---
title: "Install and connect"
description: "Start Aerospike in Docker and install Feast with the Aerospike extra."
---

# Install and connect

> For the complete documentation index see: [llms.txt](https://aerospike.com/docs/llms.txt)
> 
> All documentation pages available in markdown.

Start Aerospike and install Feast with the Aerospike online store extra.

## Start Aerospike Database

1.  Start Aerospike in Docker:
    
    Terminal window
    
    ```shell
    docker run -d --name aerospike -p 3000-3002:3000-3002 aerospike/aerospike-server
    ```
    
    This image runs Aerospike Database Community Edition (CE). The tutorial uses standard client operations supported by both CE and Enterprise Edition.
    
2.  Verify the database is listening on port 3000:
    
    Terminal window
    
    ```shell
    nc -z localhost 3000 && echo 'Aerospike database is running.'
    ```
    
    Expected result
    
    ```plaintext
    Connection to localhost port 3000 [tcp/hbci] succeeded!
    
    Aerospike database is running.
    ```
    
    On Windows, `nc` is not available. Use this PowerShell command instead:
    
    Terminal window
    
    ```powershell
    Test-NetConnection -ComputerName localhost -Port 3000
    ```
    
    A successful result shows `TcpTestSucceeded : True`.
    

::: tip
If a container named `aerospike` already exists, remove it with `docker rm -f aerospike` before starting another container.
:::

## Install Python packages

1.  Create and activate a virtual environment:
    
    Terminal window
    
    ```shell
    python3 -m venv .venv
    
    source .venv/bin/activate
    ```
    
    On Windows, run this command inside WSL 2.
    
2.  Install dependencies:
    
    Terminal window
    
    ```shell
    python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
    
    python3 -m pip install "aerospike>=19" "pandas>=2"
    
    python3 -m pip install "feast[aerospike] @ git+https://github.com/feast-dev/feast.git@294efad94b20e1336df906fe7d48ca38b39c4183"
    ```
    
    The Aerospike online store is not in a stable PyPI release. This tutorial uses the same pinned Feast commit as [Tutorial: Serve real-time Feast features with Aerospike](https://aerospike.com/docs/develop/feast-aerospike-online-store/step/1/part/1/install-and-connect).
    
3.  Verify imports:
    
    Terminal window
    
    ```shell
    python3 -c "
    
    from feast.infra.online_stores.aerospike_online_store import AerospikeOnlineStoreConfig
    
    print('ok')
    
    "
    ```
    
    Expected result
    
    ```plaintext
    ok
    ```
    

On the next page, you learn how push ingestion differs from batch materialization.

::: undefined
-   I’ve started Aerospike Database in Docker.
-   I’ve installed feast\[aerospike\] and Aerospike Python client 19+.
:::

[Previous  
Prerequisites](https://aerospike.com/docs/develop/feast-aerospike-fraud-velocity/step/1/part/0/prerequisites) [Next  
Push sources and velocity features](https://aerospike.com/docs/develop/feast-aerospike-fraud-velocity/step/2/part/0/push-and-velocity)