Fully supported
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, 64-bit. These are the releases every AquaMind build is tested and released against, and the ones the hardware kit ships with.
System & hardware requirements
What AquaMind needs to run.
AquaMind OS runs on a computer in your shop — the store server — and shows the till on a screen attached to it. Extra counters run a second, much lighter install that points back at the first. Everything below is what the installer actually checks before it will continue, so there are no surprises on the day.
The short version
Two kinds of computer, two different bars.
The store server holds the database and does the work. An extra register is just a screen and a browser pointed at it, so it needs far less.
| Requirement | Store server | Extra register |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or 26.04 LTS | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or 26.04 LTS |
| Processor | 64-bit Intel or AMD, 2 cores or more | 64-bit Intel or AMD, 2 cores or more |
| Memory | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| Free disk space | 8 GB | 2 GB |
| Room for the download | A further 4 GB free wherever the update is unpacked | Not needed |
| Network address | Fixed — static, or reserved for it by your router | Any; it finds the server by name or address |
| Connection | Wired network strongly preferred | Wired or Wi-Fi |
| Database | Installed for you (MariaDB) | None — it uses the server's |
| Screen | A touchscreen is what the till display is designed around, but any monitor works. | |
These are minimums, not recommendations. The mini PC in the AquaMind POS Hardware Kit ships with 8 GB of memory and a 256 GB drive, comfortably above every figure in this table. If the computer you have falls short, the installer says which line it failed on and stops before changing anything.
Operating system
AquaMind installs onto Ubuntu.
One download, one password prompt, and the wizard provisions the whole machine. It is fussy about the operating system on purpose — the database migrations and the packaged dependencies are verified against specific releases.
Works, but not our tested build
Ubuntu 22.04, 24.10 and 25.04, and Debian 12 and 13. The installer carries on and tells you it is off the tested path. Support can help, but fixes are proven on the releases above first.
Not supported
Anything that is not 64-bit Intel or AMD — including ARM machines and a Raspberry Pi acting as the store server. macOS is not supported. A Windows installer is planned but is not shipping yet.
A Raspberry Pi is still very much part of the system — it just sits on the tank side, running controllers and sensors that report back to the store server. It is not where AquaMind itself is installed.
Network
One fixed address on your own network.
The store server needs an address that does not change. Every QR code printed onto a tank label points at it, so an address handed out fresh by the router each week would quietly break labels you have already stuck to glass.
AquaMind is never exposed to the internet. The installer sets the firewall to allow the till only from your shop's own network, and refuses to write a rule that opens it to the world.
- A static address, or one reserved for the server in your router
- Wired network preferred; Wi-Fi works but is flagged during setup
- Ports 5000 and 3306 free on the server before installing
- Outbound HTTPS so licensing, updates and card payments can reach us
- No inbound access from the internet, and no port forwarding needed
- If your internet drops, the till keeps selling on the shop network
Till hardware
The peripherals AquaMind drives directly.
These are set up by the installer, with the right permissions, on the computer they are plugged into. Already own some of it? Tell us the models before you order and we will confirm what works.
| Device | How it connects | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Label printer | USB, or over the network | Brother QL series. A USB label printer can only be driven by the store server itself — put it on the network if a second counter needs to print tank and livestock labels. |
| Receipt printer | USB | 80 mm thermal. AquaMind talks to it directly rather than through the print queue, which is why the installer sets its permissions itself. |
| Cash drawer | USB-to-serial cable | Given a fixed device name during setup, so another USB adapter plugged in at boot cannot take its place and silently stop the drawer opening. |
| Barcode & QR scanner | USB or Bluetooth | Any scanner that types what it reads, like a keyboard. Nothing to install or configure. |
| Card reader | Network | Stripe S700. The reader is driven from our servers rather than from the till, so card details never touch your computer. |
| Tank controllers & sensors | Your shop network | Raspberry Pi controllers report readings to the store server and are shown as offline if they stop checking in. |
| Smart plugs & lighting | Wi-Fi | Tuya smart plugs, through your Tuya account. Addressable RGBW lighting is driven by the tank controller. |
More than one counter
Extra registers are deliberately thin.
A second or third till runs the same installer in Extra Register mode. It sets up a full-screen browser pointed at your store server and nothing else — no second database, no second copy of your data, no second licence to manage.
That is why the requirements are so much lower, and why an extra register can be an older computer you already have.
- No database and no separate copy of your records
- Needs to reach the store server on your shop network
- Keeps working during an internet outage, like the server does
- A USB label or receipt printer must be on the store server
- Extra registers are billed per month — see expansion pricing
Setting it up
You supply the computer. The wizard does the rest.
AquaMind Setup is a single download that you double-click. It asks for your password once, checks this machine against everything on this page, then provisions it end to end.
Checks before it touches anything
Disk, memory, processor, operating system, network, free ports and the system clock are all measured first. If the machine cannot run AquaMind, you find out before a single file is written.
Installs the whole stack
The database, the application, its dependencies, the background services and the licence — all set up and started, with no command line and nothing left for you to configure.
Turns the machine into a till
Full-screen display on boot, screen blanking and sleep switched off for trading hours, printers and cash drawer wired up, and the firewall closed to everything outside your shop.
Not sure the computer you have will do?
Send us the model and we will tell you plainly whether it will run AquaMind, or price you the hardware kit with a register that is ready to plug in.