Deploy Neo4j

Neo4j is a high-performance, native graph database designed to store, manage, and query highly connected data. Using the Cypher query language, Neo4j enables developers to model complex relationships and traverse large datasets efficiently.

Neo4j is widely used for applications such as fraud detection, knowledge graphs, recommendation engines, identity and access management, network analysis, and AI-driven data exploration. Its native graph storage engine and ACID-compliant transactions make it suitable for both development and production workloads.

Deploying a Quick Deploy App

The Linode Marketplace lets you easily deploy software on a Compute Instance using Cloud Manager. See Get Started with Marketplace Apps for complete steps.

1. Log in to Cloud Manager and select the Marketplace link from the left navigation menu. This displays the Linode Create page with the Marketplace tab pre-selected.

2. Under the Select App section, select the app you would like to deploy.

3. Complete the form by following the steps and advice within the Creating a Compute Instance guide. Depending on the Marketplace App you selected, there may be additional configuration options available. See the Configuration Options section below for compatible distributions, recommended plans, and any additional configuration options available for this Marketplace App.

4. Click the Create Linode button. Once the Compute Instance has been provisioned and has fully powered on, wait for the software installation to complete. If the instance is powered off or restarted before this time, the software installation will likely fail.

To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.

Configuration Options

• Recommended plan: Shared CPU 4GB or Dedicated CPU 4GB (or larger for production workloads)

Neo4j Options

• IP Address Allowed to Access Neo4j UI (recommended): Any IP that needs to access the Neo4j UI can be added to the firewall. Please note If you do not add an IP to this field, the UI will not be exposed. Firewall rules can be added later to allow access to the UI
• IP addresses allowed to access Bolt (recommended): Any IP that needs Bolt access can be added to the firewall. Please note If you do not add an IP to this field. Firewall rules can be added later to allow access to the UI.
• Email address (for the Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate) (optional): If deploying with HTTPS enabled for Neo4j Browser or reverse proxy access, this email is used for Let’s Encrypt renewal notices.

Limited Sudo User

You need to fill out the following fields to automatically create a limited sudo user, with a strong generated password for your new Compute Instance. This account will be assigned to the sudo group, which provides elevated permissions when running commands with the sudo prefix.

• Limited sudo user: Enter your preferred username for the limited user. No Capital Letters, Spaces, or Special Characters.

  Locating The Generated Sudo Password

  A password is generated for the limited user and stored in a .credentials file in their home directory, along with application specific passwords. This can be viewed by running: cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials

  For best results, add an account SSH key for the Cloud Manager user that is deploying the instance, and select that user as an authorized_user in the API or by selecting that option in Cloud Manager. Their SSH pubkey will be assigned to both root and the limited user.

• Disable root access over SSH: To block the root user from logging in over SSH, select Yes. You can still switch to the root user once logged in, and you can also log in as root through Lish.

  Accessing The Instance Without SSH

  If you disable root access for your deployment and do not provide a valid Account SSH Key assigned to the authorized_user, you will need to login as the root user via the Lish console and run cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials to view the generated password for the limited user.

Getting Started After Deployment

Obtain the Credentials

When deployment completes, the system automatically generates and stores credentials for administering your Neo4j instance. These credentials are stored in the limited user’s .credentials file.

1. Log in to your Compute Instance using one of the methods below:

   • Lish Console: Log in to Cloud Manager, click Linodes, select your instance, and click Launch LISH Console. Log in as root. To learn more, see Using the Lish Console.
   • SSH: Log in to your instance over SSH using the root user. To learn how, see Connecting to a Remote Server Over SSH.

2. Run the following command to access the contents of the .credentials file:

cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials

Accessing Neo4j Browser

Once your app has finished deploying, you can log into Neo4j UI using your browser.

1. Open your web browser and navigate to https://$DOMAIN$:7473/browser, where DOMAIN can be replaced with the custom domain you entered during deployment or your Compute Instance’s rDNS domain (such as 192-0-2-1.ip.linodeusercontent.com). See the Managing IP Addresses guide for information on viewing rDNS.

Please Note If you did not add your local IP to the allow list at the beginning of the deployment, you will need to add it to the firewall in order to access the UI. You can utilize UFW firewall guide to add your IP to the allow list.

Log in using the credentials from the /home/$USERNAME/.credentialsoffic file.

Connecting via Bolt

Neo4j uses the Bolt protocol for application and driver connections.

Example: Using cypher-shell on the Server

On your Neo4j instance cypher-shell is installed to interact with your neo4j service. You can use the following example to connect to your neo4j database:

    cypher-shell -a bolt://127.0.0.1:7687 -u NEO4J_USER -p YOUR_PASSWORD

Basic Verification Query

After logging in through Neo4j Browser or cypher-shell, run:

    SHOW DATABASES;

This query will return all databases, and confirms that your Neo4j instance is operational. Now that you’ve accessed your instance, check out the official Neo4j documentation to learn how to further use your instance.

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

• Neo4j Documentation
• Cypher Query Language Manual
• Neo4j Operations Manual