Getting started

This page takes a new account to its first instance.

Create an account

  1. Open the address of the Portal in a browser. The sign-in screen opens.

  2. Press Create account →. The registration screen opens.

  3. Type a login and an e-mail address. The Portal says whether the login is free.

  4. Press Create account. The Portal sends a one-time code to that address.

  5. Read your mail, and type the code in the One-time password field.

  6. The Portal signs you in.

Sign up with Google or Apple does the same in one step. The Portal then uses that account as your way in. See Security.

Sign in

The sign-in screen asks for a login or an e-mail address, and for a password.

If you have no password, or you forgot it, press Send OTP. The Portal sends a one-time code to the e-mail address of the account. Type that code in place of the password.

The Portal sends the code only if the account exists. The screen says the same thing for an address that it does not know, so nobody can find out from it who has an account.

Choose a plan

The Dashboard opens after you sign in. See The Dashboard. Press Products on the left side of the window. A new account has no instances, so the screen says Nothing running yet, and it shows the plans below.

Each plan card shows the name, the price and a short description. Press Choose this plan on the plan that you want.

Choose where it lives, and what it is called

The activation screen asks two or three questions. It asks only the ones that your plan needs.

  1. Region — Europe or United States. The machine and its data stay there. You cannot move an instance to another region later.

  2. Your URL — the first part of the address. Use letters, digits and hyphens. The screen shows the full address while you type it.

  3. Your login — your account name on the machine. A plan that puts its customers on one shared machine asks for this instead of a URL. The login needs three characters or more.

Some plans have a fixed address. The screen then says so, and what you type is kept as a label only.

Pay

  • A free plan has no payment. Press Activate.

  • A paid plan has one. Press Continue to payment. The Portal sends you to Stripe. Stripe takes the card details and the billing address. The Portal never sees the card number.

Stripe sends you back to the Portal. The return screen confirms the payment, and it sends you on to your instances. See The screens after a checkout.

Wait for the machine

The new row shows the state Setting up, and a bar that moves. The Portal builds the machine, installs the product, and starts it. This takes some minutes.

The screen asks the server again while anything can still change, so leave it open. The state becomes Ready, and the address becomes a link.

Open the instance

  1. Press Show administrator password on the row. The Portal shows the administrator name and the password.

  2. Copy the password now. The Portal gives it once, and then erases it. If you leave the screen, only a new password can replace it.

  3. Press the address. The product opens in a new tab.

  4. Sign in to the product with the name and the password from step 1.

On a shared machine you sign in as your own login, not as an administrator.

What to do next