Requirements

Runtime requirements#

Plainwire 2.0 expects a 64-bit Linux deployment for the normal production path.

Core services:

PostgreSQL, required;
HTTPS reverse proxy, required for a public browser deployment;
durable upload storage;
TURN for reliable voice and screen sharing across networks.

Optional services:

Redis for distributed realtime acceleration;
ScyllaDB for high-volume history;
native call-health helper;
optional Partisan cluster profile.

Build requirements#

The upstream 2.0 build documentation requires:

GNU Make 4.3 or newer;
Node.js 20.19 or newer, with Node 22 or newer recommended;
npm;
Python 3.9 or newer;
Erlang/OTP 27 or newer;
rebar3.

erlcass, the Scylla/Cassandra driver, builds native code even if Scylla is disabled at runtime. A Linux builder therefore needs the native toolchain. On Debian-family systems install at least:

apt-get install -y \
  build-essential cmake pkg-config git ca-certificates \
  libssl-dev libuv1-dev zlib1g-dev

If you build the optional native call-health worker, also install a C11 compiler, gfortran, and the matching runtime library.

Browser requirements#

Plainwire is a browser application. Modern Chromium, Firefox, and Safari-class browsers are the target. Screen capture behavior, shared audio, HDR metadata, and codec behavior differ by browser and operating system. Test the browsers your users actually use.

Time synchronization#

Keep system clocks synchronized. Expiring TURN credentials, TLS, session behavior, database timestamps, and message ID generation all depend on sane clocks. Use chrony, systemd-timesyncd, or another maintained NTP client.

Filesystem#

Use durable SSD-backed storage for PostgreSQL and uploads. Scylla has its own production storage requirements and should not be treated like a lightweight sidecar database.