These docs are a work in progress. Some pages may be incomplete or change as we get ready for launch.

First boot and connect

You’ve flashed the image. Now let’s get the device on your network and open the control panel.

1. Power on and wait

Plug in power and give the device about 60-90 seconds. The first boot runs a handful of one-time setup tasks — generating a unique hostname, minting a per-device TLS certificate, and deciding whether to start the WiFi setup portal.

Don’t unplug it during this window.

2. Connect to the setup hotspot

If the device has no stored WiFi credentials and no wired connection, it creates a setup hotspot so you can hand it your network details.

Look for a WiFi network named:

CeraLive-Setup-<id>

where <id> is a short identifier unique to your device (four hex characters, the same ones that appear in its hostname later).

Join that network with this passphrase:

ceralive-setup

3. Open the captive portal

Most phones and laptops detect the portal automatically and pop up a sign-in page. If yours doesn’t, open a browser and go to:

http://192.168.42.1

The portal shows a list of nearby WiFi networks the device scanned before switching to hotspot mode. Pick yours from the list, or type the network name manually if it doesn’t appear. Enter your WiFi password and tap Connect.

4. Wait for the device to join your network

The page shows “Connecting…” while the device switches from hotspot mode to client mode. After a few seconds, the CeraLive-Setup-<id> network disappears from your WiFi list. That’s the signal it worked.

If the hotspot reappears, the password was wrong or the connection timed out. Reconnect to CeraLive-Setup-<id> and try again.

5. Find the device on your network

Reconnect your phone or laptop to your regular WiFi. The device registers itself on your local network as:

ceralive-<id>.local

The <id> is the same short identifier from the hotspot name. You can reach the device by that hostname from any machine on the same network.

If your network blocks mDNS (some corporate or managed networks do), check your router’s DHCP lease table for the device’s IP address and use that instead.

6. Open CeraUI

CeraUI is the on-device control panel. Open it in any browser:

URL	Notes
`http://ceralive-<id>.local`	Plain HTTP, no warning
`https://ceralive-<id>.local`	HTTPS with a self-signed certificate

Both work. If you use the HTTPS address, your browser will show a “not secure” or “self-signed certificate” warning the first time. This is expected. The device generates its own certificate on first boot because it’s a local appliance with no public DNS name. Click through “Advanced” and “Proceed anyway” (the exact wording varies by browser). You only need to do this once per browser per device.

You’re connected. Next: Go live.