Portal Quickstart — Getting Started

This quickstart introduces the GPCN™ portal and walks through the first steps of using the platform, including how the dashboard is organized, where to find key resources, and how to deploy your first virtual machine. By the end of the guide, you'll have infrastructure running and a basic understanding of how to navigate and manage resources within the platform.

Creating Your Account

GPCN™ accounts are created by your organization's administrator. After your administrator creates your account, you'll receive an invitation email to activate it.

1. Check your inbox for the GPCN™ invitation email
2. Click the activation link in the email (or copy the activation code if prompted)
3. Set your password — use at least 12 characters with a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols
4. Enter your name to complete your profile
5. Sign in to the GPCN portal

If you don't see the email, check your spam folder. If it's still missing, ask your administrator to resend the invitation.

First Login

Two-factor authentication is required for all GPCN™ accounts. By default, accounts use email OTP (one-time passcode) — a code sent to your registered email.

Signing In

1. Go to the GPCN™ portal login page
2. Enter your email and the password you set during activation
3. Check your inbox for a one-time passcode and enter it when prompted
4. You're logged in

Enhanced 2FA Setup

For stronger security, set up an authenticator app from your profile page after logging in. App-based TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) is the recommended method — it works offline and generates time-locked codes every 30 seconds.

1. Click the ... menu next to your name at the bottom of the sidebar, then click Profile
2. Find the Enhanced Two-Factor Authentication section
3. Click Enable Authenticator
4. Open your authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, or 1Password) and tap the Add (+) button
5. Scan the QR code displayed on screen
6. Enter the 6-digit code from your app to verify
7. Save your backup codes somewhere safe (password manager, encrypted file)

After enabling TOTP, email OTP remains available as a fallback — ensuring you can always access your account even if you lose your authenticator device.

Navigating the Dashboard

Once you're signed in, the dashboard provides an overview of your infrastructure and access to all platform features.

Main Navigation

The left sidebar gives you access to all sections, grouped by category:

Resources

• Virtual Machines — create, manage, and monitor your VMs
• GPU — GPU-accelerated virtual machines
• Storage — block storage volume management
• Networks — manage your network infrastructure

Organization

• Users — invite and manage users
• Resource Groups — organize users and VMs into logical groups
• API Keys — manage programmatic access keys

Support & Docs

• API Reference — opens the GPCN™ API reference
• Terraform Provider — documentation for the GPCN™ Terraform provider
• Support — links to platform documentation, how-to guides, developer resources, API reference, policies, and a support ticket form

The Dashboard home page shows a summary of VMs deployed by size, filterable by data center and time period.

Key Indicators

The dashboard typically shows you at-a-glance information about your infrastructure: running VMs, resource usage, and recent activity. Use this as your home base.

Your First Virtual Machine

Creating a VM is one of the first things most users do. Here's what the process looks like at a high level.

What You'll Need

Before you create a VM, have the following ready:

• Data center — where you want the VM hosted
• Image — the operating system (Ubuntu, Windows, etc.)
• Size — CPU, RAM, and disk configuration
• Authentication — an SSH key from your library (recommended), or a password. If you plan to use SSH key authentication, add a key to your library before starting.
• Network — which network to attach the VM to (a Default Network is pre-assigned)

The Process

1. Navigate to Virtual Machines in the sidebar and click Create VM
2. Select Location — pick your continent, country, region, and data center
3. Pick VM Size — choose a General Purpose or other configuration
4. Select Operating System — pick your OS image
5. Authentication — select an SSH key from your library, or set a password. Copy the password before deploying if you use one — it won't be shown again.
6. Name Your VM(s) — enter a descriptive name
7. (Optional) Assign to Resource Group, configure networking, or set instance count
8. Click Deploy

Your VM will appear in the list with a Starting status. VM provisioning typically completes within 1–3 minutes depending on the data center and operating system selected.

Once It's Running

After your VM reaches a "Running" state, you can:

• Access it via SSH using your key or password, or via the browser console
• Start, stop, or reset it from the VM details page
• Manage networks by adding or removing network interfaces
• Upgrade it by changing the hardware configuration without redeploying your application

GPU Virtual Machines

If your organization has the GPU feature enabled, you'll see a GPU section in the sidebar. GPU instances are managed separately from standard virtual machines and use GPU-based sizing instead of CPU/RAM configurations — navigate to GPU to see your instances and click Create VM to deploy one. SSH is the primary access method.

Managing Your Profile

Click the ... menu next to your name at the bottom of the sidebar, then click Profile to open your account settings.

From here you can:

• Update your name — edit your display name and click Save
• Change your password — scroll to the Change Password section
• Manage 2FA — scroll to Enhanced Two-Factor Authentication to enable an authenticator app (TOTP) or manage backup codes. See Two-Factor Authentication for a full walkthrough

API Keys

Navigate to API Keys in the sidebar to create and manage keys for programmatic access. See the API Quickstart for details.

Tips for New Users

Naming conventions matter. Give your VMs and networks descriptive names. "web-prod-01" is much more helpful than "my-vm" when you have dozens of resources.

Next Steps

Now that you're oriented in the portal, dig deeper into these topics:

• Virtual Machines — create, manage, and monitor your VMs
• GPU Compute — deploy GPU-accelerated instances
• Storage — provision and attach persistent volumes
• Networking — build private networks and manage public IPs