> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.abbyy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Prerequisites checklist for ABBYY Vantage Private Cloud: choose VM or AKS, sizing for demo or HA production, and the resources you need before installation.

Use this checklist to prepare your environment before installing ABBYY Vantage. For detailed specifications, see [System Requirements](/vantage/private-cloud/system-requirements). For installation steps, see [Installation](/vantage/private-cloud/installation).

## Choose Your Configuration

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Virtual Machines">
    | Aspect          | Without High Availability | Highly Available          |
    | --------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------- |
    | Use case        | Demo / Test               | Production                |
    | Throughput      | Up to 50,000 pages/8 hrs  | Up to 200,000 pages/8 hrs |
    | Minimum VMs     | 3                         | 8                         |
    | Fault tolerance | No                        | Yes                       |
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Azure AKS">
    | Aspect          | Without High Availability | Highly Available          |
    | --------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------- |
    | Use case        | Demo / Test               | Production                |
    | Throughput      | Up to 50,000 pages/8 hrs  | Up to 200,000 pages/8 hrs |
    | Minimum Nodes   | 3                         | 5                         |
    | Fault tolerance | No                        | Yes                       |
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Prerequisites Checklist

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Virtual Machines">
    Review the prerequisites checklist below to prepare your VM environment.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Azure AKS">
    <Warning>
      **Complete Azure Infrastructure Creation First!**

      Before proceeding with installation, you must create all required Azure resources (AKS cluster, storage accounts, SQL database). After gathering prerequisites below, complete the [Azure Infrastructure Creation](/vantage/private-cloud/azure-infrastructure) guide before running the installer.
    </Warning>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Infrastructure

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Virtual Machines">
    <Check>
      **Installation machine** with Linux or WSL and Docker 19.03+
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Virtual machines** running Ubuntu 20.04 or RHEL 8

      | Configuration    | Master Nodes | Service Nodes | Worker Nodes |
      | ---------------- | ------------ | ------------- | ------------ |
      | Without HA       | 1            | 1             | 1            |
      | Highly Available | 3            | 4             | 1+           |
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **VM specifications** (for service and worker nodes)

      * 12 CPU cores
      * 48 GB RAM
      * 80 GB disk storage
      * 40 GB dedicated disk mounted to `/opt/local-path-provisioner`
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **User account** named `ansible` on all VMs with:

      * SSH key access (same key on all VMs)
      * sudo access with NOPASSWD option
    </Check>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Azure AKS">
    <Check>
      **Installation machine** with Linux or WSL, Docker 19.03+, Azure CLI, and kubectl
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Azure subscription** with permissions to create and manage resources
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **AKS cluster** with Kubernetes version 1.33.3

      | Configuration    | Services Node Pool | Workers Node Pool |
      | ---------------- | ------------------ | ----------------- |
      | Without HA       | 2 nodes            | 1 node            |
      | Highly Available | 4 nodes            | 1+ nodes          |
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Node pool specifications**

      * Services: Standard\_D8as\_v5 (8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM)
      * Workers: Standard\_D16as\_v5 (16 vCPU, 64 GB RAM)
      * OS Disk: 128 GB per node
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Workers node pool labels and taints configured**

      * Labels: `k8s.abbyy.com/techcore: "true"`, `k8s.abbyy.com/overprovision-label: workers`
      * Taints: `k8s.abbyy.com/techcore=true:NoSchedule`
    </Check>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### External Services

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Virtual Machines">
    <Check>
      **Container registry** to store Docker images (any registry)
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **MS SQL Server 2022** (Linux) with:

      * 4 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM
      * 200+ GB disk storage
      * Full-Text Search enabled
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **SMTP server** for sending email notifications
    </Check>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Azure AKS">
    <Check>
      **Azure Container Registry** to store Docker images
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Azure SQL Database** with elastic pool:

      * General Purpose, Standard-series (Gen 5)
      * 4 vCores
      * 100 GB max storage
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Azure Storage Accounts** (5 required):

      * Skills (Premium, Hot)
      * Processing (Standard, Hot)
      * Temporary (Standard, Hot)
      * Shared Folders (Premium FileStorage, 100 GB min)
      * Archive (Standard, Cool)
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **SMTP server** or Azure SendGrid for email notifications
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Redis cluster** (HA only): 6+ nodes, 4 GB RAM each, version 6.2+

      <Warning>Azure Cache for Redis is not supported. Deploy Redis on VMs.</Warning>
    </Check>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Network

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Virtual Machines">
    <Check>
      **2 static IP addresses**

      * One for Kubernetes API endpoint
      * One for Vantage access (load balancer)
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **DNS record** pointing to the Vantage access IP
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **TLS certificate** (wildcard or domain-specific)
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Network access during installation** to:

      * `abyvtgonprm27.azurecr.io` (container images)
      * Package repositories (Ubuntu or RHEL)
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Network access post-installation** to:

      * `licensing-us.abbyy.com` (licensing)
      * Your SMTP server
    </Check>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Azure AKS">
    <Check>
      **Azure Public IP** (Standard Static IPv4) for ingress
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **DNS record** pointing to the Azure Public IP
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **TLS certificate** (wildcard or domain-specific)
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Network access during installation** to:

      * `abyvtgonprm27.azurecr.io` (container images)
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Network access post-installation** to:

      * `licensing-us.abbyy.com` (licensing)
      * Your SMTP server or SendGrid
    </Check>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Optional

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Virtual Machines">
    <Check>
      **External NFS storage** - Recommended for production workloads over 10,000 pages/8 hours
    </Check>

    <Check>
      **Elasticsearch** - For centralized logging (if not using file-based logging)
    </Check>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Azure AKS">
    <Check>
      **Elasticsearch** - For centralized logging (if not using file-based logging)
    </Check>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Next Steps

Once you have all prerequisites ready:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Virtual Machines">
    1. Review the full [System Requirements](/vantage/private-cloud/system-requirements).
    2. Complete [Installation](/vantage/private-cloud/installation).
    3. Complete [Initial Setup](/vantage/private-cloud/initial-setup).
    4. See the [Performance Guide](/vantage/private-cloud/performance-guide) for scaling recommendations.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Azure AKS">
    1. Review the full [System Requirements](/vantage/private-cloud/system-requirements).
    2. Create Azure resources using the [Azure Infrastructure Creation](/vantage/private-cloud/azure-infrastructure) guide.
    3. Complete [Installation](/vantage/private-cloud/installation).
    4. Complete [Initial Setup](/vantage/private-cloud/initial-setup).
    5. See the [Performance Guide](/vantage/private-cloud/performance-guide) for scaling recommendations.
    6. For government deployments, see [FIPS Compliance](/vantage/private-cloud/fips-compliance).
  </Tab>
</Tabs>