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Prerequisites

Before installing eLabFTW, make sure your environment meets the requirements below. You should be comfortable maintaining a server: using the command line, applying updates, configuring backups, and hardening the host OS.

Platform​

  • 64-bit GNU/Linux OS

Required dependencies​

Container runtime​

  • Docker (recommended for most setups)
  • Podman (recommended on RHEL family hosts)
  • Kubernetes (k8s) (recommended for large or managed deployments)
  • Any other OCI compatible container engine

This guide will focus on Docker + Compose plugin, as this is the easiest and most straightforward method to deploy eLabFTW.

warning

On Ubuntu, Docker installed via snap is known to cause issues; prefer a non-snap installation method.

  • curl (fetch files from the command line; probably already installed)
  • Docker Compose plugin (required by elabctl; do not use the legacy docker-compose tool/package)
  • dialog (used by elabctl install)
  • borgbackup (required if you plan to use elabctl backup; not needed just to install)

Database note (important)​

  • The default configuration already includes a MySQL container, so you generally do not install a host package like mysql-server.
  • If you use an existing database service instead of the bundled container, it must be MySQL (not MariaDB).

When you’re ready, move on to the Installation section.