System Requirements

Hardware and software requirements for running Mist.

Minimum Requirements

Small Deployments (1-5 applications)

• CPU: 1 vCPU
• RAM: 1GB minimum, 2GB recommended
• Disk: 10GB SSD
• Network: 100 Mbps
• Cost: ~$5-10/month VPS

Build Performance

The build process (compiling Go and bundling frontend) requires significant CPU. During installation, 1 vCPU may take 5-10 minutes to build.

Medium Deployments (5-20 applications)

• CPU: 2 vCPU
• RAM: 2-4GB
• Disk: 20-50GB SSD
• Network: 500 Mbps
• Cost: ~$12-24/month VPS

Large Deployments (20+ applications)

• CPU: 4+ vCPU
• RAM: 8GB+
• Disk: 100GB+ SSD
• Network: 1 Gbps
• Cost: ~$40+/month VPS

Software Requirements

Operating System

• Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later
• Debian 11 or later
• Any Linux distribution with:
  • systemd
  • Docker support
  • Modern kernel (5.x+)

Docker

Required - Must be installed before running Mist installation script

• Docker Engine 20.10 or later
• Docker Compose v2 (for Traefik)
• Docker socket accessible at /var/run/docker.sock

Install Docker First

The Mist installation script does NOT install Docker. You must install Docker manually before running the script.

Install Docker →

Build Dependencies

Automatically installed by the installation script:

• Go 1.22.11
• Bun (JavaScript runtime)
• Build essentials (gcc, g++, make)
• Git, curl, wget, unzip

Network

• Required Ports: 80, 443, 8080 must be available

• Port 80: HTTP entry point (Traefik)

• Port 443: HTTPS entry point (Traefik)

• Port 8080: Mist API and Dashboard

• Port 8081: Traefik Dashboard (optional)

• Outbound internet access for:

  • GitHub API (api.github.com)
  • Docker Hub (hub.docker.com)
  • Package downloads (Go, Bun, system packages)
  • Let's Encrypt ACME challenges (acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org)

Recommended Cloud Providers

DigitalOcean

• Droplet: Basic ($12/month, 2GB RAM)
• Pre-installed Docker images available
• Good for most use cases

Hetzner Cloud

• CX21: (€5/month, 2GB RAM)
• Excellent price/performance
• European data centers

Linode

• Nanode: ($5/month, 1GB RAM)
• Good for small deployments
• Global data centers

Vultr

• Regular Performance: ($6/month, 1GB RAM)
• Multiple locations worldwide

Storage Considerations

Installation Size

• Mist binary: 8-15MB
• Frontend assets: ~5MB
• Go installation: ~150MB (if not already installed)
• Bun installation: ~50MB (if not already installed)
• Build dependencies: ~100MB
• Total installation: ~500MB-1GB

Database

• SQLite database grows slowly (~10MB per 1000 deployments)
• Initial database: ~100KB
• Recommend at least 1GB for database growth

Git Repositories

• Cloned during deployment to /var/lib/mist/repos/{app-id}/
• Average repo: 50-500MB
• Temporary - Cleaned up after successful builds
• Multiple concurrent clones possible

Docker Images

• Images stored by Docker Engine
• Size varies: 100MB - 2GB per image
• Each deployment creates new image tagged with commit hash
• Old images remain until manually pruned
• Recommendation:
  • Small deployments: 10-20GB
  • Medium deployments: 50-100GB
  • Large deployments: 100GB+

Logs

• Build logs stored in filesystem: /var/lib/mist/logs/{deployment-id}/build.log
• Average log file: 1-5MB
• Not automatically cleaned up
• Recommend 5-10GB for logs

User Uploads

• Avatars stored in /var/lib/mist/uploads/avatar/
• Maximum size: 5MB per avatar
• Minimal storage impact

Performance Benchmarks

API Response Time

• Average: 20-50ms
• p95: < 100ms
• p99: < 200ms

Concurrent Deployments

• Small (1 CPU): 1-2 concurrent
• Medium (2 CPU): 3-5 concurrent
• Large (4+ CPU): 10+ concurrent

WebSocket Connections

• Hundreds of concurrent connections supported
• Minimal resource overhead

Scaling Considerations

🚧 Multi-Node Support Coming Soon

Horizontal scaling planned for Phase 4.

Current Limitations

• Single server deployment only
• Vertical scaling (upgrade server) required
• No load balancing across nodes

Future Plans

• Docker Swarm support
• Kubernetes option
• Multi-server deployments
• Shared storage for builds