System Readiness

Verify hardware and software requirements before deploying a local Hiero test network with Solo. Check system prerequisites, install Docker/Podman, configure platform-specific settings, and ensure your machine is ready.
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Overview

Before you deploy a local Hiero test network with solo one-shot single deploy, your machine must meet specific hardware, operating system, and tooling requirements. This page walks you through the minimum and recommended memory, CPU, and storage, supported platforms (macOS, Linux, and Windows via WSL2), and the required versions of Docker/Podman, Node.js, and Kubernetes tooling. By the end of this page, you will have your container runtime installed, platform-specific settings configured, and all Solo prerequisites in place so you can move on to the Quickstart and create a local network with a single command.

Hardware Requirements

Solo’s resource requirements depend on your deployment size:

ConfigurationMinimum RAMRecommended RAMMinimum CPUMinimum Storage
Single-node12 GB16 GB6 cores (8 recommended)20 GB free
Multi-node (3+ nodes)16 GB24 GB8 cores20 GB free

Note: If you are using Docker Desktop, ensure the resource limits under Settings → Resources are set to at least these values - Docker caps usage independently of your machine’s total available memory.

Software Requirements

Solo manages most of its own dependencies depending on how you install it:

  • Homebrew install (brew install hiero-ledger/tools/solo) - automatically installs Node.js in addition to Solo.
  • one-shot commands — automatically install Kind, kubectl, Helm, and Podman (an alternative to Docker) if they are not already present.

You do not need to pre-install these tools manually before running Solo.

The only hard requirement before you begin is a container runtime - either Docker Desktop or Podman. Solo cannot install a container runtime on your behalf.

ToolRequired VersionWhere to get it
Node.js>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)nodejs.org
Kind>= v0.29.0kind.sigs.k8s.io
Kubernetes>= v1.32.2Installed automatically by Kind
Kubectl>= v1.32.2kubernetes.io
Helmv3.14.2helm.sh
DockerSee Docker section belowdocker.com
k9s (optional)>= v0.27.4k9scli.io

Docker

Solo requires Docker Desktop (macOS, Windows) or Docker Engine / Podman (Linux) with the following minimum resource allocation:

  • Memory: at least 12 GB allocated to Docker.
  • CPU: at least 6 cores allocated to Docker.

Configure Docker Desktop Resources

To allocate the required resources in Docker Desktop:

  1. Open Docker Desktop.

  2. Go to Settings > Resources > Memory and set it to at least 12 GB.

  3. Go to Settings > Resources > CPU and set it to at least 6 cores.

  4. Click Apply & Restart.

Note: If Docker Desktop does not have enough memory or CPU allocated, the one-shot deployment will fail or produce unhealthy pods.

Platform Setup

Solo supports macOS, Linux, and Windows via WSL2. Select your platform below to install the required container runtime and configure your environment, before proceeding to Quickstart:

  1. Install Homebrew (if not already installed):

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  2. Install Docker Desktop:

  3. Remove existing npm-based installs:

    [[ "$(command -v npm >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo 0 || echo 1)" -eq 0 ]] && { npm uninstall -g @hashgraph/solo >/dev/null 2>&1 || /bin/true }

  4. Install Solo (this installs all other dependencies automatically):

    brew tap hiero-ledger/tools
brew update
brew install solo

  5. Verify the installation:

    solo --version

  1. Install Homebrew for Linux:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

    Add Homebrew to your PATH:

    echo 'eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.bashrc
eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

  2. Install Docker Engine (for Ubuntu/Debian):

    sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y docker.io
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo usermod -aG docker ${USER}

    Log out and back in for the group changes to take effect.

