---
id: self-hosted-instances
title: Self-hosted instances
sidebar_label: Self-hosted instances
---

A self-hosted instance is your install, licensed through HQ. HQ never touches
it: it issues a signed file that your install verifies locally.

## Free

Install first, then link and claim. Step by step in
[Claim a Free licence](../getting-started/claim-free-licence.md).

## Paid

Buying happens **before** the install has to exist, because you may well be
buying in order to build it.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A["Buy in Vantage HQ"] --> B["Placeholder instance<br/>no licence yet"]
    B --> C["Install Vantage<br/>find its instance ID"]
    C --> D["Paste your install's ID"]
    D --> E["Licence issued<br/>for that instance"]
```

1. On **Overview**, choose **License my own install**, or **Buy a plan** if you
   already have an instance. Pick **Self-hosted**, then your tier, billing cycle
   and configuration.
2. Complete checkout. Vantage HQ creates a **placeholder** instance, waiting to
   be linked, with no licence yet.
3. [Install Vantage](../getting-started/self-hosted-install.md) if you have not
   already, and find its instance ID on the **Licence** page.
4. Back in Vantage HQ, open the placeholder and paste that ID.
5. The licence is issued. Download it and paste it into your install.

:::info Why there is a placeholder
A licence is issued to one instance, and at the moment you pay, that install may
not exist yet. The placeholder holds your purchase until it does.
:::

## Linking an install you already have

If the install exists before the purchase, the flow is the same: buy, then open
the placeholder from **Overview**, choose **Link install** and paste its instance
ID. An ID already claimed by another account is refused.

For a Free licence there is no placeholder step. See
[Claim a Free licence](../getting-started/claim-free-licence.md).

## Relinking

Rebuilding the host gives you a new instance ID, which your old licence does not
match. **Relink** moves the licence across and reissues it.

The number of relinks per term is capped, and the portal shows how many you have
left. If you have used them all for a genuine reason, ask support.

## Installing the licence

Paste it on the **Licence** page in your install. It confirms the licence was
issued to that instance before applying it.

Pasting works even while your current licence has expired, because that is how
you get out of degraded mode.

## Keeping it current

Your install never downloads a licence by itself. Whenever one is reissued, on
renewal, on a configuration change or after a relink, download it from Vantage
HQ and paste it in.

:::warning Nothing reminds your install
The control plane knows only what its licence says. Expiry emails come from HQ,
to the account's address. Make sure someone reads them.
:::