---
id: first-login
title: First login
sidebar_label: First login
---

A fresh install has no users and no instance. The first visit creates both.

## 1. Create the first account

Open your Vantage address in a browser. Because no user exists yet, you land on
the setup page.

Fill in:

| Field            | Notes                                                     |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Instance name    | Also used to derive your instance's own subdomain          |
| Owner email      | Becomes your sign-in identity                              |
| Password         | At least 8 characters                                      |
| Confirm password | Must match                                                 |

**Setup Instance** creates the instance and makes you its **owner**.

:::warning Your instance gets its own address
If you installed on a name like `vantage.example.com`, an instance called Acme
signs in at `acme.vantage.example.com`, and each instance keeps its own sign-in.
Make sure DNS and your reverse proxy cover that subdomain, or use a wildcard.
:::

:::warning Setup runs exactly once
It is only available while the database has no users. Once yours exists, the
page closes for good, so record the email and password before you continue.
:::

## 2. Copy the instance ID

The confirmation page, headed **Instance created**, shows your instance ID and
your sign-in address. You need that ID to claim a licence in Vantage HQ, and it
is the reference support works from. You can find it again later on the
**Licence** page in the sidebar.

## 3. Sign in

Click **Go to sign in**, then sign in with the email and password you just set.

## 4. Look around

You land on the servers page, which is empty. The sidebar is the whole product:

| Section         | What it does                                     |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Servers         | Your fleet: enrol, inspect, console, update      |
| Monitors        | HTTP, TCP, ping and certificate checks           |
| Vulnerabilities | Known security issues in installed packages      |
| Workloads       | Containers and services running on your servers  |
| SSH Keys        | Public keys and which servers they are on        |
| Secrets         | The encrypted vault                              |
| Workflows       | Compose and run scripted work                    |
| Steps           | The reusable step library                        |
| Audit Log       | A record of everything that changed              |
| Licence         | Your tier, allowance and expiry                  |
| Settings        | People, sign-in, alerts and integrations         |

**Licence** and **Settings** are shown only to owners and admins.

## 5. Install your licence

Until a licence is installed, the instance is read-only: you can look, but you
cannot add servers or anything else. Continue with
[Claim a Free licence](./claim-free-licence.md).

## 6. Add the rest of your team

Go to **Settings → Access** and add people with a role:

| Role     | Can                                                  |
| -------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| `owner`  | Everything                                           |
| `admin`  | Everything except owner-only settings                |
| `member` | Day-to-day work: servers, keys, workflows, monitors  |

Changing settings, and adding or removing people, needs `owner` or `admin`.

If you would rather not manage passwords, you can use single sign-on instead,
which is available on paid plans. See
[Settings](../vantage/settings.md#single-sign-on).