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Getting Started 12 min read

First Deployment

You've got an account and the CLI installed. Now let's deploy something real. Pick your product and follow along.

Before you start:

Authenticated (edge auth status)

Deploy a CDN

Put your website or API behind Edge's global CDN. Content is cached across 2,200+ locations and served from the nearest point to your users.

1. Create a deployment

You need a name for the deployment and your origin URL — the server where your content actually lives (e.g. your app server, S3 bucket, or any HTTP endpoint).

edge cdn create --name my-site --origin https://my-origin.example.com

2. Add a custom domain

Add your domain to the deployment. Edge will automatically provision an SSL certificate.

edge cdn domains add <deployment-id> --domain cdn.example.com --origin https://my-origin.example.com

3. Point your DNS

Create a CNAME record at your DNS provider pointing your domain to cdn.edge.network. If your DNS is already on Edge, this is done automatically.

cdn.example.com CNAME cdn.edge.network

4. Verify it's working

Once DNS propagates (usually within a few minutes), your content will be served through Edge's CDN.

# Check deployment status
edge cdn list
# Test with curl
curl -I https://cdn.example.com

You can also do all of this from the control panel.

Launch a VM

Spin up a virtual machine with dedicated resources. Choose your OS, size, and region.

1. Create the VM

Pick a name, operating system, specs, and region. The VM will be ready in about 60 seconds.

edge compute create \
--name my-server \
--image ubuntu-24.04 \
--size s-2vcpu-4gb \
--region london

The CLI will display the root password and IP address once the VM is provisioned.

2. Connect via SSH

Use the IP address and credentials from the creation output to connect.

ssh root@<your-vm-ip>

3. Deploy your app

Once connected, install your dependencies and deploy. Here's a quick example with Docker:

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
# Run your app
docker run -d -p 80:8080 your-image:latest

4. Monitor

Check on your VM from the CLI or the control panel.

# View VM details
edge compute get <vm-id>

You can also create VMs from the control panel, which includes a visual OS and region picker.

Set up DNS

Move your domain's DNS to Edge for sub-10ms resolution with global anycast. You'll need access to your domain registrar to update nameservers.

1. Add your domain

edge dns create --domain example.com

Edge will assign you a pair of nameservers (e.g. ns1.edge.network and ns2.edge.network).

2. Update nameservers at your registrar

Log in to your domain registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.) and replace the existing nameservers with the ones Edge assigned. This step varies by registrar but is usually under "DNS Settings" or "Nameservers."

DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours, though most registrars update within minutes. Your existing records will continue working during the transition.

3. Add your records

Once the zone is created, add your DNS records. Here are the most common:

# Point your domain to a server
edge dns records add <zone-id> --type A --name @ --data 203.0.113.50
# Add www subdomain
edge dns records add <zone-id> --type CNAME --name www --data example.com
# Add email (MX record)
edge dns records add <zone-id> --type MX --name @ --data "10 mail.example.com"

4. Verify

# List all records
edge dns records list <zone-id>
# Test resolution
dig example.com @ns1.edge.network

Create a storage bucket

S3-compatible object storage with zero egress fees. Use it for media files, backups, static assets, or anything else you need to store.

1. Create a bucket

edge storage create my-bucket

2. Upload files

Upload individual files or entire directories.

# Upload a single file
edge storage cp ./photo.jpg my-bucket/images/photo.jpg
# Sync a directory
edge storage sync ./dist my-bucket/website/

3. List and manage

# List files in a bucket
edge storage ls my-bucket/
# Download a file
edge storage cp my-bucket/images/photo.jpg ./downloaded.jpg
# Generate a share link (1 hour expiry)
edge storage presign my-bucket/images/photo.jpg

4. Use with S3 SDKs

Edge Storage is fully S3-compatible. Use any S3 SDK or tool (like the AWS CLI) by pointing it to https://storage.edge.network.

Generate access keys in the control panel or see the SDK guides for code examples.