On this page0
Guide
First sign-in on a new instance (administrator)
Claim your new instance, create the primary administrator account, choose how updates are installed, secure the account with a second factor, and see what Zonitix asks for next: backups.
Before you start
- The “Your Zonitix instance is live” email. It has your instance address and a one-time setup key.
- The setup key must still be valid. It works once and expires 72 hours after your instance was built. The expiry date is printed in the email.
- A phone with an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator or Okta Verify), or a device with a fingerprint reader, Face ID or a security key.
- Somewhere safe to keep ten recovery codes, such as your company password manager.
Claim your instance
Step 1: Open your instance
Click “Open your instance” in the email, or type the address it gives you. A new instance opens on the “Zonitix Setup” screen.
If you see “Preparing your instance…”, the instance is still starting. Wait on that page. It moves on by itself, so there is no need to refresh.Step 2: Enter the setup key
Copy the setup key from the email and paste it into the box under “Enter your setup key”. Click “Verify key”.
The key stops anyone else from setting up your instance before you do. Do not forward it.
On the next screen, click “Set up a new instance”.
Step 3: Create the administrator account
On the “Admin Identity” step, fill in “First Name”, “Last Name” and “Email”. “Username (optional)” defaults to the part of your email before the @.
Choose a password in “New Password” and type it again in “Confirm Password”. It needs at least 12 characters, with an uppercase letter, a number and a symbol. Any character that is not a letter, a number or a space counts as a symbol. Click “Next Step”.
Step 4: Choose how updates are installed
The next step is “Updates”, under the heading “Keeping Zonitix up to date”. Nobody from Zonitix signs in to your server to update it, so you choose here how new releases and security patches get installed. There are two choices, and the first is already selected:
- “Update automatically, once a week”, marked “Recommended”. Once a week, at the time you pick, Zonitix backs up your data, installs the new release, checks itself, and goes back to the previous version if anything is wrong. The server’s own security patches are installed in the same weekly slot. Expect a few minutes of downtime. Your administrators are emailed the day before, an hour before, at the start and at the end. Pick the “Day”, “Start time” and “Timezone”: they start at Saturday, 02:00 and the time zone of the browser you are using. Choose a time nobody is working.
- “I’ll install updates myself”. Nothing is installed until an administrator clicks Apply under SystemUpdates. Security fixes wait for you too, so somebody has to open that page regularly.
With the automatic choice, nothing is installed by itself until email is set up, because you could not be warned first. You can change the choice at any time; see Apply updates. Click “Next Step”.
Step 5: Review and launch
The “Review & Launch” step shows the administrator you entered and the secure defaults the instance starts with: MFA enforced, a strong password policy, 8-hour sessions and a set of default groups. You can change all of these later. An “Updates” line repeats the choice you just made: it starts “Automatic — every” with your day and time, or “Manual”.
Tick the box to accept the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, then click “Complete Setup”. When you see “Setup complete”, click “Continue to login”.
Sign in and add your second factor
Step 6: Sign in
Enter your email (or username) and password, then click “SIGN IN TO PLATFORM”. If a box asks you to accept the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, tick it and click the button, which now reads “ACCEPT & CONTINUE”.
Step 7: Choose your second factor
Administrators must always use MFA, so the first sign-in opens “Setup Secure MFA”. Under “Choose how to secure your account”, pick one:
- “Passkey”: follow your browser’s prompt to use your fingerprint, Face ID or a security key. This option only appears if your browser supports passkeys.
- “Authenticator App”: scan the QR code with your app, click “I’ve scanned it — enter code”, then type the 6-digit code the app shows.
Step 8: Save your recovery codes
The next screen, “Save Your Recovery Codes”, shows ten single-use codes. Click “Copy codes” or “Download” and store them somewhere safe. They are shown only this once.
When they are stored, click “I HAVE SAVED MY CODES”. You are signed in.
If you lose your phone or passkey, a recovery code is how you get back in. You are the only administrator right now, so nobody else in your company can reset your second factor, and nothing in the app lets Zonitix support do it from outside. Add a second administrator today (Add your admins); what is and is not possible if you are locked out is in Help someone who is locked out.
After the wizard: backups come first
Step 9: Read the Backups & Recovery screen
A new instance does not open on the dashboard. It opens on SystemBackups & Recovery, where a checklist at the top is headed “Set up backups to start using Zonitix” with a red “Required” tag. A red banner across the top of every screen reads “Zonitix is locked until backups are set up: connect storage you own and run a first backup.” The banner cannot be closed. On the other screens that stay open it has a “Set up backups” button that brings you back here; on this page there is no such button, and you start from the checklist’s “Connect storage” button.
Nothing is wrong. Zonitix holds no copy of your data, so before the rest of the dashboard opens it asks for one thing: a backup that has reached storage your company owns and been checked there. Your next task is Set up backups, as far as its step 9. If you have no IT person, start with Hand the technical setup to whoever helps you with IT.
Step 10: Use the screens that stay open
While Zonitix is locked, these menu items still open: “Backups & Recovery”, “System Health”, “Updates” and “License & Entitlements” under “System”; “Users”, “Groups” and “Roles” under “Administration”; “Security Settings”; and “My Profile”. Every other item brings you back to “Backups & Recovery”.
That is enough for the rest of your first day, so you can do it while you wait for the storage: Check and adjust MFA and Set up email are both in “Security Settings”, and Add your admins is in “Users”. Anyone you add who is not an administrator sees a panel titled “Zonitix is not ready to use yet” until the first backup is verified.
Unlocking is the first of two stages. Once the first backup is verified, both recovery keys have to be shared out within 14 days, which needs a second administrator and three people you trust, or Zonitix locks again until they are. Set up backups explains both.
What you should see
“Backups & Recovery” opens, with the checklist and the red banner described in step 9. After the first backup is verified, the banner turns amber and counts down to the date for the recovery keys, and the dashboard and the rest of the menu open.
From now on, each sign-in asks for your password and then your second factor. As an administrator you are asked for it every time. Administrators, and anyone holding the permission to manage security, to manage users or to mark approved invoices as paid, always need a second factor at sign-in. No group exemption lifts that, and neither does ticking Trust this device for 30 days. If you added a passkey, you can also click “SIGN IN WITH A PASSKEY” on the sign-in page and skip the password.
Opening the setup address again now sends you to the sign-in page. Setup cannot be run a second time.
If something goes wrong
- “This setup key has expired. Contact your provider for a new one.”
- The key is valid for 72 hours. Contact Zonitix support. We have to issue a fresh key before you can finish setup.
- “Invalid setup key.” or “Too many attempts. Please wait, then try again.”
- Copy the key again from the email, with no extra spaces or line breaks. After 10 wrong tries, setup pauses for 15 minutes.
- A password error such as “Password must include a symbol, for example ! - _ #”
- The administrator password needs at least 12 characters, with an uppercase letter, a number and a symbol. Any character that is not a letter, a number or a space counts as a symbol. Both password boxes must match.
- “Invalid verification code” while setting up the authenticator app
- Wait for a fresh code in the app and type it before it changes. Check that your phone’s clock is set automatically. After too many wrong codes you are sent back to the sign-in page. Sign in again to restart.
- “Invalid username or password” even though the password is now right
- Five wrong passwords in a row lock the account for 15 minutes. The sign-in page shows the same text for a wrong password and for a locked account: “Invalid username or password.” followed by “After 5 wrong attempts an account is locked for 15 minutes — if that may be you, wait before trying again.” Wait 15 minutes, then sign in with the password you chose in step 3.
Still stuck? See When something goes wrong, or Contact Zonitix support.