---
url: https://wallabycdc.net/getting-started.md
description: >-
  Postgres prerequisites, package selection, and first-run configuration for
  adding Wallaby CDC to a .NET service.
---

# Getting Started

## Server prerequisites

Your Postgres 15+ server must already have:

* **`wal_level = logical`** set in `postgresql.conf` - required for logical replication. (Not required for PG 19).
* A role with the **`REPLICATION`** attribute (or superuser) for the connection string you give Wallaby.
* Headroom in `max_replication_slots` and `max_wal_senders` (at least one slot/sender per Wallaby cluster).

Wallaby validates these on startup - including the server version - and fails fast with an actionable
error if something is missing.

## Choose your configuration

Wallaby is configured through `AddWallaby`, with a **storage provider** supplying the model of what to
capture and a **sink** as an output destination. Pick the setup that fits your application. Optionally, if you don't want Wallaby to capture
anything itself, let it provision and maintain publications and replication slots for an external
pgoutput consumer:

::: tip Mixing Providers
The EF Core, Marten and plain-table providers can run side by side in one Wallaby instance, sharing a single
replication slot - see the [providers overview](/providers/overview#combining-providers).
:::

## Deployment

It's highly recommended to deploy Wallaby as a separate service, not as an integrated part of your main application. This allows you to scale CDC operations independently as the need arises.

## Next steps

* [How it works](/how-it-works): the capture pipeline end to end.
* [Configuration](/configuration): all configuration options.
* [Mappings](/mappings): routing entities to destinations, shaping and enriching documents.
* [Backfill](/backfill): initial snapshots and version-triggered reindex.
* [Observability](/operations/observability): OpenTelemetry metrics and traces.