Create your first instance
First, login from https://dynamic.lunanode.com/. If you don't have an account yet, sign up at https://dynamic.lunanode.com/register.
Templates come with cloud-init, which can automatically obtain an SSH public key from a metadata server on the first boot and append that key to the authorized_keys file. So, if you want to login with SSH key, upload your SSH key from the SSH Keys page: enter a label for your key, paste the public key (beginning with ssh-rsa and ending with your computer's hostname), and then hit Add.
Now, let's provision a VM. Select the "Create VM" sidebar page. You will first be asked to select a region; we have locations in Toronto, Montreal, and Roubaix; SSD instances are only available in Toronto, and Montreal and Roubaix include DDoS filtering at no extra cost. After selecting a region, enter a hostname for your VM and select a plan (if you're just testing, you can just start with the smallest 512 MB plan). Then, pick an image, like "Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit (template)". ISO images require manual installation of the operating system over VNC, while templates are setup automatically. Finally, if you uploaded a keypair earlier, select it so that so that it will be inserted into the template on initial setup. Hit "Create virtual machine".
You will now be returned to the Virtual Machines tab, where you can select your new VM. Once it finishes building (this should take less than 60 seconds for installation from a template), you should see a primary and private IP address, and after a bit more time, your VM should finish the first boot process (it'll need to resize partitions and perform other one-time operations, so the first boot may take longer). Once booted, you can SSH into your VM through the public IP address. If you did not use a keypair, the initial login information will be displayed on the VM details page; after logging in with the specified username and password, you can use "sudo su" to login as root (see the FAQ if you want to set a root password).
Congratulations, you have your first instance up! We hope you'll find our services useful.
Using SSH keypairs
If you are unfamiliar with SSH keypairs and how to generate or use them to connect to your virtual machine, see the links below:
Once you have generated your keypair, you can export it and copy the contents into the "Public key" box when uploading it to lndynamic. The cloud images take care of the steps of disabling root login without a password and appending your public key to the authorized_keys file.
If you do not want to use SSH keypairs, simply do not select anything under keypair, and a password will be set up for login after the VM boots the first time. This password will be displayed on the VM detais page.
