Required knowledge

EML is a suite of tools for developers and server administrators. It requires assembling several moving parts — a Docker-based backend, a reverse proxy, and an Electron application — so a baseline of technical knowledge is necessary before you start.

The prerequisites are split between the two main components: EML AdminTool (the server side) and EML Lib (the launcher side). You may only need one of the two depending on your role.

EML AdminTool

The following concepts are required to deploy and operate EML AdminTool, whether in production on a Linux VPS or locally for development.

Docker and Docker Compose — EML AdminTool runs entirely inside Docker containers. You must understand what Docker is, how to pull and run images, and how to work with docker-compose.yml files.

Linux system administration — Production deployments target Linux VPS environments (Ubuntu or Debian). You must be able to navigate the command line, manage file permissions, edit configuration files, and run system services.

Web server / reverse proxy — A reverse proxy (NGINX is recommended) is required to expose EML AdminTool securely to the internet. You should know how to install and configure a basic NGINX virtual host.

DNS and networking — You must be able to configure DNS records (A or CNAME) to point a domain name to your server’s IP address, and understand the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

SSL certificates — Securing EML AdminTool with HTTPS is mandatory for any production deployment. You should know what TLS is and be comfortable using Let’s Encrypt via Certbot to obtain and renew certificates.

EML Lib (launcher development)

The following concepts are required to build and distribute a launcher using EML Lib and EML Template.

JavaScript or TypeScript — EML Lib is a Node.js library written in TypeScript. A solid understanding of modern JavaScript (ES modules, async/await, events) is required. TypeScript knowledge is strongly recommended.

Node.js and npm — You must be able to manage a Node.js project: install dependencies with npm, understand package.json, and run scripts.

Electron — The launcher is an Electron application. You should understand Electron’s two-process model (main process and renderer process) and how IPC (Inter-Process Communication) works between them.

Basic build tooling — EML Template uses Vite as a build tool and electron-builder for packaging. Familiarity with these tools is helpful, though not strictly required if you use the template as-is.