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Quick Start Guide

Get SentriKat running and matching your software inventory against exploited vulnerabilities.

Step 1: Get a License

Before deploying, you need a SentriKat license:

  1. Go to the sign-up form at sentrikat.com, which opens with On-Premises (Community) already selected
  2. Fill in your details and click Get my Community License
  3. You'll receive an email with your Community license key and an activation code (SK-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX). The activation code is entered in Settings → License in SentriKat (Step 5). The portal shows it too, and can issue a new one
  1. Go to portal.sentrikat.com/checkout
  2. Choose your subscription (1-3 years), agent capacity, and optional add-ons
  3. Complete payment via Stripe
  4. Your Professional license is created automatically

Once you have a license, log into portal.sentrikat.com using OTP (email code) to manage it.

Step 2: Download SentriKat

  1. Go to portal.sentrikat.com
  2. Log in with your email (you'll receive a one-time code)
  3. Navigate to Downloads
  4. Download the latest version

Step 3: Deploy SentriKat

# Extract the downloaded bundle and load the bundled Docker image
tar -xzf sentrikat-*.tar.gz
cd sentrikat-*/
docker load -i sentrikat-image-*.tar.gz

# Copy and configure environment
cp .env.example .env
nano .env  # Set SECRET_KEY, ENCRYPTION_KEY, DB_PASSWORD, etc.. See .env.example

# Start with Docker Compose
docker compose up -d

Migrations run automatically at boot. Wait for the containers to become healthy (docker compose ps), then open:

  • 1.4.0-beta and later: https://localhost/ (http:// sends you there). Until you put your own certificate in the certs folder, the browser warns that the certificate is not trusted: that is the self-signed certificate created at the first start.
  • 1.3.0-beta and earlier: http://localhost:5000

Step 4: Complete the Setup Wizard

On first launch, SentriKat will guide you through:

  1. Create Admin Account - Set your admin username and password
  2. Organization Setup - Name your organization
  3. Catalog Seed & Initial Sync - The product catalog is seeded and the first exploited-vulnerability catalogue sync runs automatically

Security

Use a strong password for your admin account!

Step 5: Activate Your License

The fastest way. No copy-pasting license files.

  1. In SentriKat, go to Settings → License
  2. Find your Activation Code (SK-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) in the email that came with your license (the Community welcome email or your purchase confirmation) or in the Customer Portal, where you can also issue a new one
  3. In the Activate Online box, enter it as the Activation Code and click Activate Online
  4. Done! SentriKat contacts the portal and receives a signed license automatically

That's it!

No files to copy, no environment variables to set. Your license is bound to this installation's Installation ID automatically.

For servers without internet access to portal.sentrikat.com (air-gapped operation is part of Professional):

  1. In SentriKat, go to Settings → License and copy your Installation ID (SK-INST-xxxxxxxx)
  2. On any browser, go to portal.sentrikat.com/downloads
  3. Paste your Installation ID and click Activate
  4. Copy the signed license key. In SentriKat, open Settings → License, and in the Activate Offline box paste it as the License Key and click Activate License. Or add it to your .env: 
    SENTRIKAT_LICENSE=eyJsaWNlbnNl...your-signed-license...
  5. Apply it: docker compose up -d (docker compose restart does not reread .env). Pasting the key in SentriKat instead applies it immediately, with no restart.

For full details on licensing, see Licensing & Activation.

Step 6: Add Your First Products

Option A: Manual Entry

  1. Go to Inventory → Products List
  2. Click Add Product
  3. Enter:
  4. Vendor: Microsoft
  5. Product: Windows Server
  6. Version: 2019
  7. Click Save

Option B: CSV Import

  1. Create a CSV file: 
    vendor,product,version
Microsoft,Windows Server,2019
Microsoft,Windows Server,2022
Apache,HTTP Server,2.4.51
  2. In the sidebar, go to Inventory → Products → Import CSV / SBOM
  3. Upload the CSV
  4. Review and confirm

Option C: Deploy an Agent

The easiest path needs no key handling at all: SentriKat bakes a unique per-host key into the download.

  1. Go to Agents → Agent Keys → Deploy on a machine
  2. Click your OS to download the agent script
  3. Run it on the machine:

On 1.4.0-beta and later, with the self-signed certificate, copy certs/fullchain.pem from the install folder to the machine and give it to the agent:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\sentrikat-agent-windows.ps1 -Install -CaCertPath C:\path\to\fullchain.pem

On 1.3.0-beta and earlier, the server answers in plain HTTP:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\sentrikat-agent-windows.ps1 -Install -AllowHttp

On 1.4.0-beta and later, with the self-signed certificate, copy certs/fullchain.pem from the install folder to the machine and give it to the agent:

sudo bash ./sentrikat-agent-linux.sh --install --ca-cert /path/to/fullchain.pem

On 1.3.0-beta and earlier, the server answers in plain HTTP:

sudo bash ./sentrikat-agent-linux.sh --install --allow-http

The address the agent connects to

The downloaded agent connects to the address in SENTRIKAT_URL. On 1.4.0-beta and later, set it to the https:// address of your server. On 1.3.0-beta and earlier, -AllowHttp is for this local quickstart only: the agent refuses plain HTTP by default, and with SENTRIKAT_URL set to http://localhost:5000 the downloaded agent only works on the server itself. For other machines, set a network-reachable SENTRIKAT_URL and download the agent again.

For fleets (Ansible / Intune / GPO / PDQ) use an install token instead: Agents → Agent Keys → Create Install Token: see Agents.

Step 7: Verify the Exploited-Vulnerability Sync

The first exploited-vulnerability catalogue sync runs automatically when you finish the setup wizard, and stays in sync daily after that. To trigger a manual sync at any time:

  1. Open Settings → Sync & Updates. The top bar only shows the state of the feeds (a Data chip that opens that tab); it has no sync button
  2. Start the sync and wait for it to finish. The first full synchronization can take a long time: on a test installation it took about 40 minutes, and the dashboard fills as the data arrives

Or via the API (replace sentrikat.example.com with your server's address):

curl -X POST https://sentrikat.example.com/api/sync \
  -b cookies.txt

Step 8: Review Matches

After sync, check your dashboard:

  1. Go to Dashboard
  2. View the three bands, ACT NOW, PLAN THIS MONTH and BACKGROUND, which sort what is found by urgency
  3. Click on any CVE to see details

Step 9: Configure Alerts (Professional)

If you have a Pro license:

  1. Go to Settings → Alert Management
  2. Configure email settings:
  3. SMTP Server
  4. From Address
  5. Recipients
  6. Enable Critical CVE Alerts

What's Next?

  • Set Up Organizations

    Create separate organizations for different teams or clients.

    Organizations

  • Deploy More Agents

    Automate inventory collection across your infrastructure.

    Agent Deployment

  • Configure Webhooks

    Send alerts to Slack, Teams, or Discord.

    Webhooks

  • Explore the API

    Integrate SentriKat with your existing tools.

    API Reference

Common Tasks

Acknowledge a Vulnerability

When you've patched or accepted a vulnerability:

  1. Find the vulnerability in the list
  2. Click the Acknowledge button
  3. (Optional) Add a note

Export Data

  1. Go to Dashboard
  2. Apply any filters
  3. Click Export → CSV or PDF

Share a View

  1. Configure your dashboard filters
  2. Click Share
  3. Copy the share link
  4. Send to stakeholders (no login required)

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