Guided hub setup

Open Readiness to choose the job this machine should perform:

The app turns the selection into a reviewable, resumable plan. Completed checkpoints remain complete after an interruption; a step that still needs a passphrase, SSH credential, or enrollment artifact pauses for that input.

Set up on this machine

Choose the local path, then provide:

• A handle for the hub identity.
• The host name or address that clients will use.
• Whether the hub should run as a background service.
• An optional passphrase for a sealed administration-key backup.

C3 Desktop checks for c3sync, leaves an existing hub bundle untouched, initializes a new bundle when needed, installs the service if selected, seals the backup if requested, and verifies the written configuration.

For a sync-only machine, choose File sync only from Readiness or Sync files on this machine from the welcome screen. This path does not require Herdr, C3 Bridge, C3 Mobile, or desktop-control enrollment.

Set up another machine over SSH

Choose the remote path and enter the SSH host, port, user, and one of the supported authentication methods: SSH agent, key file, or password.

The app probes the host first. A new or changed SSH host key is displayed for explicit confirmation; a previously trusted matching key can continue automatically. You may use a c3sync binary already present on the server or push a selected local binary for the setup run.

Passwords, key passphrases, remote keystore passwords, and backup passphrases stay in screen state for the active operation and are cleared when you leave the flow. Setup logs are redacted.

After setup

The hub and its service can be inspected under System → Settings. If you created a sealed administration backup, move it to protected offline storage and keep the passphrase separately.

Next: enroll devices.