Deployment Models

Pulse supports multiple deployment models. This page clarifies what differs between them and where “truth” lives (paths, updates, and operational constraints).

Summary

Model	Recommended for	Data/config path	Updates
Proxmox VE LXC (installer)	Proxmox-first deployments	`/etc/pulse`	In-app updates supported
systemd (bare metal / VM)	Traditional Linux hosts	`/etc/pulse`	In-app updates supported
Docker	Quick evaluation and container stacks	`/data` (bind mount / volume)	Image pull + restart
Kubernetes (Helm)	Cluster operators	`/data` (PVC)	Helm upgrade

Common Ports

UI/API: 7655/tcp
Prometheus metrics: 9091/tcp (/metrics on a separate listener)

Docker and Kubernetes do not publish 9091 unless you explicitly expose it.

Where Configuration Lives

Pulse uses a split config model:

Local auth and secrets: .env (managed by Quick Security Setup or environment overrides, not shown in the UI)
Encryption key: .encryption.key (required to decrypt .enc files)
System settings: system.json (editable in the UI unless locked by env)
Nodes and credentials: nodes.enc (encrypted)
Notification config: email.enc, webhooks.enc, apprise.enc (encrypted)
API tokens: api_tokens.json
Legacy token suppressions: env_token_suppressions.json
AI config: ai.enc (encrypted)
AI patrol data: ai_findings.json, ai_patrol_runs.json, ai_usage_history.json
Pulse Pro license: license.enc (encrypted)
Host metadata: host_metadata.json
Docker metadata: docker_metadata.json
Guest metadata: guest_metadata.json
Agent profiles: agent_profiles.json
Agent profile assignments: agent_profile_assignments.json
Sessions: sessions.json (persistent sessions, sensitive)
Recovery tokens: recovery_tokens.json
Update history: update-history.jsonl
Metrics history: metrics.db (SQLite)

Path mapping:

systemd/LXC: /etc/pulse/*
Docker/Helm: /data/*

Updates by Model

systemd and Proxmox LXC

Use the UI:

Settings → System → Updates

These deployments can apply updates by downloading a release and swapping binaries/config safely with backups and history.

Docker

Pull a new image and restart:

docker pull rcourtman/pulse:latest
docker compose up -d

Kubernetes (Helm)

Upgrade the chart:

helm repo update
helm upgrade pulse pulse/pulse -n pulse

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