Installation

PRX-WAF supports three installation methods. Choose the one that best fits your workflow.

Recommended

Docker Compose is the fastest way to get started. It brings up PRX-WAF, PostgreSQL, and the admin UI in a single command.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Minimum	Notes
Operating System	Linux (x86_64, aarch64), macOS (12+)	Windows via WSL2
PostgreSQL	16+	Included in Docker Compose
Rust (source build only)	1.82.0	Not needed for Docker install
Node.js (admin UI build only)	18+	Not needed for Docker install
Docker	20.10+	Or Podman 3.0+
Disk Space	500 MB	~100 MB binary + ~400 MB PostgreSQL data
RAM	512 MB	2 GB+ recommended for production

Method 1: Docker Compose (Recommended)

Clone the repository and start all services with Docker Compose:

git clone https://github.com/openprx/prx-waf
cd prx-waf

# Review and edit environment variables in docker-compose.yml
# (database password, admin credentials, listen ports)
docker compose up -d

This starts three containers:

Container	Port	Description
prx-waf	80, 443	Reverse proxy (HTTP + HTTPS)
prx-waf	9527	Admin API + Vue 3 UI
postgres	5432	PostgreSQL 16 database

Verify the deployment:

# Check container status
docker compose ps

# Check health endpoint
curl http://localhost:9527/health

Open the admin UI at http://localhost:9527 and log in with the default credentials: admin / admin.

Change Default Password

Change the default admin password immediately after first login. Go to Settings > Account in the admin UI or use the API.

Docker Compose with Podman

If you use Podman instead of Docker:

podman-compose up -d --build

Podman DNS

When using Podman, the DNS resolver address for inter-container communication is 10.89.0.1 instead of Docker's 127.0.0.11. The included docker-compose.yml handles this automatically.

Method 2: Cargo Install

If you have Rust installed, you can install PRX-WAF from the repository:

git clone https://github.com/openprx/prx-waf
cd prx-waf
cargo build --release

The binary is located at target/release/prx-waf. Copy it to your PATH:

sudo cp target/release/prx-waf /usr/local/bin/prx-waf

Build Dependencies

Cargo build compiles native dependencies. On Debian/Ubuntu you may need:

sudo apt install -y build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev

On macOS, Xcode Command Line Tools are required:

xcode-select --install

Database Setup

PRX-WAF requires a PostgreSQL 16+ database:

# Create database and user
createdb prx_waf
createuser prx_waf

# Run migrations
./target/release/prx-waf -c configs/default.toml migrate

# Create default admin user (admin/admin)
./target/release/prx-waf -c configs/default.toml seed-admin

Start the Server

./target/release/prx-waf -c configs/default.toml run

This starts the reverse proxy on ports 80/443 and the admin API on port 9527.

Method 3: Build from Source (Development)

For development with live reload of the admin UI:

git clone https://github.com/openprx/prx-waf
cd prx-waf

# Build the Rust backend
cargo build

# Build the admin UI
cd web/admin-ui
npm install
npm run build
cd ../..

# Start the development server
cargo run -- -c configs/default.toml run

Build the Admin UI for Production

cd web/admin-ui
npm install
npm run build

The built files are embedded into the Rust binary at compile time and served by the API server.

systemd Service

For production deployments on bare metal, create a systemd service:

# /etc/systemd/system/prx-waf.service
[Unit]
Description=PRX-WAF Web Application Firewall
After=network.target postgresql.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=prx-waf
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/prx-waf -c /etc/prx-waf/config.toml run
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl enable --now prx-waf
sudo systemctl status prx-waf

Verify Installation

After installation, verify that PRX-WAF is running:

# Check health endpoint
curl http://localhost:9527/health

# Check admin UI
curl -s http://localhost:9527 | head -5

Log in to the admin UI at http://localhost:9527 to verify the dashboard loads correctly.

Next Steps

• Quick Start -- Protect your first application in 5 minutes
• Configuration -- Customize PRX-WAF settings
• Rule Engine -- Understand the detection pipeline