Prerequisites

Before installing flexFS, verify that your server meets the following requirements. These apply to both Enterprise and Community editions.

Operating System

FlexFS requires a Linux host on one of the following architectures:

| Architecture | Kernel identifier | |---|---| | x86-64 (Intel/AMD) | x86_64 / linux/amd64 | | ARM 64-bit | aarch64 / linux/arm64 |

Any modern Linux distribution is supported (Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, Rocky, Amazon Linux, etc.) as long as it runs a 64-bit kernel with FUSE support.

Required Software

The installer checks for these dependencies at startup and will abort if any are missing. If these tools are not available on your system, you can still install flexFS manually by downloading the binaries and configuring services individually — see the Enterprise: First Mount or Community: First Mount pages for manual installation steps.

| Dependency | Purpose | Check | |---|---|---| | curl | Downloads binaries and validates license keys | command -v curl | | systemctl | Manages flexFS services via systemd | command -v systemctl |

The mount client also requires FUSE3 (fusermount3). The mount client installer script will attempt to install FUSE3 automatically via apt-get, dnf, or yum if it is not already present. You can also install it manually:

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y fuse3

RHEL / Rocky / Amazon Linux

sudo dnf install -y fuse3

CentOS 7 / yum

sudo yum install -y fuse3

Note

The server-side components (admin, metadata, and proxy servers) do not require FUSE. Only hosts that mount the filesystem need it.

Root Access

Both the server installer and mount client installer must be run as root (sudo). The scripts check for uid 0 and exit immediately if not running with elevated privileges.

Cloud Account and Bucket

You need an object storage bucket on one of the supported cloud providers:

| Provider | Storage API | Example bucket path | |---|---|---| | Amazon Web Services | S3 | s3://my-flexfs-bucket | | Google Cloud Platform | GCS | gs://my-flexfs-bucket | | Microsoft Azure | Azure Blob | https://account.blob.core.windows.net/container | | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure | OCI Object Storage | oci://my-flexfs-bucket |

S3-compatible storage services (MinIO, Wasabi, Ceph RGW, etc.) are also supported through the S3 API with a custom endpoint.

Authentication

The installer will ask whether you have attached an instance role or principal to the host. If the server is running on a cloud VM with an IAM role, managed identity, or instance principal that grants access to the bucket, you can skip static credentials. Otherwise, provide:

• Username — the access key ID (AWS), HMAC key (GCS), account key name (Azure), or customer secret key (OCI)
• Password — the corresponding secret

See the Cloud IAM Setup guide for step-by-step instructions on configuring instance roles, managed identities, and instance principals for each cloud provider.

Network Requirements

FlexFS services communicate over TCP. Ensure the following ports are reachable by any host that will mount the filesystem.

Enterprise Edition

| Default Port | Service | Protocol | Purpose | |---|---|---|---| | 443 | admin.flexfs | HTTPS | Admin API, mount client installer, auto-update | | 8443 | meta.flexfs | TLS/RPC | Metadata operations (inode, dentry, xattr) | | 9443 | proxy.flexfs | HTTPS | Block caching proxy (if enabled) |

Community Edition

| Default Port | Service | Protocol | Purpose | |---|---|---|---| | 443 | free.flexfs | HTTPS | Admin API, mount client installer, auto-update | | 8443 | meta.flexfs | TLS/RPC | Metadata operations |

Tip

All ports are configurable during installation. The admin/free and metadata ports must be different from each other, and if you enable a proxy server, its port must also be unique.

Outbound Access

The server host needs outbound HTTPS access to:

• Your cloud provider’s object storage endpoints (for reading and writing blocks)
• get.flexfs.io (for downloading binaries during installation and auto-updates)
• stat.flexfs.io (Enterprise only, for license validation during installation)

Mount client hosts need outbound access to the admin/free server, the metadata server, and (optionally) the proxy server. If no proxy is configured, mount clients also need direct access to the object storage endpoint.

Next Steps

Once your environment meets these prerequisites, proceed to the installation guide for your edition:

• Enterprise: Install
• Community: Install