<!-- Source: https://docs.squirro.com/en/latest/technical/admin/index.html -->
# Administration

This section provides an overview of the administrative elements of Squirro, including operations, configuration, and troubleshooting. It’s primarily intended to support customers and partners who maintain an on-premise deployment of Squirro.

For Squirro installation and upgrade, see [Installation and Upgrade](../../getting/install/index.md#install).

For required downloads, see [Downloads](https://go.squirro.com/downloads).

## Overview

Squirro is designed and optimized for Linux. Installation packages are provided for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Rocky Linux distributions, supporting both cloud and on-premise deployments.

Squirro is built as a service-oriented platform. All services work as self-contained units of functionality and therefore are suited for different scenarios. Squirro can match small but also complex and large-scale requirements. All Squirro services communicate via RESTful API. The [Squirro API](../api/index.md#api) is open and allows for 3rd party integration for all services and functionality.

## Components

All non-Squirro components are open-source components.

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Component | Function | High Availability |
| Squirro Application (see [Services](operations/services.md#admin-services)) | - Core Squirro Engine - Squirro Frontend UI - Squirro RESTful API | yes |
| Elasticsearch | - Squirro Documents Storage Layer - Search Engine | yes |
| MySQL | - Squirro Configuration Metadata | yes |
| Redis Cache | - Squirro Cache for application and frontend | yes |
| [Squirro Python SDK](../api/squirro_client/index.md#squirro-client) | - Python Wrapper SDK for Squirro RESTful API | n/a |
| [Squirro Toolbox](../api/toolbox/index.md#api-sdk-toolbox) | - Squirro File Importer - Squirro Bulk Importer - Squirro Bulk Loader - Squirro MySQL Connector - Squirro Exchange Connector - Squirro Known Entity Processors | n/a |
| Squirro YUM Repository | - Simple Installation and Updating of Squirro components | n/a |
| Squirro Puppet Configuration | - Simple and robust way of centrally configuring all Squirro-related settings and configuration items |  |

## Versions

Squirro supports two different types of deployments - cloud and on-premise. Updating installations in the cloud is done by the Squirro staff, based on individual agreements with the customer. For on-premise deployments, the upgrade process is driven by the customer directly.

See [Release Notes](../../getting/release/index.md#getting-release-notes) for details about individual releases. For scheduled upcoming release dates, visit the [Squirro Support website](https://go.squirro.com/support) and submit a technical support request.

## Supported Platforms

Squirro supports the following two standardized platforms.

| Platform | Version | Comments |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud | - | - A separate cloud is generally set up for each customer, to isolate the different installations. - Squirro generally works with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Hetzner for cloud deployments. - Other cloud services are supported on demand. |
| Linux | Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Rocky Linux. Check the System Requirements page for more details. | - Red Hat Enterprise Linux license is provided by the customer. - Red Hat Enterprise Linux support is for the standard operating system components. |

## Configuration

For information on configuring Squirro, including the Configuration Service, all configuration files, security and encryption, SSL certificates, default language settings, and email templates, see [Configuration](configuration/index.md#admin-config).

## Operations

To learn more about administrative operations, including accessing servers, managing Elasticsearch, cluster status, scaling Squirro, business continuity planning (BCP), monitoring, and fixing MySQL/MariaDB replication issues, see [Operations](operations/index.md#admin-ops).

## External Authentication and Authorization

Squirro allows you to work with external authentication, authorization, and single sign-on (SSO) providers. For more information, see [External Authentication](external-authentication/index.md#admin-external-authentication).

## Administrative Troubleshooting

For help with common administrative issues, including how to investigate performance issues, see [Troubleshooting](troubleshooting/index.md#admin-trouble).