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CustodexaCustodexa

Quickstart

Custodexa deploys with docker compose; self-hosting and contributing share the same flow.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • Docker 20.10 or later
  • Docker Compose 2.0 or later
  • Git
Terminal window
docker --version
docker compose version

Get and start

Section titled “Get and start”
Terminal window
git clone https://github.com/custodexa/custodexa.git
cd custodexa
bash scripts/quickstart.sh --up

quickstart.sh checks .env (creating it from the template if missing) and fills absent secrets with CSPRNG-generated values; anything already set is left untouched, so re-running is safe. With --up it also builds and starts the services, waits for the backend to become healthy, and prints the URL and admin login when done. The first start builds images and takes about 5 to 10 minutes.

One value you must choose yourself: the initial admin password (ADMIN_INITIAL_PASSWORD in .env). Custodexa ships with no default password — a fresh deployment requires a value of at least 12 characters, otherwise the service refuses to start and says why in the logs. The value is used exactly once: the first login forces a password change.

Data (audit records, recordings, database) lives under a single directory root set by DATA_PATH, defaulting to ./data inside the project; production deployments can point it at a dedicated disk.

First login

Section titled “First login”

Open the URL printed by quickstart, sign in as admin with the initial password you set, and the system will require a new password. The interface is available in Traditional Chinese, English, and Japanese.

Your first connection

Section titled “Your first connection”
  1. On the assets page, add an SSH host with its address and a system account credential — the credential is stored envelope-encrypted on the server, and every connection afterwards has it injected by the backend. The operator and the browser never see plaintext.
  2. Back in the workspace, click the asset to open a terminal. The session is recorded from the start, and executed commands are reconstructed and preserved.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”
  • Concepts: how connection containment, the audit evidence chain, and policy governance are designed.
  • Features: the full tour of protocols and capabilities.

Custodexa is under active development. Validate fully in a test environment before considering production.