Skip to content
Docs sslbrain sslbrain.com

Step 2 of 8

2. First-time setup

Copy link to the page “2. First-time setup”

Connect the appliance to your account, choose a licence and save the 12 backup words.

What you need

Copy link to the section “What you need”
  • The appliance address from installation.
  • An owner or administrator login for sslbrain Cloud (EU).
  • A safe place outside the appliance for the 12 backup words.

Connect your account

Copy link to the section “Connect your account”

  1. Open the appliance address and click Log in with sslbrain Cloud.

  2. Log in and confirm that this is your appliance. The browser returns to the licence selection. The person completing the wizard becomes the appliance owner.

Use your licence

Copy link to the section “Use your licence”

  1. Check the account at the top of the page. If it is wrong, click Wrong account? Log in again.

  2. Select your licence, Free, Basic, Professional or Enterprise, and click Use this licence. The Free option is labelled Free. Licence limits are listed in sslbrain Cloud.

Save the 12 backup words

Copy link to the section “Save the 12 backup words”

  1. On Emergency key, write down the 12 words in order and store them outside the appliance.

  2. Tick I have saved the recovery key somewhere safe. and click Next.

The words are shown only here. They open the appliance’s data without sslbrain Cloud and are used during recovery. FairSSL has no copy. Without the words, the data is lost if sslbrain Cloud can never be reached again.

Enable automatic maintenance

Copy link to the section “Enable automatic maintenance”

  1. On Operation and diagnostics, select Auto.

  2. Leave Share diagnostics with FairSSL continuously. unticked and keep Automatic (recommended) under Service agent updates.

  3. Click Continue.

Check that it works

Copy link to the section “Check that it works”

The wizard shows Step 5 of 5: Access and hostname. The 12 words are stored safely outside the appliance.

Next step

Copy link to the section “Next step”

Continue with A name and certificate for the appliance.

If it fails

Copy link to the section “If it fails”
  • The appliance cannot reach sslbrain Cloud → allow outbound port 443 to the names under Addresses for the firewall and retry. See The Cloud connection.
  • The browser cannot reach sslbrain Cloud → click Copy link, log in using the link on a phone, for example, and enter the code on the appliance using Continue with the code.
  • Login is refused or the wizard returns to step 1 → log in again as an owner or administrator. Accept the licensing terms and data processing agreement in sslbrain Cloud if prompted.
  • This account has no licence free right now. → buy a licence or release an installation in sslbrain Cloud. The list refreshes automatically. To move a licence, read Move or restore the appliance first.
  • The words cannot be copied → write them down. If they cannot be displayed, stop here, unlock the appliance and reload the page.
  • You need to approve maintenance manually → choose Manual in step 4. Certificates still renew automatically. See Update settings.

Share diagnostics with FairSSL

Copy link to the section “Share diagnostics with FairSSL”

The box is unticked initially. If you enable sharing, the appliance sends logs, errors, service agent runs, certificate metadata and configuration to FairSSL about every 15 minutes. Passwords, tokens and private keys are removed before sending.

Deselect sections or disable sharing under Support › Diagnostics. See Support and diagnostics.

Service agent updates

Copy link to the section “Service agent updates”

With Automatic (recommended), service agents are updated from FairSSL’s signed catalogue, one server first and then a few at a time. If an update fails, rollout of that version stops.

Only the owner can change this setting under Appliance › Maintenance › Updates. See Keep service agents up to date.