Requirement

Instance Configuration Requirements

Overview:

When setting up your AWS instance, you’ll need to configure a few key options. Here’s a detailed guide on the recommended configurations and selections.

1. Instance Type

The smallest instance type this image runs on is:

t3a.small – 2 virtual CPUs and 2 GB memory.
t3.small – 2 virtual CPUs and 2 GB memory.

Please note: smaller types such as t3.micro and t3a.micro are not supported. Zammad, its database and its search engine together need more memory than they have. The installer checks this before it starts, and on an instance that is too small it stops without changing anything and asks you to use t3a.small or larger. Stop the instance, change its type in the EC2 console, start it again and run the installer.

A t3a.small runs the full stack, including search, and swap space is added automatically when the instance starts to give it headroom. It suits evaluation and small teams. As your team and ticket volume grow, choose a larger type. Here’s a quick reference table to help you decide:

CPU / Memory	Suitable for
2 CPU cores / 2 GB	Evaluation, and a small team getting started
2 CPU cores / 8 GB	A small team in daily use
4 CPU cores / 16 GB	A growing team with steady ticket volume
8 CPU cores / 32 GB	Around 40 agents, in line with the example setup in the Zammad documentation

Zammad runs a Ruby application, a background scheduler, a real-time server, PostgreSQL and Elasticsearch on the same instance. Memory is the first thing to run short. The Zammad project publishes its own sizing guidance in the Zammad hardware documentation.

For more details on different instance types and configurations, refer to the AWS Instance Types documentation.

2. Storage Space

The default allocated storage size for our AMI. You may specify the necessary storage size when launching a new instance or change it after deployment.

20 GB (default)

A fresh installation leaves about 8 GB free. A helpdesk grows on disk through its tickets, the email attachments that arrive with them, and the search index built over both. If your team handles many attachments, allow more room from the start.

3. Ports Configuration

To ensure smooth operation of your installation, open the inbound ports below. These three are all that this image needs.

Please note: the database and the search engine do not need open ports, and must not be given any. PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch and the real-time services run on a private network inside the instance and are reachable only by the application. Ports 3000, 5432, 5433, 6042 and 9200 are not needed for anything.

Inbound Ports:

Type	Protocol	Port Range	Source	Why
SSH	TCP	22	0.0.0.0/0	To run the one-click installer and the domain setup tool. Restrict this to your own address if you can.
HTTP	TCP	80	0.0.0.0/0	Reaching your helpdesk before you add a domain, and SSL certificate validation afterwards.
HTTPS	TCP	443	0.0.0.0/0	Required once you associate a domain. Your agents and customers will be sending personal data, so serve it over HTTPS.

Outbound Ports:

Outbound access is needed to download the application on first boot, to obtain and renew your SSL certificate, and to send and fetch email through your own provider. The default AWS security group allows all outbound traffic, and no change is required.

4. Important Notes:

Mail Sending Restrictions:
AWS restricts outbound email on port 25 from EC2 instances by default. Zammad sends through the mail provider you configure, usually on port 587 or 465, which is not affected. If you want to send directly from the instance on port 25, submit a request to AWS to lift the restriction first.