Edge Portal Client Operations Guide

Client-facing version: 2026-06-12

The CFTS Edge Portal lets approved clients view and operate their assigned edge or VPS services.

The portal is permission-based. You will only see the services and actions approved for your account.

This means that a missing button, console option, service, or power action does not automatically mean something is broken. In most cases, it means the action is not available for your account, your network, or the current service state.

The most important rule

Use the least disruptive action that can solve the problem.

Hard power actions, such as Hard power off or Hard reboot, should only be used when:

• graceful options are unavailable,
• graceful options have already failed, or
• CFTS has instructed you to use them.

When in doubt, stop and contact CFTS support before taking a disruptive action.

Index

1. What You Can Do in the Portal
2. Why Something May Be Missing
3. Browser Requirements
4. Signing In
5. Understanding Your Account Access
6. Dashboard Overview
7. Common First Checks
8. Dashboard Refresh and Time Display
9. Reading Service Status
10. IP Address Display
11. CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network Indicators
12. Service Actions
13. How to Perform Common Actions
14. Web Console
15. Account Settings and Login History
16. Notes and To-do Lists
17. Theme Control
18. Signing Out and Session Timeout
19. Common Messages
20. Security Expectations
21. When to Contact CFTS
22. Client Operation Checklist
23. One-page Quick Reference

1. What You Can Do in the Portal

Depending on your account permissions, you may be able to:

• Sign in and view your assigned services.
• Check power state, uptime, guest tools, IP addresses, and resource indicators.
• Open a browser-based service console.
• Power on, shut down, or restart a service.
• Use recovery actions such as hard power off or hard reboot.
• Change your own portal password.
• Manage allowed or blocked source networks.
• Review your own login history from the header.
• Keep account notes and to-do checklists.
• Export notes as Markdown.
• Create, list, restore, promote, or delete your own temporary maintenance snapshots when this is specifically enabled for your account.

The portal does not provide normal client access to CFTS internal administration, provisioning, billing, backup administration, firewall administration, general snapshot management, or direct host management.

Temporary maintenance snapshots are a limited exception. If enabled, they are short-lived maintenance checkpoints for quick rollback during a change. They are not backups and should not be used as a substitute for a CFTS backup or restore request. Backup software snapshots are separate from this portal feature and are managed by CFTS backup operations.

2. Why Something May Be Missing

If you expected to see a service, button, console option, or action but it is not visible, one of these usually applies:

CFTS support can confirm whether a missing item is intentional.

3. Browser Requirements

Use a current desktop browser such as:

• Microsoft Edge
• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari

Your browser must allow:

• cookies,
• JavaScript,
• HTTPS access to the portal,
• secure web socket connections if you use the console.

If the dashboard loads but the console does not connect, your company network may be filtering web sockets or browser scripts.

4. Signing In

1. Open the portal URL supplied by CFTS.
2. Enter your assigned username.
3. Enter your assigned password.
4. Select Login.

After a successful login, the dashboard opens automatically.

If login fails

Check the following:

• The username and password are entered exactly as supplied.
• You are connecting from an approved network, if your account is network-restricted.
• The account has not been disabled or blocked.

Do not send your password to CFTS by email, chat, screenshot, or ticket.

5. Understanding Your Account Access

Each client receives one or more approved portal accounts from CFTS.

Different accounts can have different access levels. Your account may combine one or more of these profiles:

These are not ranks. They are operational permissions.

6. Dashboard Overview

The dashboard is the main client operations screen.

At the top of the dashboard, you may see:

• your signed-in username,
• your detected client IP address,
• IPv4 and IPv6 display controls,
• account settings,
• notes or to-do access,
• theme control,
• logout.

Below this, each assigned service appears as a service card.

A service card can show:

• service display name,
• underlying service name,
• vCPU, memory, and storage allocation,
• VM uptime and operating system uptime,
• power state,
• operating system category,
• guest tools status,
• guest IP addresses,
• CPU, memory, disk, and network indicators,
• active temporary maintenance snapshot status, when enabled,
• an Actions menu, when operations are available.

