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Quick Start

You have Quazzar Cloud OS installed and the dashboard is running. This guide walks you through your first five minutes: running the setup wizard, exploring the dashboard, installing an app from the marketplace, configuring a domain with SSL, and checking your monitoring data.

Step 1: Complete the Setup Wizard

Open http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8080 in your browser. On a fresh install you will see the setup wizard.

  1. Choose a username and a strong password for your admin account
  2. Optionally enable two-factor authentication (TOTP) --- this is strongly recommended
  3. Set your server’s timezone and display preferences
  4. Click Complete Setup

You will be redirected to the main dashboard.

Enable TOTP 2FA during setup for better security. You can use any authenticator app such as Google Authenticator, Authy, or 1Password.

Step 2: Explore the Dashboard

The dashboard gives you a real-time overview of your server health and running applications:

  • CPU, RAM, Disk, Network --- live metrics rendered with Recharts visualizations, updating in real time via WebSocket
  • Running Apps --- status cards for all deployed applications with health indicators
  • System Info --- OS version, Docker version, uptime, kernel version
  • Security Score --- a 0-100 score based on CVE scans, firewall rules, and compliance checks
  • Quick Actions --- shortcuts to install apps, manage backups, open terminal, and more

Use the sidebar to navigate between sections: Dashboard, App Store, Domains, Monitoring, Backups, VPN, AI Hub, Terminal, Security, and Settings.

Press Cmd+K (or Ctrl+K) to open the command palette for fast navigation across all sections.

Step 3: Install Your First App

Navigate to App Store in the sidebar. You will see 115+ pre-built Docker app templates organized by category (productivity, media, development, databases, networking, and more).

  1. Search for Nextcloud (or pick any app you like)
  2. Click the app card to view details, screenshots, and configuration options
  3. Click Install
  4. Cloud OS generates the Docker Compose configuration from the YAML template and pulls the required images
  5. Once deployed, the app appears in your Running Apps on the dashboard

The first install may take a few minutes while Docker pulls container images over the network. Subsequent installs are faster because base layers are cached locally.

Step 4: Set Up a Domain with SSL

To access your app via a custom domain with automatic HTTPS:

  1. Go to Domains in the sidebar
  2. Click Add Domain
  3. Enter your domain name (for example, cloud.example.com)
  4. Point your DNS A record to your server’s public IP address
  5. Select the app or service to route traffic to
  6. Click Save --- Cloud OS uses its embedded Caddy reverse proxy to automatically provision a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate

Your app is now accessible at https://cloud.example.com with automatic certificate renewal.

Ports 80 and 443 must be open and accessible from the internet for Let’s Encrypt domain validation to succeed.

Step 5: Check Monitoring

Go to Monitoring in the sidebar to view time-series data for your server:

  • CPU usage --- load percentage over time with sparkline and detailed charts
  • Memory --- usage, available capacity, and swap utilization
  • Disk --- utilization, I/O throughput, and SMART health data for each drive
  • Network --- inbound and outbound traffic with per-interface breakdowns
  • Container metrics --- resource usage per running Docker container

Metrics are collected with three rollup intervals: 1-minute for the last 24 hours, 1-hour for the last 30 days, and 1-day for long-term historical data. Use this page to spot resource bottlenecks before they cause problems.

Step 6: Connect Your First AI Client (30 seconds)

Quazzar ships a built-in Memory MCP server that exposes your notes as durable memory for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor, and VS Code Copilot. To try it:

  1. Open Settings -> MCP & Memory -> New key.
  2. Name it (“Claude on my laptop”), pick claude_desktop as the client type, leave the namespace on default, grant read_memory + write_memory, click Generate.
  3. Copy the quaz_... bearer immediately — it is shown once.
  4. In the Connect a client card, copy the Claude Desktop snippet and paste it into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Windows). Replace <KEY> with the bearer.
  5. Restart Claude Desktop. Ask: “Create a memory titled ‘Hello Quazzar’ with body ‘memory works’.”

The memory appears instantly under Orbit -> Notes, tagged #mcp and #claude-desktop. See Memory MCP quickstart for the full guide and the other five clients.

Memory MCP is free on every plan. Only cross-node sync (replicating memories between multiple Quazzar nodes) requires Orbit Pro.

Next Steps

  • Browse the App Store and deploy more applications --- there are 115+ templates available
  • Set up Backups to protect your data with AES-256-GCM encryption to S3, SFTP, or local storage
  • Configure VPN access via WireGuard or Pritunl for secure remote connectivity
  • Explore the AI Hub to run local LLMs or connect to cloud APIs like OpenAI and Claude
  • Try the Orbit productivity suite --- Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Notes
  • Customise your Dashboard --- free-form widget sizing and animated wallpapers are documented in Dashboard Customization
  • Open the Terminal for a web-based shell with Monaco code editor and file browser
  • Set up Alerting rules with Email, Telegram, Slack, Discord, or Webhook notifications
  • Connect to the Control Panel if you manage multiple servers
InstallationControl Panel Setup