Production prerequisites

Supported platform

• Ubuntu or Debian family Linux with systemd
• x86-64 Linux for the current release package
• Root or sudo access during installation
• Static IPv4 addressing for service interfaces
• Reliable time synchronization
• Forward and reverse DNS records where hostname enrichment is required

The installer checks and installs build and operating dependencies, including Rust tooling, iproute2, OpenSSL development packages, compiler tools, pkg-config, libcap2-bin, and terminal wizard support.

Resource planning

Start lab nodes with at least 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, and 20 GB free disk. Production sizing depends on concurrent SMB sessions, throughput, DNS query rate, audit retention, reputation size, and enabled inspection rules. Validate representative peak traffic before cutover.

For high SMB throughput, prioritize CPU, NIC capacity, and low-latency storage for logs. For DNS, prioritize predictable network latency and sufficient CPU for peak query bursts. Management needs durable storage for configuration, audit, diagnostics, and reputation data.

Network preparation

• Assign static service IPs before installation.
• Confirm the selected NIC is UP and owns the expected IP.
• Remove any existing service that already listens on ports 445, 53, 8443, or 9443 as applicable.
• Do not enable IP forwarding as a shortcut around the SMB proxy.
• Confirm the SMB node can reach the backend file server on TCP 445.
• Confirm the DNS node can reach every configured upstream on UDP and TCP 53.
• Confirm Management and each node can reach one another on the control ports.

Information to collect before installation

Backup existing systems

A new Axiom installation creates /etc/axiom, /var/lib/axiom, /var/log/axiom, a systemd unit, Linux capabilities, and reverse-proxy sysctl settings when SMB is enabled. Capture a VM snapshot or configuration backup before changing an existing host.