First-time setup¶

When you open Mnemosynce for the first time — or whenever the setup checks are incomplete — you are guided through a four-step wizard before reaching the dashboard. You cannot skip to the monitoring views until setup is finished (or you click Finish setup anyway).

The four steps¶

flowchart LR
    A[1 · Configuration] --> B[2 · SSH Keys]
    B --> C[3 · Connections]
    C --> D[4 · Schedule]
    D --> E([Dashboard])
    style E fill:#1D6A39,color:#fff,stroke:none

Local-only sources skip steps 2 and 3

If every backup source in your configuration is a local path (no user@host: syntax), the SSH Keys and Connections steps are skipped automatically — you go straight from Configuration to Schedule.

Step 1 — Configuration¶

Write your backup configuration in YAML. A template is pre-loaded to get you started. See the Configuration reference for every available field.

Click Save configuration to validate and persist the file. The Next button appears once the file is saved and valid.

Step 2 — SSH Keys¶

Generate an ed25519 keypair for each remote host you need to access. After generating a key:

Copy the public key displayed on screen.
Paste it into ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the remote host.

You can generate as many keys as you need. The private keys never leave the server.

Step 3 — Connections¶

Test that the server can reach its sources and send email.

Test	What it checks
SSH	Ping → SSH login → (optionally) directory existence
Email	SMTP reachability → Gmail login → test message sent

Run at least one successful test. The step is marked complete and the Next button activates. If you cannot get a test to pass, click Skip for now and fix it later from Settings → Connections.

Step 4 — Schedule¶

Set a cron expression to run backups automatically. Use the quick-preset buttons or type your own expression.

Preset	Expression	Runs
Daily 02:00	`0 2 * * *`	Every night at 02:00 UTC
Weekly Sun 03:00	`0 3 * * 0`	Sunday nights at 03:00 UTC
Monthly 1^st 04:00	`0 4 1 * *`	First of each month at 04:00 UTC
Every 6 hours	`0 /6 * *`	Four times a day

Enable the Enable automatic scheduling checkbox and click Save schedule.

Finishing setup¶

Setup completes via either path — whichever comes first:

Automatic — all four checks pass (config saved, SSH key present, connection tested, schedule enabled). The wizard detects this and shows a "Go to dashboard" button.
Manual — click Finish setup anyway on the Schedule step at any time. This sets a session flag that lets you through even if some checks are still pending.

Session-scoped state

The connection-test result is stored in your browser session. If the server restarts before setup is complete, you will return to the wizard and need to re-run the connection test. All other checks (config, SSH key, schedule) are re-derived from disk on every request.

After setup¶

Once setup is complete, the navigation changes:

Before setup — navbar shows the four wizard steps with amber indicators on incomplete ones.
After setup — navbar shows Dashboard, Progress, Schedule, and a Settings dropdown (Configuration, SSH Keys, Connections).

The home route (/) redirects permanently to the Dashboard.