Installation

Insights ships as a single binary distributed only through Synadia. To obtain it, sign up for a trial or arrange a license agreement.

Supported platforms:

Linux (amd64, arm64)
macOS (amd64, arm64)
Windows (amd64)

The Linux binaries are fully static: they bundle everything they need and link no system libraries, so a single binary runs unchanged across distributions. The only requirements are a Linux 3.2 or newer kernel and any 64-bit x86 or ARM CPU; no special instruction-set extensions are needed. This covers glibc and musl (Alpine) distributions as well as minimal scratch and distroless images.

Insights resolves hostnames with its own built-in DNS resolver rather than the operating system's. Standard DNS names and /etc/hosts entries resolve as usual, but multicast DNS (.local) names do not — reference NATS servers and other endpoints by IP address or DNS name.

Download

Your trial or license welcome materials include the download URL and credentials for the release binaries. Pick the archive matching your platform, extract it, and verify it runs:

./insights --help

Configure a License

A license JWT is required when running against a real NATS system. The simulator (--simulator.enabled) skips license validation, so you can evaluate Insights without one.

Provide the JWT as either a token or a file. The file form is recommended for production — it stays out of shell history and is easier to rotate.

insights --license.file /etc/insights/license.jwt

license:
  file: /etc/insights/license.jwt

Inline tokens (--license.token, INSIGHTS_LICENSE_TOKEN, or license.token in YAML) are also supported. If both are set, the file wins. See Configuration › license for the full reference.

At startup, Insights logs the expiry — watch the log line so you renew before the grace period runs out:

level=INFO msg="license validated" expires_at=2026-12-31T23:59:59Z

For a new license or renewal, contact Synadia at https://www.synadia.com/contact.

Kubernetes with Helm

Synadia publishes a Helm chart that deploys a single persistent Insights instance. Everything under config is written straight to the mounted config.yaml, so those keys match the Configuration reference one for one.

Images come from registry.synadia.io, which always requires authentication. Use the credentials issued with your trial or license to create a pull secret before installing:

kubectl create secret docker-registry synadia-registry \
  --docker-server registry.synadia.io \
  --docker-username <username> \
  --docker-password <password>

helm repo add synadia https://synadia-io.github.io/helm-charts
helm repo update synadia
helm upgrade --install insights synadia/insights \
  --set config.simulator.enabled=true \
  --set image.pullSecrets[0].name=synadia-registry
kubectl port-forward service/insights 8080:8080

The equivalent in a values file:

image:
  pullSecrets:
    - name: synadia-registry

The --set config.simulator.enabled is required. Insights needs a system to observe, and the chart refuses to render a config that has none, so set one of config.simulator.enabled, config.sys, or config.systems. To monitor a real system, replace the simulator with config.sys.

The chart picks the image for you: insights-licensed when config.license.token or config.license.file is set, and insights otherwise. Registry credentials and the license are separate concerns; a licensed deployment needs both.

The image tag defaults to the chart's appVersion, which trails a new Insights release until the chart is bumped for it. Set image.tag to pin a specific version, and image.registry for a mirror.

The pod runs as UID/GID 1000 and the chart applies a matching fsGroup, so the persistent volume is writable without any extra configuration.

See the chart README for persistence, external Secrets, and the full values reference.

Third-Party Licenses

The release binaries bundle open-source dependencies. See the Software Bill of Materials for the full inventory and license details.

Next Steps

Quick Start. Run Insights with the simulator or connect to a real NATS system.
Deployment Guide. Production deployment topologies and configuration.