System Requirements

Operating System

Broadcast is designed to run on a fresh install of Ubuntu 24.04 (server edition).

Minimium requirements

  • 2 GB of RAM
  • 1 CPU Core
  • 40 GB of disk space
  • 4 GB of RAM
  • 2 CPU Cores
  • 60+ GB of disk space

Software

Broadcast ships as a Docker image and brings its own dependencies. The only data store it needs is PostgreSQL 17, which the Automatic Installation method installs and manages for you as part of the stack.

There is no Redis requirement. Background jobs, caching, and websockets all run on PostgreSQL through Solid Queue, Solid Cache, and Solid Cable, so there is no second data store to install, secure, back up, or keep alive.

If you are installing manually, you supply PostgreSQL yourself — see Manual Installation.

Sending email

Broadcast does not send mail on its own. You connect it to an email service provider — Postmark, Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, or any SMTP server — and it sends through them. See ESP Integrations for the supported providers and the setup wizards, and Domain Names for the DNS records your sending domain needs.

Hosting providers

For hosting provider, we recommend using Hetzner as they offer good network performance and reliability, while offering great value for their virtual private servers (VPS).

Digital Ocean and Linode are also good options.

Note that if you use the above links to sign up, you will receive the following credits:

  • €20 credit for Hetzner
  • $200 credit for Digital Ocean
  • $100 credit for 60 days for Linode

The above referral links also provide us with server credits, so it is a win-win for both you and us.

System administration

A lot of customers ask what level of experience they need to maintain a Broadcast server.

If you are using our automation installation method, you will not need to worry about the underlying system administration as the installer sets up self-updates.

Having said that, at some point Ubuntu 24.04 will need to be upgraded to the next version (April 2029). You can read about the Ubuntu release cycle on Ubuntu’s official website.

For users looking to manually install Broadcast and run the standalone Docker container image, you will need to be comfortable with the underlying system administration. You will need to be comfortable with Linux system administration tasks such as installing and configuring software, managing databases, and configuring web servers.

Last updated

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

Thanks for letting us know. We'll work on improving this page.