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System Requirements

This document outlines the hardware and software requirements for deploying Evolution API on Dokku.

Table of Contents

Software Requirements

Required

  • Dokku: Version 0.30.0 or higher
  • PostgreSQL Plugin: Latest version
    • Installation: dokku plugin:install https://github.com/dokku/dokku-postgres.git postgres
  • Docker: Version 20.10+ (automatically installed with Dokku)
  • Git: Any recent version

Optional

  • Let's Encrypt Plugin: For SSL/TLS certificates
    • Installation: dokku plugin:install https://github.com/dokku/dokku-letsencrypt.git
  • Redis Plugin: ONLY for teams with 50+ users (not needed for basic operation)
    • Installation: dokku plugin:install https://github.com/dokku/dokku-redis.git redis
    • Guide: See Redis Integration Guide for complete setup
    • Note: Redis is NOT included by default and adds complexity. Only install if performance metrics indicate it's needed.

Hardware Requirements

Minimum Requirements (1-10 users)

Perfect for testing, personal use, or very small teams.

Resource Specification
CPU 0.3 cores (30% of 1 vCPU)
RAM 256MB
Storage 2GB
Network 10Mbps

Estimated Costs:

  • VPS: $2-5/month (e.g., DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode basic droplet)
  • Cloud: $5-10/month (e.g., AWS t4g.micro with spot instances)

Recommended for Small Teams (10-50 users)

Suitable for small businesses or growing teams with moderate usage.

Resource Specification
CPU 1 core
RAM 512MB
Storage 5GB
Network 50Mbps

Estimated Costs:

  • VPS: $5-10/month
  • Cloud: $10-20/month

Recommended Configuration:

dokku resource:limit evo --memory 512m --cpu 1

Recommended for Medium Teams (50-200 users)

For medium-sized teams with regular WhatsApp activity.

Resource Specification
CPU 2 cores
RAM 1GB
Storage 10GB
Network 100Mbps

Estimated Costs:

  • VPS: $10-20/month
  • Cloud: $20-40/month

Recommended Configuration:

dokku resource:limit evo --memory 1024m --cpu 2

Additional Recommendations:

  • Consider Redis caching if response times are slow (see Redis Integration Guide)
  • Set up regular database backups
  • Monitor resource usage weekly
  • Note: Most medium teams (50-200 users) work fine without Redis

High-Volume Deployments (200+ users)

For large organizations, call centers, or high-traffic deployments.

Resource Specification
CPU 4+ cores
RAM 2GB+
Storage 20GB+
Network 200Mbps+

Estimated Costs:

  • VPS: $20-50/month
  • Cloud: $40-100/month

Recommended Configuration:

dokku resource:limit evo --memory 2048m --cpu 4

Additional Recommendations:

  • Redis caching strongly recommended for optimal performance (see Redis Integration Guide)
  • Database optimization (disable unnecessary data logging)
  • Load balancing (consider horizontal scaling)
  • Monitoring (set up alerts for CPU/RAM usage)
  • CDN (for media files if handling high volume)
  • Regular backups (automated daily backups)

Network Requirements

Bandwidth Considerations

Evolution API's network usage depends on message volume and media handling:

Usage Pattern Estimated Bandwidth
Text-only messages 1-5Mbps
Text + occasional media 10-50Mbps
Heavy media (images/videos) 100-200Mbps+

Port Requirements

The following ports must be accessible:

Port Protocol Purpose
80 HTTP Web traffic (optional, redirects to HTTPS)
443 HTTPS Secure web traffic (recommended)
8080 HTTP Evolution API internal port (mapped by Dokku)

Recommendations by Team Size

1-10 Users (Minimal)

# Default configuration (already set)
dokku resource:limit evo --memory 256m --cpu 0.5

Best for:

  • Personal projects
  • Testing/development
  • Small side projects

Considerations:

  • May experience slowdowns with heavy media
  • Not suitable for production with multiple users
  • Perfect for cost-conscious deployments

10-50 Users (Small Team)

dokku resource:limit evo --memory 512m --cpu 1

Best for:

  • Small businesses
  • Startups
  • Growing teams

Considerations:

  • Handles moderate message volume
  • Can process media files efficiently
  • Good balance of cost and performance

