System Requirements

Precision Bridge ships in two builds with different requirements:

Native build (Windows only) — a standalone .exe, no Docker required. Recommended for trials. See Windows Native Build Quick Start.
Docker build (all platforms) — the full containerised application with scheduling, multi-user access, and server deployment.

This article lists the hardware, OS, and network requirements for both.

Hardware (Both Builds)

RAM: 16 GB minimum for project design
- For production usage, 32–64 GB is recommended for larger or more complex projects
Storage: 16 GB SSD recommended
- The application itself needs about 1 GB; the remainder is working space for projects, logs, and (Docker build only) container images
Processor: A multicore processor helps but is not required

Supported Operating Systems

Native Build

OS	Supported
Windows 11 (64-bit)	Yes
Windows Server 2019 or later (64-bit, Desktop Experience)	Yes, with prerequisites — see below
Windows Server Core (any version)	Not supported — no GUI subsystem
Windows 10	Not officially supported
macOS	Not supported — use the Docker build
Linux	Not supported — use the Docker build

The native build also requires the WebView2 Runtime (preinstalled on modern Windows; the installer prompts to add it if missing). Hardware virtualisation, WSL, and Hyper-V are not required.

Additional Requirements on Windows Server

A fresh Windows Server installation typically does not ship with several components that the native build's embedded WebView2 window depends on. Install all of the following on the server before running Precision Bridge, in addition to the WebView2 Runtime:

Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015–2022 (x64) — available from Microsoft.
Server-Media-Foundation feature — install with Install-WindowsFeature Server-Media-Foundation in an elevated PowerShell.
Desktop Experience SKU — Server Core does not include the GUI subsystem the embedded window requires.

If WebView2 still fails to initialise after installing the above (the symptom is a blank or unresponsive embedded window when the native build launches), the application is still running and serving its UI at http://localhost:7500. Open that URL in a browser on the server as a workaround. See Running in a Virtual Machine for the broader Windows Server hosting picture.

Docker Build

OS	Supported
Windows 11 or Windows Server 2019+ (with WSL 2 or Hyper-V)	Yes
macOS 12 (Monterey) or later — Apple Silicon and Intel	Yes
Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Fedora, Amazon Linux	Yes
Other Linux distributions	Yes, with manual Docker Engine install

The Docker build also requires a container runtime:

Docker Desktop — recommended for most users
Rancher Desktop — free/open-source alternative, ideal for organisations where Docker Desktop licensing or sign-in is a concern
Podman — free, daemonless, rootless runtime for organisations that cannot use Docker
Docker Engine (Linux servers) — installed automatically by the install.sh one-liner with --install-docker, or manually per the Docker Engine docs

On Windows, all three desktop runtimes require WSL 2 under the hood. If WSL 2 is not already enabled, the runtime installer guides you through enabling it and may require a restart.

See Choosing a Container Runtime for a side-by-side comparison.

Web Browser

A modern web browser is required to access the Precision Bridge UI (Docker build) or as a fallback for the native build:

Chrome / Edge 80+
Firefox 80+
Safari 14+

The native build opens its UI in an embedded WebView2 window on Windows, so a separate browser is not required for normal use.

Network

Internet: High-speed internet is required if connections are being made over the internet. For large migrations, at least 1 Gbps is recommended.
Firewall: On some networks, outbound HTTPS (port 443) may need to be enabled for connections to cloud-hosted source/target systems.
Local ports: The application listens locally on:
- 7500 for the native build (Windows only)
- 7502 for the Docker production build
- These are configurable at install time if they conflict with other services.

Virtual Machines

If you plan to run Precision Bridge inside a VM (VMware, Hyper-V, VirtualBox, cloud VM), see Running in a Virtual Machine for nested-virtualisation requirements.

Cloud VMs must support nested virtualisation for the Docker build, because Docker Desktop, Rancher Desktop, and Podman all run Linux containers inside a WSL 2 or Hyper-V virtual machine. On Microsoft Azure this rules out the B-series (burstable) and older Av2/Dv2 series — start with Standard_D2s_v5 or larger for a Windows host. On AWS, standard EC2 instances do not support nested virtualisation; use a .metal instance or a Linux VM with Docker Engine instead. See Running in a Virtual Machine for the full provider matrix.