NodeDR POS Now Installs Natively on Windows and Linux — No Docker Required

Docker was never a hard requirement for NodeDR POS conceptually — it was just the fastest way to ship a consistent, reproducible install across Windows, macOS, and Linux with one script. But asking a shop owner to install Docker before they can install their register was always the highest-friction step in the whole setup. As of v1.0.0, that step is gone for the two most common platforms: Windows and Debian/Ubuntu now install as native, standalone applications.

What the Windows installer actually does

Download and run the installer, and NodeDR POS sets itself up as two Windows services — NodeDR POS Backend and NodeDR POS Web Interface — that auto-start at boot with no login required. Data lives in C:\ProgramData\NodeDRPOS, outside Program Files, so it survives upgrades and even a clean uninstall. The installer opens a firewall rule for port 1994 only — the internal API port stays blocked from the rest of the network, the same reduced-surface design as the Docker deployment.

One honest caveat: the installer isn’t code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen shows “Windows protected your PC” on first run. Click More info → Run anyway— the binary is built and published straight from the project’s own CI, and checksums are published alongside every release for anyone who wants to verify it.

What the Debian/Ubuntu installer does

sudo apt install ./nodedr-pos_1.0.0_amd64.deb bundles Node.js and installs NodeDR POS as a hardened systemd service, running under a dedicated, unprivileged nodedr-pos user rather than root. USB thermal printing works out of the box via udev rules — no manual device permission wrangling. An operator CLI (nodedr-pos doctor|backup|restore|logs) covers the day-to-day maintenance that used to mean reaching for raw docker compose commands.

Docker Compose isn’t going anywhere

The existing ./install.shDocker Compose deployment is unchanged and remains fully supported — it’s still the way to run NodeDR POS on macOS, on any Linux distro other than Debian/Ubuntu, or if you simply prefer containers. The native installers are an additional path, not a replacement.

What’s still in progress

A native macOS .dmg and a system tray icon for the desktop installers are next on the roadmap — see the full status there.

Download for Windows · Download for Debian/Ubuntu · read the full release notes.