  3. Install kubectl:

    sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl
ARCH="$(dpkg --print-architecture)"
curl -fsSLo kubectl "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

  4. Remove existing npm-based installs:

    [[ "$(command -v npm >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo 0 || echo 1)" -eq 0 ]] && { npm uninstall -g @hashgraph/solo >/dev/null 2>&1 || /bin/true }

  5. Install Solo (this installs all other dependencies automatically):

    brew tap hiero-ledger/tools
brew update
brew install solo

  6. Verify the installation:

    solo --version

  1. Run the following command in Windows PowerShell (as Administrator), then reboot and open the Ubuntu terminal. All subsequent commands must be run inside the Ubuntu (WSL2) terminal.

    wsl --install Ubuntu

  2. Install Homebrew for Linux:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

    Add Homebrew to your PATH:

    echo 'eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.bashrc
eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

  3. Install Docker Desktop for Windows:

  4. Install kubectl:

    sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl
ARCH="$(dpkg --print-architecture)"
curl -fsSLo kubectl "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

  5. Remove existing npm-based installs:

    [[ "$(command -v npm >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo 0 || echo 1)" -eq 0 ]] && { npm uninstall -g @hashgraph/solo >/dev/null 2>&1 || /bin/true }

  6. Install Solo (this installs all other dependencies automatically):

    brew tap hiero-ledger/tools
brew update
brew install solo

  7. Verify the installation:

    solo --version

Important: Always run Solo commands from the WSL2 terminal, not from Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

Alternative Installation: npm (for contributors and advanced users)

If you need more control over dependencies or are contributing to Solo development, you can install Solo via npm instead of Homebrew.

Note: Node.js >= 22.0.0 and Kind must be installed separately before using this method.

npm install -g @hashgraph/solo

Optional Tools

The following tools are not required but are recommended for monitoring and managing your local network:

  • k9s (>= v0.27.4): A terminal-based UI for managing Kubernetes clusters. Install it with:

    brew install k9s

    Run k9s to launch the cluster viewer.

Version Compatibility Reference

The table below shows the full compatibility matrix for the current and recent Solo releases:

Solo VersionNode.jsKindSolo ChartHederaKubernetesKubectlHelmk9sDocker ResourcesRelease DateEnd of Support
0.59.0>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)>= v0.29.0v0.62.0v0.71.0>= v1.32.2>= v1.32.2v3.14.2>= v0.27.4Memory >= 12 GB, CPU >= 6 cores2026-02-272026-03-27
0.58.0 (LTS)>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)>= v0.29.0v0.62.0v0.71.0>= v1.32.2>= v1.32.2v3.14.2>= v0.27.4Memory >= 12 GB, CPU >= 6 cores2026-02-252026-05-25
0.57.0>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)>= v0.29.0v0.60.2v0.71.0>= v1.32.2>= v1.32.2v3.14.2>= v0.27.4Memory >= 12 GB, CPU >= 6 cores2026-02-192026-03-19
0.56.0 (LTS)>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)>= v0.29.0v0.60.2v0.68.7-rc.1>= v1.32.2>= v1.32.2v3.14.2>= v0.27.4Memory >= 12 GB, CPU >= 6 cores2026-02-122026-05-12
0.55.0>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)>= v0.29.0v0.60.2v0.68.7-rc.1>= v1.32.2>= v1.32.2v3.14.2>= v0.27.4Memory >= 12 GB, CPU >= 6 cores2026-02-052026-03-05
0.54.0 (LTS)>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)>= v0.29.0v0.59.0v0.68.6+>= v1.32.2>= v1.32.2v3.14.2>= v0.27.4Memory >= 12 GB, CPU >= 6 cores2026-01-272026-04-27
0.52.0 (LTS)>= 22.0.0 (lts/jod)>= v0.26.0v0.58.1v0.67.2+>= v1.27.3>= v1.27.3v3.14.2>= v0.27.4Memory >= 12 GB, CPU >= 6 cores2025-12-112026-03-11

For a list of legacy releases, see the legacy versions documentation.

Troubleshooting Installation

If you experience issues installing or upgrading Solo (for example, conflicts with a previous installation), you may need to clean up your environment first.

Warning: The commands below will delete Solo-managed Kind clusters and remove your Solo home directory (~/.solo).

# Delete only Solo-managed Kind clusters (names starting with "solo")
kind get clusters | grep '^solo' | while read cluster; do
  kind delete cluster -n "$cluster"
done

# Remove Solo configuration and cache
rm -rf ~/.solo

After cleaning up, retry the installation with:

brew install hiero-ledger/tools/solo
Last modified April 7, 2026: docs(site): add prev/next page navigation and fix markdown lint errors (#70) (5588ce6)