Install SonarQube on Ubuntu

🔍 What is SonarQube?

SonarQube is an open-source platform developed by SonarSource for continuous inspection of code quality, performing static code analysis to detect bugs, vulnerabilities, code smells, and technical debt in your codebase.

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✅ Key Features

• Multi-language support: Java, JavaScript, Python, C#, PHP, Go, TypeScript, and more.

• Static Code Analysis: SonarQube finds bugs, security issues, and performance bottlenecks before they reach production.

• Quality Gates: Enforce quality standards by setting thresholds on metrics like code coverage and duplications.

• Security Analysis: SonarQube identifies OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, making it a great tool for DevSecOps.

• Integration: Works with CI/CD tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, and GitLab, among others.

• Customizable Dashboards: Track project health over time with customizable dashboards.

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🛠️ How SonarQube Works

1. Developer writes code

2. Code is committed and pushed

3. The CI/CD pipeline triggers a SonarQube scan.

4. SonarQube server analyzes the code with rules and creates a report.

5. Developers review and fix issues as needed after receiving the report.

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🧩 Components

• SonarQube Server: Web UI, rule engine, and dashboard.

• Sonar Scanner: The Sonar Scanner is a CLI or plugin that sends source code to the server for analysis.

• Database: The database stores results using systems like PostgreSQL or MySQL.

• SonarLint: IDE plugin providing real-time code feedback.

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🚀 Benefits in DevOps

• Ensures "Shift Left" testing in CI/CD

• Supports secure coding practices (DevSecOps)

• Encourages clean code culture

• Reduces technical debt over time

• Improves code maintainability

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✅ Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04

• Minimum 2 GB RAM (4 GB+ recommended)

• Java 17 (required for SonarQube 9.x and above)

• PostgreSQL (recommended DB)

• Access to sudo/root

• Port 9000 open in your firewall/security group

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🛠️ Step-by-Step Installation

🔹 1. Update System

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

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🔹 2. Install Java 17

sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk -y
java -version

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🔹 3. Install and Configure PostgreSQL

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y

Then, create the database and user.

sudo -u postgres psql

In the psql shell, create a database and user by entering the necessary SQL commands.

CREATE USER sonar WITH PASSWORD 'StrongPassword';
CREATE DATABASE sonarqube OWNER sonar;
\q

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🔹 4. Create Sonar System User

sudo adduser --system --no-create-home --group --disabled-login sonar

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🔹 5. Download and Extract SonarQube

/opt
sudo apt install unzip -y
sudo wget https://binaries.sonarsource.com/Distribution/sonarqube/sonarqube-10.4.1.88267.zip
sudo unzip sonarqube-10.4.1.88267.zip
sudo mv sonarqube-10.4.1.88267 sonarqube
sudo chown -R sonar:sonar /opt/sonarqube

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🔹 6. Configure SonarQube

Edit the configuration file.

sudo nano /opt/sonarqube/conf/sonar.properties

Update these lines in the configuration.

sonar.jdbc.username=sonar
sonar.jdbc.password=StrongPassword
sonar.jdbc.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost/sonarqube

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🔹 7. Create a Systemd Service

sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/sonarqube.service

Paste the following.

[Unit]
Description=SonarQube service
After=syslog.target network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/opt/sonarqube/bin/linux-x86-64/sonar.sh start
ExecStop=/opt/sonarqube/bin/linux-x86-64/sonar.sh stop
User=sonar
Group=sonar
Restart=always
LimitNOFILE=65536

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload and enable the service by executing sudo systemctl daemon-reload followed by sudo systemctl enable sonarqube.service, and then start the service with sudo systemctl start sonarqube.service.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable sonarqube

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🔹 8. Start SonarQube

sudo systemctl start sonarqube
sudo systemctl status sonarqube

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🔹 9. Access SonarQube

Open a browser and go to http://localhost:9000 to access SonarQube.

http://<your-server-ip>:9000

Login credentials:

• Username: *****

• Password: ***** (you'll be prompted to change it)

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✅ Allow Port 9000 on EC2

If you're on AWS EC2, allow TCP port 9000 in your Security Group.

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✅ Logs & Troubleshooting

Logs are located in

/opt/sonarqube/logs/

Tail logs

tail -f /opt/sonarqube/logs/sonar.log

Some screenshot:

We have successfully Install SonarQube on Ubuntu.

Happy Learning….!