Getting started
What Akasha is, what you need before you begin, and how this documentation is organized.
Akasha is a private cloud platform. From your web console you launch compute, provision managed Kubernetes clusters, attach storage, and shape private networking — all inside projects that keep your resources isolated from other teams.
What you work with
Everything you create in Akasha belongs to a project, and the console is built around a small set of resource types:
| Resource | What it is |
|---|---|
| Project | The isolation and tenancy unit. All instances, networks, volumes, and clusters live inside a project. See About projects. |
| Instance | A compute workload — either a system container or a virtual machine (VM). See About instances. |
| Cluster | A managed Kubernetes cluster provisioned by Akasha, with node pools, add-ons, ingress, and GitOps. See About Kubernetes on Akasha. |
| Storage | Custom volumes, volume snapshots, S3-compatible buckets, and custom ISOs. See About storage. |
| Network | Private networks for your instances and clusters, plus forwards, load balancers, and ACLs. See About networking. |
| Image | The base operating system an instance starts from. See About images. |
| Profile | A reusable configuration template applied to instances at creation. See Profiles. |
Instances and clusters attach to private networks inside your project. They are not reachable from the internet unless you expose them deliberately — see the FAQ for how public exposure works.
What you need to begin
- An account in your organization's single sign-on (SSO). The console has no local usernames or passwords; you sign in through SSO only.
- At least one project grant. Your administrator assigns permissions through SSO groups. Until you have access to at least one project, the console shows
No Akasha permissions are assigned to your account.
If either is missing, contact your administrator. Creating projects, raising resource limits, and managing user permissions are administrator actions.
Follow the tutorials
Work through these in order for a first tour of the platform:
- Sign in to the console — log in, pick a project, and find your way around the sidebar.
- Launch your first instance — create a container from a base image and open a shell in it.
- Create your first Kubernetes cluster — provision a small cluster and connect with
kubectl.
How these docs are organized
- Getting started — this section: first login, first instance, first cluster, and a FAQ.
- Instances — create, configure, access, snapshot, and troubleshoot containers and VMs.
- Kubernetes — managed clusters: creation, access, node pools, add-ons, ingress, GitOps, registry, virtual machines, databases, and etcd backups.
- Storage — custom volumes, volume snapshots, buckets, and custom ISOs.
- Networking — networks, network forwards, load balancers, ACLs, and IPAM.
- Images — using and managing base images.
- Projects — project management, profiles, access control, and usage and billing.
- API — the Akasha API: authentication and endpoints.
- Security — the platform's isolation and security model.