system requirements

System Requirements

This page lists the minimum requirements to install and run the ɳSelf CLI correctly across all supported platforms.

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Platform Minimums

Platform	Minimum Version	Architectures	Notes
macOS	11 (Big Sur)	arm64, x86_64	Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) natively supported , see macos-apple-silicon.md
Ubuntu	20.04 long-term support	x86_64, arm64	22.04 long-term support and 24.04 long-term support also fully supported
Debian	11 (Bullseye)	x86_64, arm64	Bookworm (12) also supported
Fedora	36	x86_64, arm64	Tested on current stable releases
Arch Linux	Rolling	x86_64, arm64	Latest rolling release; no minimum pinned
Windows	10 22H2 / 11	x86_64	WSL2 required , see windows-wsl2.md

Windows note: Native Windows execution is not supported. All CLI commands must run inside a WSL2 environment. Docker Desktop for Windows with WSL2 backend satisfies the Docker requirement automatically.

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Required Dependencies

Docker

Dependency	Minimum Version	Notes
Docker Engine	24.x	Linux native install
Docker Desktop	4.x	macOS and Windows (WSL2 backend)
Docker Compose	v2.20 or newer	Bundled with Docker Desktop; install the standalone docker compose plugin on Linux headless installs

The CLI uses docker compose (v2 plugin syntax). The legacy docker-compose (v1 standalone binary) is not supported.

Compose 2.20 is the floor because older releases cannot read a double-quoted compose.env value that ends in a backslash. They stop with "unterminated quoted value" and the stack does not start. nself doctor warns when the installed version is below 2.20, and nself start refuses to run. Upgrade Docker Desktop, or the docker-compose-plugin package on Linux.

Hardware

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
Disk	5 GB free	10 GB free (for a typical dev stack with images + data)
RAM	4 GB	8 GB (multi-service stack with monitoring)
CPU	2 cores	4+ cores (production or concurrent service loads)

Docker image pulls and Postgres data volumes are the primary disk consumers. The 5 GB minimum covers a single-product install with no monitoring bundle. Enable the monitoring bundle only when the 10 GB threshold is met.

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Network Requirements

Outbound (required)

Destination	Protocol	Purpose
ghcr.io	HTTPS (443)	GitHub Container Registry , CLI and service images
docker.io	HTTPS (443)	Docker Hub , base images
plugins.nself.org	HTTPS (443)	Plugin registry API
ping.nself.org	HTTPS (443)	License validation and telemetry

All outbound traffic is HTTPS only. No inbound firewall rules are required for local development.

Inbound (production deployments only)

Port	Protocol	Purpose
80	TCP	HTTP → Nginx (redirects to HTTPS)
443	TCP	HTTPS → Nginx reverse proxy

Local dev stacks bind to 127.0.0.1 and require no inbound firewall exceptions.

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Optional Tools

These tools are not required to run the CLI but are useful for advanced workflows.

Tool	Purpose
psql (PostgreSQL client)	Direct database access for debugging, migrations, and ad-hoc queries
pgbouncer	Connection pooling for high-concurrency production deployments
jq	JSON output parsing for scripting and automation
curl	Manual health-check calls to API endpoints

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Cross-References

• Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): macos-apple-silicon.md, Rosetta considerations, native arm64 images, known issues
• Windows / WSL2 setup: windows-wsl2.md, WSL2 installation, Docker Desktop WSL2 backend, file-system path notes
• Installation: Installation.md, step-by-step install for each platform
• Quick Start: Quick-Start.md, first project after install