First login & setup
What to do the first time you open Tether — a step-by-step checklist for getting your MSP set up correctly.
Default credentials
| Field | Value | Where to change |
|---|---|---|
Value of ADMIN_EMAIL in .env (default: [email protected]) | Settings → Change Password | |
| Password | Value of ADMIN_PASSWORD in .env (default: admin) | Settings → Change Password |
The default password admin is publicly known. Change it immediately after first login. Go to Settings → Change Password.
Step 1 — Change your password
- Log in with the admin email and password from your
.env - In the left sidebar, click Settings
- Scroll to Change Password
- Enter the current password, your new password (minimum 6 characters), and confirm
- Click Update Password
Step 2 — Set your MSP name and branding
- In Settings → Organisation, set your MSP name — this appears in the sidebar for MSP staff
- Optionally set an accent colour (the lime green default can be changed to match your brand)
- Click Save Settings
Step 3 — Create your first client
Go to Clients → New Client and enter:
- Company name — e.g. Acme Corp
- Slug — auto-fills from the name. This becomes the subdomain:
acme.yourdomain.com. Use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only. - Currency — used for asset cost display
- Accent colour — shown on the client's white-label login page
- Logo URL — optional, shown on the client's login page instead of Tether branding
Tether automatically creates default categories (Laptop, Desktop, Monitor, Phone, Server, Network, Peripheral) and locations (Head Office, Warehouse, Remote) for every new client.
Step 4 — Add users or send invites
You have two ways to add users to a client:
- Create directly — go to Clients → Users → Add User and set a password on their behalf
- Send an invite link — go to Clients → Invite, enter their email and role, and share the generated link. The user sets their own password when they accept.
See Invite links for the full invite workflow.
Step 5 — Import existing assets
If you have asset data in a spreadsheet, export it as CSV and import it into Tether. Log into the client's subdomain (or access it as MSP admin), go to Assets → Import, and upload the file.
See CSV import for the exact column format, date formats accepted, and how conflicts are handled.
Step 6 — Configure DNS (if you haven't already)
For client subdomains to work, you need a wildcard DNS A record pointing to your server. This is required for white-label client portals. See DNS & subdomains.
Step 7 — Add HTTPS
Never run Tether on HTTP in production — login tokens and asset data will be transmitted in plaintext. Add nginx and a wildcard SSL certificate. See Reverse proxy & HTTPS.
Once Tether is running, navigate to https://yourdomain.com/docs to see the full Swagger UI for all API endpoints. You can try API calls directly from the browser using your login token.