# Getting started

MetalSoft is very easy to operate but it does have some unique concepts. This short introductory tutorial will walk you through deploying a server and retrieving access credentials while also explaining various MetalSoft concepts.

This guide assumes that MetalSoft has been deployed and that servers are now registered and available.

0. **Login into the infrastructure editor**

    You are now looking at a blank canvas on which we can create our infrastructure. A a default infrastructure has been created in a random data-center. Infrastructures are used to group resources connected with a project running in the same datacenter. Users can have any number of infrastructures. To change the datacenter where the infrastructure will be deployed create a new infrastructure.

1. **Create an instance array**

    MetalSoft managed servers (called **Instances**) are grouped in **InstanceArrays**. 

    ![](/assets/general/introduction-7.png)

    Let's create an InstancAarray with a single instance: Click on the `Create your first InstanceArray`

    ![](/assets/guides/getting_started3.png)


2. **Select a server configuration**
    
    Select your type (any), number of servers (1). 

    ![](/assets/general/create_new_instance_array_select_configuration.png)

3. **Configure storage**
    
    Select Use ISCSI drive as a boot drive and CentOS 7.7 as Operating System.

    ![](/assets/general/creating_new_instance_array_select_iscsi.png)
    

4. **Configure the firewall**

    **By default all traffic is blocked except from the logged in user's IP address**. If you need to allow additional traffic, such as enabling port 443 from any source use the Advanced firewall configuration link to add new rules.

    ![](/assets/guides/getting_started41.png)

5. **Click Create**

    You will notice that a structure has been created on your UI:

    ![](/assets/guides/getting_started7.png)

    This structure includes both an `instance array` and a `drive array` both with a count of 1.  If you want to perform further modifications such as firewall rules or selecting another configuration by click on the top box.

6. **Deploy the infrastructure**

    
    Operations in the Metal Cloud are not immediately deployed. In fact they can be reverted until the infrastructure is "Deployed".
    Click on the big "Deploy" button from the bottom of the screen.
    ![](/assets/guides/getting_started61.png)

    The deploy operation should take between 3 and 10 minutes. At the end of it the *instance array* will be in an `active` state.


7. **Retrieve access credentials**

    After the deploy the *instance array* is in "active" state. Click on the instance array:

    ![](/assets/user/guides/managing_instance_arrays1.png)

    This will pop-up the access credentials window:

    ![](/assets/user/guides/managing_instance_arrays2.png)

    Here you can find, for each instance (server):
    1. the quick ssh access link
    2. root password

    Clicking on the `Acess link` will open the default ssh client for your platform. If that doesn't work use:

    * On Linux & Mac open a terminal and type:
        ```bash
        ssh root@instance-1234.metalsoft.io
        ```
    * On a Windows client one option would be to use [Putty](https://www.putty.org). 
        - Host: `instance-1234.metalsoft.io`
        - Port: `22`
        - Username: `root`
        - Password: `<use the Reveal button under Initial password>`

    >Note: It is recommended that you register your public SSH key in the **Account settings** section so that it gets automatically added on the hosts at deploy time.


8. **View deployed server as an Admin**

    While users operate with InstanceArrays, DriveArrays and other logical concepts, behind the scenes physical equipment gets provisioned.

    The **users** interact with "instances" whereas **admins** interact with Servers. The mapping between an instance and a server is done at "provisioning" time and is created when the user "requests" a compute resource. An instance can be mapped to another server if the user needs more resources or needs a replacement.

    ![](/assets/general/introduction-3.svg)

    Let's see what got provisioned:
    
    1. Login to the Admin page.
    2. Go to the Servers page, locate the used server. You can use the filter bar to search for your name or email address. The server should be the only result.

    ![](/assets/general/allocated_server.png)

    3. Click on the server's title or id. You can now browse through the tabs. Under normal circumstances admins should not interact with the server itself as the process is completely automatic.

    ![](/assets/general/servers_page.png)

    4. You can use IPMI host IP, the IPMI username and password to login into the server's BMC interface.

9. **View deployed switch configuration** 

    4. Click on the Server's Network interfaces tab and checkout the network connections that were created
    5. Go to the Switches page. Select the switch referenced in the infrastructures tab
    5. Select the Storages section from the sidebar and go to the drives section. You should be able to search the drive by id using the filtering fields on the top.

Where to go from here:

1. [Server lifecycle](/content/configuration/servers/server_lifecycle)
2. [Managing infrastructures](/content/user/managing_infrastructures)
3. [Managing instance arrays](/content/user/managing_instance_arrays)