Deploy Your First Instance

Overview

This guide walks through the intended workflow for creating your first StrataGateway Cloud Compute instance. It covers region selection, image choice, compute plan, SSH access, networking, firewall rules, review, provisioning, and first connection steps.

Availability

Cloud Compute is currently in preview. The deployment workflow described here reflects the intended experience; exact fields, options, and availability may change before general availability.

Prerequisites

Before you can launch an instance, ensure you have:

• A StrataGateway account (registration is Coming Soon).
• An SSH key pair; the public key will be uploaded during instance creation.
• An idea of the workload (web server, database, CI runner, etc.) to size the instance.

Deployment Workflow

The end‑to‑end provisioning flow is designed to be linear and explicit:

Choose a Region

A region determines where your instance physically runs. Pick the region closest to your users or other infrastructure to minimize latency.

Choose an Image

Images define the operating system and initial software installed on the instance.

Image identifiers are illustrative. The final catalog will be published before general availability.

Choose a Compute Plan

Compute plans define the virtual CPU, memory, and local storage available to an instance.

Final plan names, vCPU counts, memory amounts, and pricing will be confirmed before general availability.

Configure Access

StrataGateway uses SSH public‑key authentication for Linux instances. Generate a key pair and upload the public key during instance creation.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Configure Networking

Each instance receives a private IP inside a VPC. Public connectivity is optional.

Configure Firewall Rules

Firewall policies control inbound and outbound traffic at the network edge.

Review Configuration

Before submitting, verify every selected option.

The example above is illustrative. Final options and identifiers may differ at launch.

Provisioning Lifecycle

After submission the instance passes through several internal states before becoming reachable.

Requested
→ Validating
→ Provisioning
→ Running
(plus Failed / Terminated terminal states)

Exact state names and transitions may be adjusted before general availability.

Connect to the Instance

Once the instance reaches Running, connect via SSH using the private key that matches the public key you uploaded.

ssh [email protected]

Replace <user>@<instance-ip> with the username (typically root orubuntu depending on the image) and the public IP shown in the control plane.

First Steps After Deployment

Once you have shell access, run through this quick checklist:

1. 1

   Update the package index and upgrade packages (<code class="rounded bg-card px-1.5 py-0.5 font-mono text-xs">apt update && apt upgrade -y</code>).

2. 2

   Create a non‑root user with sudo privileges; disable password SSH for root.

3. 3

   Configure a host‑based firewall (ufw/iptables) to allow only needed ports.

4. 4

   Install your application runtime (Docker, Node, Go, etc.).

5. 5

   Configure log forwarding to your observability stack.

6. 6

   Enable automatic security updates.

Instance Lifecycle Actions

After creation, instances support the following power‑state operations:

Troubleshooting

Common issues when deploying the first instance and quick checks:

Current Limitations

Because the platform is still in preview, the following capabilities are not yet available:

• Public instance provisioning is not yet generally available.
• Region selection is limited to preview regions.
• Custom images and ISO uploads are not supported.
• GPU and high‑memory instance families are not yet orderable.
• Automated backup schedules and snapshot retention policies are under design.
• Load balancer integration and managed DNS are planned for later releases.
• SLA, uptime guarantees, and billing APIs are not finalized.

Related Documentation

Next Steps