Provisioning a Core
How to download CoreServer, install it on your VM, and connect it to the platform.
On Federated Enterprise, a Core is a bundle of open source business software running on CoreServer — our custom operating system — installed on a virtual machine you provide. You bring the compute; we supply the OS and software, and connect it to the platform.
Before You Begin
- You need an active Enterprise account.
- You need a virtual machine provisioned at your cloud provider. CoreServer supports x86 64-bit VMs.
- You need SSH access to your VM during setup.
Step 1: Download the CoreServer Image
Download the image format that matches your cloud provider’s import requirements:
| Format | Download | Use With |
|---|---|---|
Compressed raw (.img.xz) | coreserver-enterprise-x86-26-05-12.img.xz | DigitalOcean, Hetzner |
QCOW2 (.qcow2) | coreserver-enterprise-x86-26-05-12.qcow2 | KVM, QEMU, Proxmox, Contabo, Cloudstack |
Raw image (.img) | coreserver-enterprise-x86-26-05-12.img | AWS EC2, general use |
Compressed tar (.tar.gz) | coreserver-enterprise-x86-26-05-12.tar.gz | Google Cloud |
VMDK (.vmdk) | coreserver-enterprise-x86-26-05-12.vmdk | VMware (ESXi, vSphere), AWS EC2 |
Import the image into your cloud provider and create a VM from it. Refer to your provider’s documentation for the import process.
Step 2: Add Your SSH Public Key
Your account’s SSH public key authorizes the Provisioner to connect to and configure your CoreServer VM.
- In the dashboard, navigate to Cores.
- Copy your account’s SSH public key.
- Add the key to the
authorized_keysfile on your VM (typically~/.ssh/authorized_keysfor the root user).
Step 3: Run core-create
Once the SSH key is in place, run the following command to provision your Core. Your account_id is pre-filled in the template provided to you at signup.
curl -k -X POST https://178.156.242.210:4445/core-create \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"account_id": "your-account-id",
"ip": "<ip address of your VM>",
"subdomain": "<your subdomain>",
"apps": "<app string>",
"backups": "yes | no",
"monitoring": "yes | no",
"email": "<optional: email to send welcome message to>"
}'
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
account_id | Yes | Your Federated Enterprise account ID. |
ip | Yes | The IP address of your CoreServer VM. |
subdomain | Yes | A name of your choosing for this Core (e.g. team, prod, nyc1). |
apps | Yes | Comma-separated list of apps to install (e.g. "nextcloud,gitea,vaultwarden"). Available apps: jitsi, element, nextcloud, baserow, freescout, espocrm, castopod, wordpress, kimai, plane, headscale, vaultwarden, calcom, listmonk, plausible, discourse, gitea, bookstack. |
backups | Yes | Enable automated backups (yes or no). |
monitoring | Yes | Enable monitoring (yes or no). |
email | No | Who to send the welcome email to. If omitted, the email goes to the account holder. |
What Happens Next
The Provisioner configures your CoreServer VM and notifies the platform when complete. The Core will automatically appear in the Cores section of your dashboard as Active — no manual refresh needed.
If you specified a recipient email, they’ll receive a welcome email confirming the Core is live.
Billing for New Cores
Cores are charged on a monthly basis as part of your regular billing cycle. When you provision a Core mid-cycle, the cost for the remaining days in the current period is prorated — you’re only charged for the time the Core was active, not the full month.
Any Core add-ons selected at provisioning are also prorated in the same way.
Note: Your account balance is used first when any charge is incurred. Only the amount exceeding your balance is charged to your card. See Account Balance for details.