HammerDB — Installation

This guide covers deploying HammerDB onto Windows VMs on the Azure Local cluster via PowerShell remoting.

Prerequisites

In addition to the common prerequisites:

• Windows VMs deployed on the Azure Local cluster with WinRM enabled
• The cluster_admin credential available via Key Vault or interactively — see Credential Management
• Outbound internet access from the target node (to download the HammerDB installer from GitHub), or a local copy of the installer placed at a UNC path
• A SQL Server or PostgreSQL instance deployed and accessible from the target VM

Install HammerDB via PowerShell Remoting

Install-HammerDB.ps1 downloads and silently installs HammerDB on the target node:

.\tools\hammerdb\scripts\Install-HammerDB.ps1 `
    -ClusterName "hci01.corp.infiniteimprobability.com" `
    -Nodes @("hci01-node1") `
    -HammerDBVersion "4.6"

What the Script Does

1. Connects to each node via PowerShell remoting (Invoke-RemoteCommand)
2. Checks if HammerDB is already installed at the default path — skips if present (use -Force to reinstall)
3. Downloads the GitHub release installer: HammerDB-<Version>-Win.exe
4. Runs silent install: Start-Process -FilePath installer -ArgumentList "/S /D=C:\HammerDB"
5. Returns @{ ClusterName; Nodes; Version; InstallPath; Status }

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
-ClusterName	string	required	Cluster display name
-Nodes	string[]	required	Target Windows VM hostnames
-HammerDBVersion	string	4.6	GitHub release version to download
-InstallPath	string	C:\HammerDB	Destination install directory
-Force	switch	false	Re-install even if already present
-CredentialSource	string	Interactive	KeyVault, Interactive, or Parameter

Verify Installation

# Confirm hammerdbcli.exe is present on the target node
Invoke-Command -ComputerName "hci01-node1" -ScriptBlock {
    Test-Path "C:\HammerDB\hammerdbcli.exe"
    & "C:\HammerDB\hammerdbcli.exe" --version
}

Supported HammerDB Version

The framework targets HammerDB 4.6. The Tcl script generation in Start-HammerDBTest.ps1 uses the diset/vuset API present in 4.x. Versions earlier than 4.0 use a different CLI interface and are not supported.

Database Prerequisites

Database	Required Configuration
SQL Server	Named instance accessible from the HammerDB node; SA or admin credentials available; tempdb on fast storage
PostgreSQL	pg_hba.conf allows connections from the HammerDB node; superuser or pg_monitor role available

Set the database server via the profile's db_server parameter or -DBServer at runtime.

Remote Working Directories

Path	Purpose
C:\hammerdb-results\<RunId>\	Test output, generated Tcl scripts, and raw log

Results are retrieved by Collect-HammerDBResults.ps1 via PowerShell remoting (file read) and are not automatically deleted — retain for audit purposes.

Next Steps

• Workload Profiles — Choose TPC-C or TPC-H and configure parameters
• Monitoring — Review CPU and memory alert thresholds during HammerDB runs