Skip to content

Before You Start

Check these prerequisites and understand the one-time secrets you will encounter before creating your first backup.

What you need

  • A Linux x86_64 server that you can access as root.
  • Storage for the repository: S3-compatible storage, Backblaze B2, SFTP, or a local path on the agent machine.
  • About five minutes for account verification, agent registration, job creation, and destination setup.

The agent needs flock from util-linux and outbound HTTPS access to vectaapp.com. The recommended installer provides restic and the agent; manual installations must provide them separately.

Three one-time secrets

  • Registration token - generated in the dashboard, valid for 24 hours, and usable once.
  • Agent API key - saved locally by the agent CLI during registration and not recoverable from the dashboard.
  • Repository password - generated when a repository is initialized and printed once.

Treat the last two as secrets. The registration token is temporary, but do not paste it into a public issue or chat.

A short restic primer

A restic repository is an encrypted, deduplicated store. A snapshot is a point-in-time record of the files selected by a backup. The repository password is the key that lets restic read or write that repository.

What Vecta asks for

You enter job metadata, such as a source path and destination URL, in the dashboard. You enter destination credentials on the agent machine with vecta-agent setup; they are not entered into the dashboard.

What's next

Read Your repository password, then continue with Getting Started.