50-200 Users (Medium Team)

# Increase resources
dokku resource:limit evo --memory 1024m --cpu 2

# OPTIONAL: Enable Redis caching (see redis-integration.md for details)
# Only add Redis if performance metrics indicate it's needed:
# dokku redis:create evo
# dokku redis:link evo evo
# dokku config:set evo CACHE_REDIS_ENABLED=true
# dokku config:set evo CACHE_REDIS_URI="$(dokku config:get evo REDIS_URL)"

Best for:

  • Medium-sized companies
  • Active customer support teams
  • Marketing departments

Considerations:

  • Most medium teams work fine without Redis (PostgreSQL-only setup is sufficient)
  • Consider Redis only if response times consistently exceed 200ms
  • See Redis Integration Guide for detailed instructions
  • Monitor database size regularly
  • Set up automated backups

200+ Users (High Volume)

# Maximum resources
dokku resource:limit evo --memory 2048m --cpu 4

# Enable Redis caching (required)
dokku redis:create evo
dokku redis:link evo evo
dokku config:set evo CACHE_REDIS_ENABLED=true
dokku config:set evo CACHE_REDIS_URI="$(dokku config:get evo REDIS_URL)"

# Optimize database
dokku config:set evo DATABASE_SAVE_DATA_HISTORIC=false
dokku config:set evo DATABASE_SAVE_DATA_LABELS=false

Best for:

  • Large enterprises
  • Call centers
  • High-traffic applications

Considerations:

  • Consider horizontal scaling (multiple instances)
  • Implement load balancing
  • Set up advanced monitoring
  • Use CDN for media files
  • Daily automated backups are critical

Resource Adjustment

Check Current Resources

Linux/macOS:

# View resource limits
dokku resource:report evo

# Monitor real-time usage
dokku ps:report evo

Windows (PowerShell):

ssh your-server "resource:report evo"
ssh your-server "ps:report evo"

Adjust Resources Dynamically

You can adjust resources at any time without data loss:

# Increase RAM and CPU
dokku resource:limit evo --memory 1024m --cpu 2

# Restart the application to apply changes
dokku ps:restart evo

Monitor Resource Usage

Set up regular monitoring to ensure your deployment stays healthy:

# Check memory usage
dokku ps:report evo | grep -i memory

# Check CPU usage
dokku ps:report evo | grep -i cpu

# View logs for performance issues
dokku logs evo -t

Cloud Provider Recommendations

Budget-Friendly Options

  1. DigitalOcean Droplets

    • $6/month for 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU (perfect for small teams)
    • $12/month for 2GB RAM, 1 vCPU (medium teams)

  2. Vultr Cloud Compute

    • Similar pricing to DigitalOcean
    • Multiple datacenter locations

  3. Linode

    • Competitive pricing
    • Excellent documentation

Enterprise Options

  1. AWS (Amazon Web Services)

    • t4g.micro or t3.small for small teams
    • t4g.medium for medium teams
    • Consider spot instances for 70% cost savings

  2. Google Cloud Platform

    • e2-micro or e2-small
    • Good for integration with other Google services

  3. Microsoft Azure

    • B1s or B1ms
    • Excellent for Windows-based organizations

Storage Considerations

Database Storage

PostgreSQL database size grows based on:

  • Number of WhatsApp instances
  • Message history (if enabled)
  • Contact information
  • Webhook logs

Estimated database growth:

  • 10 instances: ~100-500MB
  • 50 instances: ~500MB-2GB
  • 200+ instances: 2-10GB+

Media Storage

WhatsApp media files are stored in /evolution/instances:

  • Images: ~100KB-5MB each
  • Videos: ~1-50MB each
  • Documents: varies

Estimated media storage needs:

  • Low usage: 1-2GB
  • Medium usage: 5-10GB
  • High usage: 20-50GB+

Storage Optimization Tips

  1. Disable message history if not needed:

    dokku config:set evo DATABASE_SAVE_DATA_HISTORIC=false

  2. Regular cleanup of old media files:

    dokku enter evo web
find /evolution/instances -type f -mtime +30 -delete

  3. Monitor storage usage:

    dokku storage:report evo

Next Steps