Pulse/docs/INSTALL.md

📦 Installation Guide

Pulse offers flexible installation options ranging from a simple one-liner for Proxmox to enterprise-ready Kubernetes charts.

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

Proxmox VE (LXC)

The easiest way to run Pulse on Proxmox. This script creates a lightweight LXC container, configures networking, and starts the service.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rcourtman/Pulse/main/install.sh | bash

Docker

Ideal for containerized environments or testing.

docker run -d \
  --name pulse \
  -p 7655:7655 \
  -v pulse_data:/data \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  rcourtman/pulse:latest

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🛠️ Installation Methods

1. Proxmox LXC (Advanced)

The installer supports advanced flags for automation or custom setups.

# Install specific version
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rcourtman/Pulse/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --version v4.24.0

# Install from source (dev branch)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rcourtman/Pulse/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --source develop

2. Kubernetes (Helm)

Deploy to your cluster using our Helm chart.

helm registry login ghcr.io
helm install pulse oci://ghcr.io/rcourtman/pulse-chart \
  --version $(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rcourtman/Pulse/main/VERSION) \
  --namespace pulse \
  --create-namespace

See KUBERNETES.md for ingress and persistence configuration.

3. Manual / Systemd

For bare-metal Linux servers (Debian/Ubuntu).

# The installer detects non-Proxmox systems and installs as a systemd service
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rcourtman/Pulse/main/install.sh | bash

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🔐 First-Time Setup

Pulse is secure by default. On first launch, you must retrieve a Bootstrap Token to create your admin account.

Step 1: Get the Token

Platform	Command
Proxmox LXC	pct exec <ID> -- cat /etc/pulse/.bootstrap_token
Docker	docker exec pulse cat /data/.bootstrap_token
Kubernetes	kubectl exec -it <pod> -- cat /data/.bootstrap_token
Systemd	cat /etc/pulse/.bootstrap_token

Step 2: Create Admin Account

1. Open http://<your-ip>:7655
2. Paste the Bootstrap Token.
3. Create your Admin Username and Password.

Note

: If you configure PULSE_AUTH_USER and PULSE_AUTH_PASS via environment variables, this step is skipped.

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🔄 Updates

Automatic Updates (Systemd/LXC only)

Pulse can self-update to the latest stable version.

Enable via UI: Settings → System → Automatic Updates
Enable via CLI: systemctl enable --now pulse-update.timer

Manual Update

Platform	Command
LXC	pct exec <ID> -- update
Systemd	Re-run the install script
Docker	docker pull rcourtman/pulse:latest && docker restart pulse

Rollback

If an update causes issues, you can roll back to the previous version instantly.

Via UI: Settings → System → Updates → "Restore previous version"
Via CLI: pulse config rollback

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🗑️ Uninstall

LXC: pct destroy <ID>
Docker: docker rm -f pulse && docker volume rm pulse_data
Systemd:

systemctl disable --now pulse
rm -rf /opt/pulse /etc/pulse /etc/systemd/system/pulse.service