If your account has no visible assigned services, the dashboard shows:

No services are available for this account.  

7. Common First Checks

Before using a power or recovery action, check:

1. Is the service Online or Offline?
2. Are guest tools running?
3. Is an IP address visible?
4. Is the dashboard updating normally?
5. Can you open the console, if available?
6. Are users or applications still active?
7. Is the missing action expected for your account permissions?

If these checks do not explain the issue, contact CFTS before using hard recovery actions.

8. Dashboard Refresh and Time Display

Service cards refresh automatically about every 30 seconds.

The page does not fully reload. Values update in place.

Automatic refresh may pause while:

• the browser tab is hidden,
• an action menu is open,
• another refresh request is already running.

Dashboard refresh does not count as user activity for the inactivity timeout. You must actively use the portal to keep your session alive.

Updated time

The footer shows an Updated HH:MM value. This time is supplied by the Edge Portal server.

For the current Edge Portal, server-local time is East Africa Time.

HTTP headers, browser developer tools, and proxy logs may show UTC or GMT. That is normal and does not mean the portal clock is wrong.

9. Reading Service Status

Power state

A service can be Online even if the guest operating system inside it is not responding normally.

Use power state together with console access, guest tools status, IP address status, and support guidance.

Operating system and guest tools

The portal may identify the service as Windows, Linux, Other, or Unknown.

Guest tools are services installed inside the guest operating system. They help the platform report IP addresses, operating system uptime, and whether graceful shutdown or restart is available.

Graceful Shutdown and Restart require the service to be online, guest tools to be running, and the guest operating system to be Windows or Linux.

10. IP Address Display

The dashboard shows guest IP addresses reported by the platform and guest tools.

By default:

• IPv4 addresses are shown,
• IPv6 addresses are hidden.

Use the IPv4 and IPv6 controls at the top of the dashboard to choose which address families are visible. Your preference is saved in the browser.

Use the copy control beside a visible IP address when you need to paste it into another tool.

If IP addresses show as unknown

Common causes include:

• guest tools are not installed,
• guest tools are not running,
• the guest operating system is still booting,
• the guest network is not configured,
• the platform has not refreshed the guest information yet.

Contact CFTS support if an IP address remains unknown and you need it for operations.

11. CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network Indicators

The dashboard can show platform-observed indicators for:

• CPU,
• memory,
• disk I/O,
• network I/O.

Use these as quick operational signals. They can help you spot obvious activity, inactivity, or pressure.

They are not a full guest operating system performance report, process list, application monitor, billing statement, or SLA measurement.

12. Service Actions

Each service card may include an Actions menu.

Only actions that are both approved for your account and valid for the current service state are shown.

Recommended action order

Use this order whenever possible:

1. Check the console or application first.
2. Use Shutdown or Restart for normal maintenance.
3. Use Power on only when the service is offline.
4. Use a temporary maintenance snapshot before a risky approved change, if this is enabled and appropriate.
5. Use Hard power off or Hard reboot only as a recovery fallback.

Hard fallback actions bypass the guest operating system. They can interrupt active users, corrupt unsaved work, or worsen an application issue.

Temporary maintenance snapshots are also operationally disruptive if misused. Restoring a snapshot reverts the service to the selected point and can discard newer changes. If the restored state is the state you want to keep, use Promote restored state so the temporary maintenance snapshot is removed cleanly after the restored state is made current.

13. How to Perform Common Actions

Power on a service

1. Find the service card.
2. Open Actions.
3. Select Power on.
4. Wait for the task to complete.
5. Watch the dashboard for the state to change to Online.

The guest operating system and applications may need more time after the platform reports the service as online.

Gracefully shut down a service

1. Confirm users and applications are ready for shutdown.
2. Find the service card.
3. Open Actions.
4. Select Shutdown.
5. Wait for the task to complete.
6. Watch the dashboard for the state to change to Offline.

If Shutdown is not visible, the service may be offline, guest tools may not be running, the guest OS may not support graceful actions, or your account may not have permission.

