From zero to your first backup

For an evaluation, a Linux machine with Docker is enough. No domain, certificate or dedicated disk — those come later, in production.

• A Linux x86_64 (amd64) VM with Docker and the docker compose v2 plugin. Two vCPUs and 4 GB of RAM are enough to evaluate. ARM machines — such as OCI's free Ampere and AWS Graviton — are not supported yet.
• About 30 GB of free disk for images, the database and the packaging work area.
• Outbound internet access: the agent pulls images and ships packages to AWS.
• Read credentials on the source bucket where your files live today.
• An AWS account with a destination bucket — or a credential allowed to create one from the console.
• An authenticator app on your phone: the first sign-in requires two-step verification.
• Access to port 8080 on the VM from your browser. The console is a web app: you operate it from Mac, Windows or Linux, with nothing to install on your machine.

One command. The script checks Docker, downloads the stack, generates passwords and the encryption key, starts the containers and only hands control back once the console answers.

When it finishes, the installer prints the administrator password and the console address. Store the MASTER_ENCRYPTION_KEY from the .env file in a vault: without it, backups already taken cannot be read back. Running the command again is safe — it never overwrites an existing configuration.

Open the console at the address the installer printed and sign in with the administrator it created. The product requires two-step verification enrolment before releasing any operation — keep your authenticator app at hand.

With the console open, configure both ends. Secrets are encrypted before reaching the database and always appear masked in the interface.

• Source connection: the cloud where your files live today, with a read credential.
• Destination connection: the AWS archive bucket, preferably with object lock enabled.
• Clients: register them manually, import a spreadsheet, or use automatic discovery from the bucket prefixes.

Before the first real backup, run the simulation. It walks the source without writing anything and tells you how many files exist, how many packages will be produced and how much the write operations drop — a way to check scope and cost with no commitment.

A backup never restored is an assumption. Close the evaluation by testing the way back: find a file in the catalogue, request the restore and check the content. The product extracts the file from inside the package without downloading the whole package.

The evaluation licence lasts 14 calendar days, with no extra grace period. The console shows how many days are left.

• While valid, everything works: backup, scheduling, catalogue and restore.
• On expiry, backup and restore are blocked — but nothing is deleted: packages and index stay intact.
• Applying a new licence on the licence screen unlocks everything immediately, with no reinstall.

The evaluation install is designed to remove friction. A production environment asks for more:

• A larger machine, sized by volume: 4 vCPUs and 32 GB of RAM serve archives in the tens of terabytes.
• A dedicated disk for the database and the working area, between 200 and 500 GB.
• A subdomain pointing at the machine — with it, HTTPS is issued and renewed automatically.
• Administrative access restricted by source address, never open to the internet.
• Machine identity to read the source buckets, instead of static access keys.

Need help sizing or deploying? Talk to us — Nublify offers assisted deployment.