Quick Start Guide
This guide walks you through the essential first steps after signing into your NetActuate account. By the end, you will have your account secured, your credentials set up, and your first resource deployed.
Step 1: Secure Your Account
After your first login, set up two-factor authentication and review your security settings.
- Navigate to Account > Profile and enable Two-Factor Authentication under the Security section.
- Review Account > Settings to configure authentication policies, conditional access rules, and display preferences.
For enterprise environments, NetActuate supports SAML 2.0 SSO (Okta, Google Workspace, or any SAML IdP) and OpenID Connect for federated authentication.
See Profile and Settings for full details.
Step 2: Add SSH Keys
SSH key authentication is the recommended method for accessing your servers. Add at least one public key before deploying.
- Navigate to Account > SSH Keys.
- Click + Add SSH Key, paste your public key, and save.
Tip: Generate a key with
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your@email.com"if you do not already have one.
Keys added here are available during VM and bare metal deployment. See SSH Keys for details.
Step 3: Set Up API Access
The NetActuate portal is a fully featured API client. Every action available in the portal is also available programmatically. Your API token is located under Account > API.
- Copy your API token from the Account > API page.
- Optionally configure IP ACL restrictions to limit which networks can use your token.
- Test with a quick API call:
curl -s https://api.netactuate.com/api/v3/cloud/server/list \
-H "X-Auth-Token: YOUR_API_TOKEN" | jq .
See API Access for VM OAuth, the API Explorer, and SDK links.
Step 4: Explore Your Available Services
Your contract with NetActuate determines which services are available on your account. Depending on your agreement, you may have self-service access to some or all of the following:
Compute and Infrastructure
| Service | Description | Get Started |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Machines | On-demand VMs at 40+ global edge locations with flexible CPU, RAM, and storage | VM Documentation |
| Cloud (VPC) | Software-defined private networking with gateways, firewalls, NAT, and load balancing | VPC Documentation |
| Managed Kubernetes | Container orchestration with full worker node access and integrated Anycast routing | K8s Documentation |
| Bare Metal | Dedicated physical servers with IPMI access and full hardware control | Bare Metal Documentation |
| Colocation | Rack space in carrier-neutral facilities with Tier 1 connectivity | Colocation Documentation |
| Storage | S3-compatible object storage and Ceph RBD block volumes | Storage Documentation |
Networking
| Service | Description | Get Started |
|---|---|---|
| BGP / Anycast | Announce prefixes globally from 40+ locations with 4,000+ BGP peers | Anycast Documentation |
| IP Transit | Dedicated upstream bandwidth to Tier 1 carriers | IP Transit Documentation |
| DDoS Protection | Managed network-level DDoS mitigation | DDoS Documentation |
| Domains | DNS management with full record type support and secondary DNS | Domains Documentation |
| Cloud Routing | Interconnect workloads across locations with cloud routers and Magic Mesh | Cloud Routing Documentation |
Note: Some services (IP Transit, Colocation, Cloud VLANs) are provisioned by the NetActuate team. Contact your account manager to discuss availability and requirements.
Step 5: Deploy Your First Resource
The fastest way to get started is deploying a virtual machine. From the portal:
- Navigate to Infrastructure > Virtual Machines.
- Click + Add to open the build wizard.
- Select a CPU type, location, server size, operating system, and SSH key.
- Click Submit. Your VM will be running in about 15 seconds.
For a full walkthrough, see Deploying a Virtual Machine.
Step 6: Automate
Once you are comfortable with the portal, bring your deployments into code with your preferred automation tooling.
| Tool | Description | Documentation |
|---|---|---|
| Terraform | Infrastructure as code with the NetActuate provider | Terraform Guide |
| Ansible | Configuration management and provisioning playbooks | Ansible Guide |
| GoNA SDK | Go SDK for the NetActuate API | GoNA Documentation |
| CI/CD | Pipeline integration with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and more | CI/CD Guide |
| API Reference | Full API documentation for direct integration | API v3, API v2 |
Need Help?
Contact support@netactuate.com or open a support ticket from the portal. See Support for support levels, Slack access, and other contact options.