What are the prerequisites?

Reference only: This article is flagged for rewriting and is provided for reference only.

For definitive configuration details, see the Guardian repository README. Send feedback to [e-mail] or open a pull request.

1. Universal Software

1. Git – source-control tooling
2. Docker – one-command build & run (recommended)
3. MongoDB v6, Node.js v24.15+, and NATS 2.9.25 – auto-provisioned when using Docker Compose
4. IPFS storage (choose one):

   • Storacha account – IPFS pinning service (formerly Web3.Storage)
   • Filebase account – S3-compatible IPFS pinning
   • Local IPFS node (e.g., Kubo) – auto-provisioned when using Docker Compose
5. Valkey – in-memory cache & message broker (auto-provisioned by the Docker stack)

When building reference implementation, you can manually build every component or run a single command with Docker.

Note: If you have already installed another version of Guardian, remember to perform backup operation before upgrading.

2. Hedera Network

	Testnet (default)	Mainnet (production)
Account	Create via Hedera Developer Portal	Create via Hedera-enabled wallet (e.g., HashPack)
Key type	ED25519	ED25519
Network	testnet	mainnet

Fees: Mainnet operations incur HBAR costs—fund your account before running Guardian.

3. Automatic Installation

3.1 Prerequisites for Automatic Installation

• Docker

3.1.1 Docker Installation

If you build with docker MongoDB, NodeJS and Nats will be installed and configured automatically.