Gracefully restart a service

1. Confirm users and applications are ready for restart.
2. Find the service card.
3. Open Actions.
4. Select Restart.
5. Wait for the task to complete.
6. Watch the dashboard while the service restarts.

Restart may temporarily interrupt console access, IP reporting, and application availability.

Hard power off

Hard power off is a recovery fallback.

Use it only if graceful shutdown is unavailable, has failed, or CFTS has instructed you to use it.

1. Confirm graceful shutdown is unavailable or has failed.
2. Find the service card.
3. Open Actions.
4. Select Hard power off.
5. Read the confirmation page.
6. Select Hard Power Off to proceed, or Cancel to return.
7. Watch the dashboard for the state to change to Offline.

Hard reboot

Hard reboot is a recovery fallback.

Use it only if graceful restart is unavailable, has failed, or CFTS has instructed you to use it.

1. Confirm graceful restart is unavailable or has failed.
2. Find the service card.
3. Open Actions.
4. Select Hard reboot.
5. Read the confirmation page.
6. Select Hard Reboot to proceed, or Cancel to return.
7. Watch the dashboard while the service resets.

Create a temporary maintenance snapshot

Temporary maintenance snapshots are intended for short maintenance windows where a quick rollback may be needed. They are not backups.

Use them only when:

• the change has been approved by the appropriate service owner,
• the snapshot option is enabled for your account,
• you understand that the snapshot will expire automatically,
• you understand that snapshot count limits may prevent creating another snapshot.

To create one:

1. Find the service card.
2. Open Actions.
3. Under Maintenance, select Create snapshot.
4. Read the confirmation page.
5. Confirm production maintenance approval if the page asks for it.
6. Select Create Maintenance Snapshot.
7. Watch for the success message and the dashboard state such as Snapshot active - expires in 23h.

The confirmation page shows:

• when the snapshot expires,
• the automatic expiry policy,
• the maximum number of temporary snapshots allowed for that service.

Use the snapshot manager

The snapshot manager opens as a compact slide-out panel from the dashboard. It lists only the temporary maintenance snapshots created from the portal by your signed-in account. You will not see snapshots created by another portal user, by CFTS outside this client facility, or by backup software.

If browser scripts are unavailable, the portal may open the snapshot manager as a normal page instead. The ownership and safety rules are the same.

To open it:

1. Find the service card.
2. Open Actions.
3. Under Maintenance, select Snapshot manager.

Each row can show:

• snapshot name,
• creation time,
• expiry time,
• active or expired status,
• restore, promote, and delete actions, when available.

Expired snapshots cannot be restored from the portal. They may still show a delete option so you can remove them.

Restore + Power On from a temporary maintenance snapshot

Restore only when you understand that newer changes may be lost.

Restore + Power On reverts the service to the selected temporary maintenance snapshot and then starts the service if the platform leaves it offline. This action does not remove the selected snapshot.

1. Open Snapshot manager.
2. Find the active snapshot you want to restore.
3. Select Restore + Power On.
4. Read the confirmation page.
5. Tick I understand newer changes may be lost.
6. Select Restore + Power On.
7. Watch the service and application state after the restore completes.

If the restored state is only for testing, stop here until you decide the next step. If the restored state is the state you want to keep, use Promote restored state.

Contact CFTS if the restore fails, if you are unsure which snapshot to use, or if the service does not return to the expected state.

Promote restored state

Use Promote restored state when the selected temporary maintenance snapshot is the state you want to keep as the ongoing service state.

Promotion keeps the service on the restored state and removes the selected temporary maintenance snapshot. It will not return the service to the failed or previous state.

1. Open Snapshot manager.
2. Find the active snapshot that represents the state you want to keep.
3. Select Promote restored state.
4. Read the confirmation page.
5. Tick the confirmation box if the page asks for it.
6. Select Promote restored state.
7. Wait for the action to complete, then confirm the service and application state are correct.

Promotion may be blocked if the selected snapshot has newer dependent snapshots or if the platform cannot safely remove the selected snapshot. Contact CFTS rather than trying to manually delete snapshots when this happens.

