Server Requirements¶
Before adding a server to Appliku, ensure it meets the following requirements. Appliku supports servers from any cloud provider or bare-metal hosting, as long as the requirements below are met.
Supported Operating Systems¶
| OS | Version | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu | 26.04 LTS | Supported (recommended) |
| Ubuntu | 24.04 LTS | Supported |
| Ubuntu | 22.04 LTS | Supported |
| Ubuntu | 20.04 LTS and older | Not supported for new servers (see below) |
| Debian | 12 (Bookworm) | Supported |
Ubuntu 20.04 and older
Ubuntu 20.04 and older no longer get standard security updates. Appliku does not set up new servers on these releases: the setup fails with an error. Existing servers that finished setup on Ubuntu 20.04 continue to work, but you must replace them with a new Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 server. See Kernel Security Updates.
Warning
Other operating systems (CentOS, Fedora, Arch Linux, Alpine, Amazon Linux, Windows Server) are not supported. The server setup will fail on unsupported OS versions.
Supported Architectures¶
| Architecture | Also Known As | Status |
|---|---|---|
| x86_64 | amd64 | Supported |
| ARM64 | aarch64 | Supported |
Both architectures are fully supported. ARM64 servers (such as AWS Graviton, Hetzner Arm64, Oracle Ampere) work with all Appliku features.
Hardware Specifications¶
Minimum¶
| Resource | Minimum |
|---|---|
| CPU | 1 vCPU |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Disk | 20 GB |
Note
1 GB RAM is sufficient for small applications, but builds (especially for JavaScript projects) may fail due to memory constraints. Consider 2 GB as a practical minimum for most workloads.
Recommended¶
| Resource | Recommended |
|---|---|
| CPU | 2 vCPU |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| Disk | 40 GB |
For servers hosting multiple applications or applications with heavy build processes, consider 4 GB RAM or more.
Network Requirements¶
Inbound Ports¶
| Port | Protocol | Purpose | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | TCP | SSH access for Appliku management | Yes |
| 80 | TCP | HTTP traffic (redirects to HTTPS) | Yes |
| 443 | TCP | HTTPS traffic | Yes |
Outbound Access¶
The server must have unrestricted outbound internet access to:
- Download system packages (apt)
- Pull Docker images from Docker Hub and other registries
- Clone your application repository
- Communicate with the Appliku API
Docker Swarm Ports (Cluster Mode)¶
If using Cluster Mode (Docker Swarm with multiple servers), the following additional ports must be open between cluster nodes:
| Port | Protocol | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 2377 | TCP | Cluster management |
| 7946 | TCP/UDP | Node communication |
| 4789 | UDP | Overlay network traffic |
Fresh Installation Required¶
The server must be a fresh installation with no pre-existing software that could conflict:
- No Docker -- Appliku installs and configures Docker
- No Nginx/Apache -- Appliku manages its own Nginx configuration
- No other container runtimes -- No Podman, containerd (standalone), etc.
If your server has any of these installed, either use a fresh server or remove them completely before adding the server to Appliku.
Supported Providers¶
Appliku works with any server provider. Some providers have built-in integrations for easier server provisioning:
| Provider | Integration |
|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | Automatic provisioning via API |
| AWS EC2 | Automatic provisioning via API |
| Hetzner Cloud | Automatic provisioning via API |
| Vultr | Custom server (manual setup) |
| Linode | Custom server (manual setup) |
| Any VPS provider | Custom server (manual setup) |
| Bare-metal | Custom server (manual setup) |
For providers without built-in integration, use the Custom Server option: Appliku provides you with an SSH key and setup command to run on your server.