---
title: Hosting
---

Hosting Chronicle means running the **Chronicle Kernel** as a standalone server process. The Kernel is the heart of the system — it manages the event store, processes projections, coordinates observers, and exposes the API that client applications connect to. All event-sourced state flows through it, so the Kernel must be running before any client can append or query events.

Chronicle ships as a Docker image, making it straightforward to run anywhere containers are supported — locally for development, in CI, or in production clusters.

## Getting Started

For day-to-day development, [Docker Compose](/chronicle/hosting/docker-compose/) is the fastest way to get a Kernel and MongoDB running locally. [Aspire](/chronicle/hosting/aspire/) is an alternative if your team uses the .NET Aspire application model.

## Going to Production

Running the Kernel in production requires two things beyond a basic Docker deployment:

- **[Production](/chronicle/hosting/production/)** — how to deploy the Chronicle Docker image with MongoDB, including port configuration, Docker Compose setup, health checks, and security considerations.
- **[Data Protection Key Encryption](/chronicle/hosting/encryption-certificate/)** — Chronicle uses ASP.NET Core Data Protection to protect sensitive values at rest. In production you must supply a certificate so that data protection keys are encrypted. Without this, the Kernel will either fail to start or leave keys unprotected.

Both steps are required. A production deployment that skips key encryption is not secure.

## All Hosting Topics

- **[Production](/chronicle/hosting/production/)** — Docker-based production deployment
- **[Data Protection Key Encryption](/chronicle/hosting/encryption-certificate/)** — Certificate-backed key encryption for production
- **[Configuration](/chronicle/hosting/configuration/)** — Complete configuration reference
- **[Aspire](/chronicle/hosting/aspire/)** — Microsoft Aspire hosting integration
- **[Docker Compose](/chronicle/hosting/docker-compose/)** — Multi-container setup for development and testing
- **[Local Certificates](/chronicle/hosting/local-certificates/)** — TLS certificates for local development