Ways to install

Nixt DNA Server runs on Linux, on x86-64 or ARM64. Every way of installing it installs the same program and reads the same configuration file, so a server installed from a package and one installed in a container behave the same. You can move from one to another later.

Who runs it

You want	Deployment type	What to do
To run it on your own servers	On-premise	Install it with one of the methods below.
To run it in your own cloud account (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or another)	Your own cloud, run by you	The same as on-premise: install it on your cloud machines with one of the methods below.
Us to run it, in our cloud or yours, or a mix	Our shared cloud, Hybrid, Our cloud, run by us or Your cloud, run by us	Send a request from your account; nothing to install. See Nixt DNA Server deployments.

Both ways of running it yourself use the free licence for up to 25 mailboxes. Add the deployment in your account first, to get the licence: see Add a deployment you run yourself.

Method	Best for	Guide
Package (`.deb` or `.rpm`), run by systemd	One Linux machine you already look after. The usual choice.	Quick start
Container image	Any machine with Docker, Podman or another container runtime.	In a container
Kubernetes, with the Helm chart	An organisation that already runs Kubernetes, with PostgreSQL and an S3-compatible bucket.	Kubernetes
Offline bundle	A site with no route to the internet for installing software. Holds the packages, the image and the chart in one archive.	Offline bundle

Whichever you choose:

Check the requirements: a public address reachable on port 25, a reverse DNS (PTR) record, and access to your domain’s DNS.
Install, then publish your DNS records and put a TLS certificate in place.
Install your licence.
Run doctor until it reports nothing to fix. See Monitoring.

In your own cloud

Running Nixt DNA Server in your own cloud account is the same as running it on your own servers, with two things to check first:

Sending on port 25. Many cloud providers block outgoing port 25 on new accounts until you ask. Ask, or send through a relay. See Can this machine send mail directly?
The DNS resolver. The server validates DNSSEC on every lookup. Some cloud resolvers strip the records it needs. Run a local validating resolver, such as unbound, on the machine. See DNS resolver.

One machine or several

One machine running every part of the server is the normal shape for an organisation of any size the free licence covers. Several machines share one PostgreSQL database and one S3-compatible bucket; see Several nodes on one store.