Delete a temporary maintenance snapshot

Delete removes an unused temporary snapshot from ESXi and cannot be undone. If you have restored a snapshot and want that restored state to become the ongoing service state, use Promote restored state instead of guessing which snapshot to delete.

1. Open Snapshot manager.
2. Find the snapshot you no longer need.
3. Select Delete.
4. Read the confirmation page.
5. Select Delete Snapshot.

Delete snapshots after the maintenance window when they are no longer needed. Do not leave temporary snapshots active as a long-term recovery plan.

14. Web Console

The web console gives browser-based keyboard, mouse, and screen access to an assigned service.

Open the console

1. Find the service card.
2. Open Actions.
3. Select Console.
4. The console opens in a new browser tab or window.
5. Click inside the console screen to focus keyboard and mouse input.

Console toolbar controls

Paste Text is one-way input only. It does not create a shared clipboard and cannot copy text, screenshots, or files from the guest console back to your browser.

Review pasted text before sending it. Pasted text goes wherever the cursor is focused inside the guest operating system.

Console access is live access to the service. Any keyboard, mouse, operating system, or application changes take effect immediately.

If the console does not connect

Try the following:

1. Wait a few seconds for the connection status to update.
2. Select Reconnect.
3. Refresh the console tab.
4. Confirm your browser or company network allows secure web socket traffic.
5. Confirm the service is still visible and assigned to your account.

Contact CFTS support if the console reports Console unavailable, Console SDK unavailable, Console error, or remains disconnected.

If keyboard input does not appear to work, click inside the console screen first.

15. Account Settings and Login History

Account settings and login history are available from the header when enabled for your account. They open as compact slide-out panels so you can check or change account details without leaving the dashboard.

Account settings may include:

• your signed-in username,
• your detected client IP address,
• password change controls,
• allowed and blocked source network controls.

These settings apply only to the signed-in account. You cannot view or change another client's account settings from this area.

Change your password

1. Open account settings from the header.
2. Enter your current password.
3. Enter the new password.
4. Confirm the new password.
5. Submit the change.

If the change fails, the portal may show a safe reason, such as a password policy issue. Choose a stronger password and try again.

Do not reuse weak, old, shared, or easily guessed passwords.

Source network rules

Some accounts can manage their own allowed and blocked source IP or CIDR rules.

Allowed source networks define where the account may sign in from. Blocked source networks deny access from specific IPs or ranges.

Examples:

203.0.113.10  
203.0.113.0/24  

Important behavior:

• Rules apply only to the signed-in account.
• Blocked rules take priority over allowed rules.
• If allowed rules exist, the account should sign in only from those networks.
• The portal prevents saving a rule set that would block your current detected IP.
• Office, VPN, or ISP address changes may affect access.

Contact CFTS support before changing source rules if you are unsure which address or range to use.

Login history

The header login-history control can show recent login history for the signed-in account.

Use it to confirm successful, failed, or denied sign-in activity. It includes detected client IP, result, and timestamp.

If you see activity you do not recognize, change your password if possible and contact CFTS support.

16. Notes and To-do Lists

The portal can provide account notes and to-do lists from the header.

Use this area for short operational notes, maintenance reminders, handover points, and task checklists linked to the signed-in account.

Notes are account-owned. One client account cannot view another account's notes through the portal.

The notes area may support:

• New note for general text notes,
• Markdown task-list checkboxes such as - [ ] Check backups,
• indented child checklist items,
• a collapsed source editor for full Markdown editing,
• collapsed note rows,
• search across note titles, bodies, and checklist text,
• Markdown export.

Checklist behavior

Checklist items are written as Markdown task-list lines. For example:

- [ ] Check backups  
  - [ ] Confirm backup timestamp  
- [ ] Restart service  

In the saved note preview, these lines appear as clickable checkboxes.

Indented child items must be completed before the parent item can be marked complete. This prevents a parent task being marked complete while its child tasks are still open.

