Running on Kubernetes, or want auto-updates from APT/YUM?

The Kubernetes install guide on docs covers Helm + manifests with reverse-proxy preset. For auto-updates via your system package manager, see repository setup.

Windows hosts work the same way

The Server itself is Linux-only, but collectors enroll from any OS. Windows hosts run otelcol-contrib (OpAMP) or Grafana Alloy (remotecfg) and connect over the same port-443 bearer-token handshake; the optional LinkMesh agent ships a Windows AMD64 binary too. After your Linux server is up, follow Add a Collector on docs for the platform-specific enrollment commands.

Enroll your collectors

Connect with vanilla OpenTelemetry — no proprietary agent required.

LinkMesh manages whatever collector you already run. Point otelcol-contrib at LinkMesh with the upstream opampsupervisor (OpAMP), or add a remotecfg block to Grafana Alloy. Both are open, standards-defined protocols; both authenticate with a bearer token over port 443 and leave the data plane (OTLP) untouched. Issue a one-time enrollment token in the UI, install on the host, and the collector appears in the fleet view within seconds.

otelcol-contrib · OpAMP

otelcol-contrib + opampsupervisor

The one-liner fetches both upstream binaries (collector + supervisor), writes the supervisor config, and starts the systemd unit. Swap in your own server's address if you're self-hosting.

curl -fsSL https://linkmesh.example.com/install-opamp.sh | \
  sudo sh -s -- --token YOUR_TOKEN

The supervisor opens a WebSocket to /v1/opamp, receives the config LinkMesh pushes, and writes it to the collector subprocess — you don't author the collector's config.yaml by hand. Full walkthrough: Onboard otelcol-contrib via OpAMP →

Grafana Alloy · remotecfg

Grafana Alloy

Alloy speaks its native remotecfg protocol — HTTP polling rather than OpAMP push. Add one block to your existing Alloy config, point it at the LinkMesh base URL, and authenticate with a per-collector bearer token minted from the collector detail page.

remotecfg {
  url            = "https://linkmesh.example.com"
  id             = constants.hostname
  poll_frequency = "60s"
  bearer_token   = env("LINKMESH_TOKEN")
}

Alloy reloads its pipelines automatically when the remote config changes — no service restart needed. Full walkthrough: Onboard Grafana Alloy via remotecfg →

Optional: add the onboarding agent

The LinkMesh agent is an optional edge connector — install it on a host (or as a Kubernetes DaemonSet) and it auto-detects running services, discovers log sources, and rolls up cluster workloads to make onboarding faster. It carries no telemetry and does not run your collector; your collector still manages itself over OpAMP or remotecfg. Grab it from Downloads.

Next steps on docs.linkmesh.io

Everything beyond the one-liner — UI walkthrough, enrollment tokens, reverse-proxy setup, certificate lifecycle, collector enrollment commands, and troubleshooting — lives in the operator docs. Single source of truth, kept current with each release.

Quickstart

First Collector in 10 minutes

UI walkthrough from blank install to a live route with throughput. With inline screenshots. →

Kubernetes install

Helm chart + manifests

Production deployment with reverse-proxy preset, NetworkPolicy, and TLS termination. →

Enroll a Collector

otelcol via OpAMP, or Alloy via remotecfg

Both enrollment paths with the actual one-liner commands and token lifecycle. →

Reverse proxy

nginx / Caddy / HAProxy

HTTPS termination for the API, UI, OpAMP/remotecfg enrollment, and OTLP — all on port 443. Annotated config. →

Reference

Configuration schema

All config.yaml keys, CLI flags, and the linkmesh-server cert lifecycle commands. →

Troubleshooting

Operational runbooks

Enrollment failures, cert renewal, server IP changes, common mistakes and how to recover. →

Stuck?

Browse the full operator docs, or reach the OpenSight team directly.

Browse docs → Email support