Getting started

Your next-generation voice platform starts here.

Boot the ISO. Finish the wizard. Sign in as yourself.

CaptainPBX arrives as an installer. Bring the appliance up, then make it yours in the setup wizard. Full guides are still being written — this page is the path from download to first sign-in.

  1. 1 Download
  2. 2 Install
  3. 3 Open the UI
  4. 4 Setup wizard
  5. 5 Explore

Bring it up

Install the appliance

These three steps get CaptainPBX onto a machine and the UI open in a browser. Nothing about your organization is chosen yet.

01

Download the ISO

The installer is one image, CaptainPBX-iso-v1.0.0.20261105120958.iso, about 2 GB. It includes the operating system, the control plane, and the media engine. The button starts the download.

Download the ISO
The CaptainPBX boot screen with Install CaptainPBX selected.

02

Install it

Use a new virtual machine, or a disk you are willing to install onto. Give it at least 4 GiB of memory and 20 GiB of disk, and confirm it is a 64-bit guest if the host asks.

  1. Attach the ISO as the boot disk. Do not run an unattended guest installer from the host. That path ignores this image.
  2. Boot. The first screen is Install CaptainPBX. Leave the menu alone. The install starts after a few seconds.
  3. Wait while the disk is written. First boot continues on its own and can take several minutes.
  4. An empty disk is installed with no questions. A disk that already has a system is left alone.
  5. Detach the ISO before the next power cycle, so the machine boots the hard disk.

03

Open the UI

When first boot finishes, CaptainPBX is listening on the machine's address.

  1. Find that address from the console or from the host that created the machine.
  2. In a browser, open https:// and that address.
  3. The first certificate is created for this appliance. The browser warns. Continue to the site.
  4. Sign in with the factory web account below. The setup wizard opens on its own.
Web
captain / Ayeayecaptain
Console or SSH
captain / captain

These passwords exist only until the wizard replaces the web login. The console password is separate and is not changed by the wizard.

CaptainPBX mark.

Configure it

Make it yours

The wizard collects answers first. Nothing is written until the last screen, which applies them in one pass.

04

Finish the setup wizard

Walk the screens in order. You can go back and change an answer until you apply.

  1. Terms Read the license. There is no warranty, and you are responsible for lawful use of this PBX and its voice traffic.
  2. Language and timezone Choose both. The wizard stays in English. They are saved when configuration is applied.
  3. Administrator Create your own username and password. The name captain is reserved. Applying this step disables the factory web login.
  4. Captain Shield Name the IPs or subnets that may reach the UI, SIP, and SSH. Your current address is added so you are not locked out. Then choose which countries may connect from elsewhere, or leave a reminder and set the firewall later.
  5. First organization Every user and call lives under an organization. Name the first one, and add a SIP domain if you already have one.
  6. Extensions Optional. Create one extension, or a consecutive range. Each number gets a user and a SIP device. Skip this and add them later if you prefer.

On the last screen, apply configuration. CaptainPBX saves the language and timezone, creates the administrator, applies Captain Shield, creates the organization and any extensions, then runs Sync & Apply so the media engine matches. Leave the page open. Each line shows working, done, or failed. When the administrator exists, you are signed out and returned to the login page.

Use it

Sign in and look around

05

Sign in with your new account

Use the username and password from the wizard. The factory web login no longer works. From here the platform is yours: the organization you created, people and extensions, trunks when you are ready to place a call, and the rest of the menu.

If a wizard step failed, sign in anyway and open that area. A failed step does not block the new administrator once that account exists. Captain Shield's country list can keep loading in the background after the allow list is already in place.

Guides

Full documentation is on the way

This page covers install and first-time setup. Deeper guides for trunks, extensions, the portal, and day-to-day administration are still being written. Until they are published, use this path to get running, and send questions or gaps to the project.

Report a gap on GitHub
From the ISO to your own login.

Detach the disc, finish the wizard, and sign in with the account you created.