Getting started · Chapter 1

The first account.

nexcrate runs as a single container on your own server. This chapter begins where the container is already running and takes you as far as the finished account and the two things you do straight after. How to start the container, which folders to mount and which environment variables there are is on the Self-host page.

What you need

• A running nexcrate container. Out of the box it answers at http://address-of-the-server:8390.
• A browser on a computer, a tablet or a phone.
• An authenticator app on your phone if you want to switch on the second factor. The app mentions Aegis, 2FAS or your password manager as examples.

Creating the account

On the first visit nexcrate shows the page “Welcome to nexcrate”. The account you create here is the only one there is. It belongs to the operator, which is you.

1. Choose the language

   At the top right you choose between “Deutsch” and “English”. Out of the box nexcrate starts in your browser's language if it knows it, and in English otherwise. The language you choose now also becomes the language of your account.

2. Enter a username and password

   The “Username” may be at most 64 characters long. The “Password” needs at least 8 characters, and you type it again under “Repeat password”. If the two do not match, nexcrate tells you before anything is created.

3. Choose “Create account”

   After that you are logged in, and the setup is closed for good. The way to it cannot be opened again.

The page says it once more in a box of its own: “This is the only account”. Once it exists, nobody can create another one, not even you. So it is not nexcrate that takes requests from family and friends, but Nexview, which sits in front of it.

If you have had nexcrate before, “Start from a backup” is under the form. It starts the new installation from a downloaded backup instead of empty, and the account comes from the backup. The chapter Backups describes the way.

Changing the language later

You can set the language of the interface at any time under “Settings › System › Account”, at “Interface language”. It applies on every device you log in on. There is English and German.

Switching on the second factor

Out of the box the password alone opens nexcrate. On your own network that is acceptable, from the internet it is not. The second factor is optional: after the password, nexcrate also asks for a code from an authenticator app.

1. Switch it on

   Open “Settings › System › Account”. In the section “Second factor” it says “Off. The password alone opens nexcrate.” Choose “Switch on”.

2. Scan the code

   Scan the QR code with your authenticator app. If that does not work, type in the key shown below it. Your own server draws the QR code.

3. Confirm

   Enter the code the app shows now under “Code from the app”, add your “Password”, and choose “Confirm and switch on”.

4. Keep the recovery codes

   nexcrate now shows eight “Recovery codes”, once and only now. Each one opens nexcrate exactly once if the phone is missing. Save them with “Save as a file”, keep them apart from the phone and choose “Saved, done”.

At the next login nexcrate asks for the password and then for the code. Under “New recovery codes” you can create fresh ones later, and the old ones then stop working. If you sign in through a provider such as authentik, the provider's second factor counts for as long as you trust the provider with it. The chapter Sign-in explains that.

Lost the password or the phone

There is one account and no second way in. So the way out lies with the server: whoever can operate it sets a new password. For that you open a shell on the machine nexcrate runs on.

docker exec -it nexcrate python -m app.cli reset-password

The command asks twice for the new password without showing it, and then ends every session. Log in again with the new password.

If the phone is gone and the recovery codes with it, a second command switches the second factor off. Afterwards you set it up again as above.

docker exec -it nexcrate python -m app.cli reset-second-factor

A password you know and only want to change is easier to change in the interface: “Settings › System › Account”, “Change password”. All other devices are logged out afterwards. “Log out everywhere” ends the login on all devices, including this one. That helps if you forgot to log out on someone else's device.

Next nexcrate needs its access to TMDB. The next chapter, TMDB, gets the free token.