Getting Started¶

Welcome to SentriKat! This guide will help you get up and running quickly.

SentriKat is available as a fully managed SaaS or as an on-premises deployment. Choose the option that best fits your needs.

SaaS (Fastest) SaaS¶

No installation required. Sign up at app.sentrikat.com, deploy agents to your endpoints, and start scanning immediately. Free during Early Access — no credit card required.

New to SaaS? Follow the SaaS Quick Guides — 8 step-by-step guides from sign-up to team setup.

On-Premises On-Prem¶

For organizations that require full data sovereignty or air-gapped environments.

Prerequisites¶

Before installing SentriKat on-premises, ensure you have:

• Docker 20.10 or later
• Docker Compose v2.0 or later
• 4 GB RAM minimum (8 GB recommended)
• 20 GB disk space (more for database growth)

Installation Options¶

Quick Start¶

1. Download from the Customer Portal¶

Download the latest release package from the SentriKat Customer Portal, then extract it:

tar -xzf sentrikat-<version>.tar.gz
cd sentrikat-<version>

# Load the Docker image shipped inside the bundle
docker load -i sentrikat-image-<version>.tar.gz

2. Configure Environment¶

# Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit with your settings
nano .env

Key settings to configure (each one is documented in .env.example):

# Required
SECRET_KEY=your-random-secret-key  # Generate with: openssl rand -hex 32
ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-encryption-key  # Generate with: python3 -c "from cryptography.fernet import Fernet; print(Fernet.generate_key().decode())"

# Database
DB_PASSWORD=your-secure-password

# Application URLs
SERVER_NAME=sentrikat.yourdomain.com
SENTRIKAT_URL=https://sentrikat.yourdomain.com

See Configuration for the full list of required variables.

3. Start SentriKat¶

docker compose up -d

Database migrations run automatically at boot — there is no manual migration step.

4. Complete the Setup Wizard¶

Open your browser and navigate to:

• HTTP: http://localhost:5000
• HTTPS: https://localhost (if SSL configured)

On first run, SentriKat starts a setup wizard: create your admin account, name your organization, seed the product catalog — the first CISA KEV sync runs automatically when you finish.

Next Steps¶

1. Add your first products
2. Deploy agents to collect inventory
3. Configure alerts for notifications
4. Set up organizations for multi-tenant

Troubleshooting¶

Container won't start¶

Check the logs:

docker compose logs -f sentrikat

Database connection issues¶

Ensure PostgreSQL is running:

docker compose ps
docker compose logs sentrikat-db

Port already in use¶

Change the port in docker-compose.yml:

ports:
  - "8080:5000"  # Use port 8080 instead

For more help, see our FAQ or contact SentriKat Support.