vantage-docs/docs/hq/self-hosted-instances.md

id, title, sidebar_label

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

Paid

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

flowchart LR
    A["Buy in HQ"] --> B["Placeholder instance<br/>awaiting_link, no licence"]
    B --> C["Install Vantage<br/>get its instance UUID"]
    C --> D["Paste the UUID<br/>claim-link"]
    D --> E["Licence issued<br/>bound to that UUID"]

1. Overview → Buy self-hosted, choose tier, term and configuration.
2. Complete checkout. HQ creates a placeholder instance in state awaiting_link with no licence attached.
3. Install Vantage if you have not already, and find its instance UUID at Settings → Licence.
4. Back in HQ, open the placeholder and paste the UUID.
5. The licence is issued, bound to that UUID. Download it and paste it into your install.

:::info Why there is a placeholder at all A licence binds to an instance UUID, and at the moment of payment that UUID may not exist yet. Issuing early would mean issuing to nothing; refusing to sell until you had installed would be the wrong order. The placeholder holds the purchase until there is something to bind to. :::

Linking an existing install

If the install already exists, Link an instance takes the UUID directly. A UUID already claimed by another account is refused with a conflict.

Relinking

Rebuilding the host produces a new instance UUID, and the old licence no longer matches. Relink moves the licence to the new UUID and reissues.

The number of relinks per term is capped, and the portal shows how many you have left. This is not meant to obstruct disaster recovery if you have exhausted them for a real reason, ask support.

Installing the licence

Paste it at Settings → Licence in your install. The instance verifies the signature and checks that the UUID matches its own.

Pasting works even while the current licence is expired that endpoint is exempt from the licence check, because it is the route out of degraded mode.

Keeping it current

Your install does not fetch licences. When a licence is reissued renewal, configuration change, relink download the new one from 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. :::