---
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://regscale.readme.io/llms.txt
---

# Prerequisites

Complete these prerequisites before installing RegScale. They cover the networking, licensing, ports, and database your instance depends on.

## DNS, SSL, and Ingress

You can secure and route traffic to RegScale using your own certificates and ingress services, or via cloud-native options.

### Common Options

| Option                       | Description                                                                              |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Existing Infrastructure**  | Use your organization's DNS, SSL, and ingress controller.                                |
| **Cloud + Public Cert**      | Use a public CA-issued cert and deploy TLS secrets.                                      |
| **Cloud + Self-Signed Cert** | Generate a self-signed cert for air-gapped or internal networks.                         |
| **Standalone Deployment**    | Follow the SSL configuration in the [Local eval (Docker-Compose)](docker-compose) guide. |

## Licensing

RegScale offers two licensing options:

| License                     | Description                                                                           |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Community Edition (CE)**  | Free to use, unrestricted, ideal for small teams or PoCs.                             |
| **Enterprise Edition (EE)** | Includes additional features and support for large-scale or multi-tenant deployments. |

### Install a License

1. Log in with the `admin` account.
2. You'll be redirected to the **Config** page if no license is installed.
3. Paste your license key and save.
4. A domain must be configured to complete license activation.

### Get a License

| Method | Description                                                         |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **CE** | Automatically generated on first launch — no registration required. |
| **EE** | [Contact sales](https://regscale.com/contact/).                     |

## Ports and Protocols

| Port | Protocol | Purpose                   |
| ---- | -------- | ------------------------- |
| 443  | HTTPS    | Web UI access             |
| 1433 | TCP/IP   | API <-> SQL Server        |
| 389  | LDAP     | Directory sync (optional) |
| 587  | SMTP     | Email notifications       |

### Docker Hub Access

Whitelist these domains if outbound access is restricted:

* hub.docker.com
* index.docker.io
* registry-1.docker.io
* production.cloudflare.docker.com

## Database Configuration

RegScale uses Microsoft SQL Server as its backend database.

### Supported Versions

* **Microsoft SQL Server 2022 or later**, with **Full-Text Search** enabled.

> Full-Text Search is required. Confirm the Full-Text feature is installed and enabled on your SQL Server instance before deploying RegScale.

### Database Options

The following managed and self-hosted SQL Server options are fully supported across on-premises and the major cloud providers:

| Provider    | Database Option              | Hosting Model |
| ----------- | ---------------------------- | ------------- |
| **On-Prem** | SQL Server on VM             | On-Prem       |
| **Azure**   | Azure SQL Database           | PaaS          |
| **Azure**   | Azure SQL Managed Instance   | PaaS          |
| **Azure**   | SQL Server on Azure VM       | IaaS          |
| **AWS**     | Amazon RDS for SQL Server    | PaaS          |
| **AWS**     | SQL Server on EC2            | IaaS          |
| **GCP**     | SQL Server on Compute Engine | IaaS          |

> 📘 If your organization does not support one of the database options listed above, reach out to [RegScale Support](opening-tickets) to discuss alternatives.

### Required Editions

RegScale requires the **Standard** or **Enterprise** edition of SQL Server. The Express edition is not supported.

* **Standard**: Recommended for most production environments.
* **Enterprise**: For very large-scale deployments.

### Recommended Settings

* Enable **backups and geo-replication**
* Use **Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)**