Install without Docker

The five install steps in full, on a Linux host you manage, from the release archive.

You need a Linux host with systemd, a hostname pointing at it, and Caddy or nginx for HTTPS. Install Node 24.19.0 or newer within 24.x system-wide, from NodeSource or the official tarball into /usr/local. If you use nvm, copy its binary once: sudo install -D -m 0755 "$(command -v node)" /usr/local/bin/node. Install CapacityLens lists the tested platforms and the experimental Node 26 line.

The commands name release 0.73.0-alpha.1, the first with an archive. For a newer release, use its version; the archive's VERSION file names the one you have.

1. Download

Download and unpack the archive, then link current to the release:

curl -LO https://github.com/Kevinjohn/capacitylens/releases/download/v0.73.0-alpha.1/capacitylens-0.73.0-alpha.1.tar.gz
sudo mkdir -p /opt/capacitylens && sudo tar -xzf capacitylens-0.73.0-alpha.1.tar.gz -C /opt/capacitylens && sudo ln -sfn /opt/capacitylens/capacitylens-0.73.0-alpha.1 /opt/capacitylens/current

To check the archive against its checksum before you unpack it:

curl -LO https://github.com/Kevinjohn/capacitylens/releases/download/v0.73.0-alpha.1/capacitylens-0.73.0-alpha.1.tar.gz.sha256

sha256sum -c capacitylens-0.73.0-alpha.1.tar.gz.sha256

2. Pick a folder for the data

Create the service user and its data folder. The database file appears there on first start:

sudo useradd --system --home /var/lib/capacitylens --shell /usr/sbin/nologin capacitylens
sudo install -d -o capacitylens -g capacitylens -m 0700 /var/lib/capacitylens

3. Configure

Write /etc/capacitylens.env with init, using the address people will open:

sudo node /opt/capacitylens/current/server/dist/index.mjs init --public-url https://capacity.example.com --db /var/lib/capacitylens/capacitylens.db --out /etc/capacitylens.env

It generates CAPACITYLENS_SECRET and CAPACITYLENS_SETUP_TOKEN, writes the file readable only by root (systemd reads it as root), and refuses to overwrite an existing one, so a second run cannot replace keys. Configuration lists every other setting.

4. Start it

Install the systemd service, then put HTTPS in front:

sudo cp /opt/capacitylens/current/capacitylens.service /etc/systemd/system/ && sudo systemctl enable --now capacitylens

Check it is healthy:

curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/health

Expect "ok":true, "db":true, "audit":"ok" and a backup whose status is "ok". It reads "pending" until the snapshot the server takes as it starts has finished. Fix a 503, a degraded field or a restart loop before you hand over: follow the log with journalctl -u capacitylens -f. Monitoring and health checks explains each field.

HTTPS

Caddy obtains and renews the certificate itself. Add this block from the archive's Caddyfile.example to /etc/caddy/Caddyfile, with your own hostname:

capacity.example.com {
	encode zstd gzip
	reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:8787
}

Then reload Caddy:

sudo systemctl reload caddy

For nginx, get a certificate first with your distribution's ACME client, such as certbot. Then copy the archive's complete site file, replace the hostname and certificate paths, and enable it:

sudo cp /opt/capacitylens/current/capacitylens.nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/capacitylens

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/capacitylens /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Check through the proxy too:

curl -fsS https://capacity.example.com/api/health

TLS and networking covers the proxy requirements.

5. Open the address

Open the address and check the first-Owner screen loads. It asks once for the CAPACITYLENS_SETUP_TOKEN value from /etc/capacitylens.env.

If you are also the Owner, continue with Set up your company. Otherwise, send the address to the Owner, and send the setup token separately and privately.

After the Owner has signed in, delete the CAPACITYLENS_SETUP_TOKEN line from /etc/capacitylens.env and restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart capacitylens

First-Owner setup is open only while the database holds no users and a token is set. Erasing the sole identity reopens it, so set a new token only to create a new first Owner.

Customise the service

capacitylens.service assumes /opt/capacitylens/current, the capacitylens user and node on the system path. To change them, edit the copy in /etc/systemd/system/ and run sudo systemctl daemon-reload.

• Keep these lines. They set production mode on the process and give requests time to drain before it exits:

  [Service]
  User=capacitylens
  WorkingDirectory=/opt/capacitylens/current/server
  EnvironmentFile=/etc/capacitylens.env
  Environment=NODE_ENV=production
  TimeoutStopSec=30

Next: Verify and hand over — prove storage survives a restart.