System Requirements & Compatibility

Before installing Nanokit, ensure your local development machine and target servers meet the following requirements.

Local Development Machine

Runtime

Node.js: v20.0.0 or higher (LTS recommended).
Package Manager: npm (v10+), pnpm (v9+), or yarn.

Containerization

Docker Engine: v24.0.0 or higher.
Docker Compose: Included in Docker Desktop or as a plugin (docker-compose-plugin).

Operating Systems

Nanokit is cross-platform but relies on Docker for core orchestration.

OS	Support	Notes
Linux	✅ Native	Optimized for Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, and Fedora.
macOS	✅ Native	Supports both Intel (x64) and Apple Silicon (ARM64).
Windows	✅ WSL2	Required. PowerShell/CMD are NOT natively supported for orchestration.

[!IMPORTANT] Windows Users: You must install WSL2 (preferably Ubuntu 22.04+) and enable the “WSL Integration” in your Docker Desktop settings.

Target Servers (VPS/Cloud)

When deploying to a remote host via nkapp deploy, the server must meet these criteria:

OS: Any modern 64-bit Linux distribution (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended).
SSH Access: Root or a user with sudo privileges.
Docker: If not present, Nanokit can automatically install it during the first deployment.
Firewall: Ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS) must be open for the Caddy gateway.

Core Utilities

Nanokit leverages several standard Unix utilities. Ensure these are available in your $PATH:

Git: Required for repository-based code synchronization (deploy.method: git).
SSH Client: Required for all remote environment operations and tunnels.
Rsync: Required for fast, incremental code synchronization (deploy.method: rsync).

Architecture Compatibility

Nanokit provides ARM64/x86_64 Binary Integrity. This ensures that containers built on a Mac (M1/M2/M3) will run correctly on Linux-based production servers without architecture mismatches.

Intel/AMD x64: Supported
Apple Silicon / ARM64: Supported