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Installation

This guide covers all the ways to install and run NextSight AI.

Prerequisites

Required Components

Before installing NextSight AI, ensure you have these components:

Requirement Version Purpose Installation
Docker 20.10+ Container runtime Get Docker
Docker Compose 2.0+ Local development orchestration Included with Docker Desktop
kubectl 1.25+ Kubernetes CLI tool Install kubectl
Kubernetes Cluster 1.24+ Container orchestration See cluster options below

These components enhance NextSight AI's capabilities but are not required:

Component Purpose Auto-Detected Installation
metrics-server Pod/Node CPU & memory metrics ✅ Yes See below
Prometheus Advanced monitoring & alerting ✅ Yes See below
Redis Response caching for performance - Included in docker-compose.yml
PostgreSQL User & pipeline data persistence - Included in docker-compose.yml

Built-in Tools (No Installation Required)

NextSight AI includes these tools in the Docker image:

Tool Purpose Version Notes
Trivy Container vulnerability scanning v0.58.0 Built into backend image
kubectl Kubernetes operations Latest Pre-installed in backend
helm Helm chart management Latest Pre-installed in backend

Zero Configuration Security Scanning

Trivy is built directly into the NextSight AI backend image, requiring no external installation or configuration. Image scanning works immediately out of the box, even in air-gapped environments.

The fastest way to get started is using Docker Compose:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/nextsight-ai/nextsightai.git
cd nextsight

# Start the application
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

Access NextSight AI at http://localhost:3000

Using Makefile

If you have make installed:

make help          # Show all available commands
make dev           # Start development environment
make build         # Build Docker images
make logs          # View container logs
make down          # Stop containers

Kubernetes Deployment

Deploy NextSight AI to your Kubernetes cluster:

# Build production images
make build-prod

# Deploy to cluster
make k8s-deploy

# Check status
make k8s-status

# Port forward for access
kubectl port-forward -n nextsight svc/nextsight-frontend 3000:80

Helm Installation

For production deployments, use the Helm chart:

# Install from local chart
helm install nextsight ./charts/nextsight -n nextsight --create-namespace

# Install with custom values
helm install nextsight ./charts/nextsight -n nextsight --create-namespace \
  --set ingress.enabled=true \
  --set ingress.hosts[0].host=nextsight.example.com

# Upgrade existing installation
helm upgrade nextsight ./charts/nextsight -n nextsight

# Uninstall
helm uninstall nextsight -n nextsight

See the Helm Chart documentation for all configuration options.

Default Credentials

NextSight AI comes with default test users:

Username Password Role
admin admin123 Admin
developer developer123 Developer
operator operator123 Operator
viewer viewer123 Viewer

Security Notice

Change these default credentials before deploying to production!

Installing Optional Components

Installing metrics-server

metrics-server provides pod and node resource metrics (CPU & memory). NextSight AI will automatically detect if it's available.

For most managed Kubernetes clusters (EKS, GKE, AKS) and Docker Desktop:

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server/releases/latest/download/components.yaml

Minikube has a built-in addon:

minikube addons enable metrics-server

For Kind or clusters with self-signed certificates:

# Apply the manifest
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server/releases/latest/download/components.yaml

# Patch to accept insecure TLS
kubectl patch deployment metrics-server -n kube-system --type='json' \
  -p='[{"op": "add", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/args/-", "value": "--kubelet-insecure-tls"}]'

Verify Installation:

# Check deployment
kubectl get deployment metrics-server -n kube-system

# Test metrics
kubectl top nodes
kubectl top pods -A

Graceful Degradation

If metrics-server is not installed, NextSight AI will still work but some features (resource metrics charts, pod/node CPU/memory usage) will be unavailable.

Installing Prometheus

Prometheus provides advanced monitoring, metrics collection, and alerting capabilities.

# Add Prometheus Helm repository
helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
helm repo update

# Install kube-prometheus-stack
helm install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack \
  --namespace monitoring \
  --create-namespace

# Wait for pods to be ready
kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l "release=prometheus" -n monitoring --timeout=300s

Access Prometheus UI (optional):

# Port forward to access locally
kubectl port-forward -n monitoring svc/prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus 9090:9090

# Open http://localhost:9090

What NextSight AI Uses:

  • Prometheus metrics endpoint for advanced queries
  • AlertManager integration for alert status
  • Service discovery for dynamic target monitoring

Auto-Detection

NextSight AI automatically detects if Prometheus is running in your cluster and integrates with it. No additional configuration needed!

Kubernetes Cluster Options

If you don't have a Kubernetes cluster yet, here are some options:

Docker Desktop (Recommended for macOS/Windows) 

# Enable Kubernetes in Docker Desktop settings
# Settings → Kubernetes → Enable Kubernetes

Minikube 

# Install minikube
brew install minikube  # macOS
# or download from https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/

# Start cluster
minikube start --cpus=4 --memory=8192

Kind (Kubernetes in Docker) 

# Install kind
brew install kind  # macOS
# or download from https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/

# Create cluster
kind create cluster --name nextsight

Amazon EKS 

eksctl create cluster \
  --name nextsight-cluster \
  --region us-west-2 \
  --nodegroup-name standard-workers \
  --node-type t3.medium \
  --nodes 3

Google GKE 

gcloud container clusters create nextsight-cluster \
  --zone us-central1-a \
  --num-nodes 3 \
  --machine-type n1-standard-2

Azure AKS 

az aks create \
  --resource-group nextsight-rg \
  --name nextsight-cluster \
  --node-count 3 \
  --node-vm-size Standard_D2s_v3

Next Steps