Completed top-level items, or completed parent items with all their completed children, move under a Complete section inside the same note. If a completed child item is unticked later, the parent item is moved back to the active section and its checked state is cleared.

Use Edit Markdown when you want to change the source text, add more tasks, indent child tasks, or write normal Markdown notes.

Good examples

Patch window agreed for Friday 18:00 EAT.  
Check backup status after reboot.  
Confirm application owner has tested login.  
Follow up with CFTS about missing IPv6 address.  

Do not store secrets in notes

Notes and to-do lists are not a password manager, secrets vault, legal record system, or secure document store.

Do not store:

• passwords or password hints,
• API keys,
• private keys,
• tokens,
• recovery codes,
• backup passphrases,
• full third-party credentials,
• unnecessary personal data.

Notes are stored on the portal server and may be included in server backups. CFTS administrators or operators with server access may be able to inspect stored notes during support, security, or recovery work.

Markdown exports leave the portal and become your responsibility to protect.

17. Theme Control

The portal includes a theme control in the header when available.

Changing the theme affects only the portal appearance in your browser. It does not change the service itself and does not affect other users.

18. Signing Out and Session Timeout

Use Logout in the header when you are finished.

Always log out before:

• leaving a shared workstation,
• closing a support session,
• handing the browser to another person.

Authenticated sessions expire after a period of inactivity. The default timeout is up to 15 minutes, although CFTS may configure a shorter timeout.

User activity such as clicking, typing, scrolling, or touching the page can keep the session alive.

Passive dashboard refresh does not keep the session alive.

If the session expires, the portal redirects you to logout or asks you to sign in again. Any open console session should be considered disconnected after timeout.

19. Common Messages

20. Security Expectations

All portal users must follow these practices:

• Keep credentials private.
• Do not share portal accounts.
• Do not send passwords in tickets, email, chat, or screenshots.
• Use only approved networks if your account is network-restricted.
• Be careful when changing source network rules.
• Do not store secrets in notes, to-do lists, or exported Markdown files.
• Treat temporary maintenance snapshots as short-lived rollback points, not backups.
• Use Promote restored state when a restored temporary snapshot is the state you want to keep.
• Log out when finished.
• Report unexpected services, missing services, or suspicious activity to CFTS.
• Treat console access as direct access to the service.

Portal action attempts, login events, and account self-service events may be logged with timestamp, username, client IP, result, and a short message.

This protects clients and CFTS by creating a traceable operational record.

21. When to Contact CFTS

Contact CFTS support when:

• you cannot sign in,
• your assigned service is missing,
• you can see a service you should not see,
• guest IP is unknown and you need the address,
• guest tools show not running, not installed, or unknown,
• a required action is missing,
• a power action or console connection fails,
• you need a hard fallback action enabled or performed,
• you are unsure how to set allowed or blocked source networks,
• you see login history you do not recognize,
• a password change fails and the displayed reason is unclear,
• you are unsure whether to create, restore, or delete a temporary maintenance snapshot,
• a temporary maintenance snapshot action fails,
• promotion is blocked or you are unsure whether to promote a restored state,
• you need a backup restore rather than a temporary maintenance rollback,
• note saving or Markdown export fails,
• the visible portal Updated time does not match expected server-local time,
• you suspect a security issue.

Include this information in support requests

Please include:

• portal username, but not the password,
• service display name or service name,
• time and date of the issue,
• browser used,
• action attempted,
• error message shown,
• whether you were using dashboard, console, account settings, source network rules, or notes,
• whether a temporary maintenance snapshot was active or recently restored,
• your source office, VPN, or public IP if network restriction may be involved.

Screenshots are helpful, but remove or avoid sensitive passwords, tokens, unrelated client information, or confidential data before sending them.

For suggestions, bug reports, or support requests, contact:

devops@cfts.co  

22. Client Operation Checklist

Use this checklist for normal operations:

1. Sign in with your assigned account.
2. Confirm only expected services are visible.
3. Check service power state, guest tools, IP address, uptime, and resource indicators.
4. Use IPv4 or IPv6 filters as needed.
5. Use account settings only for your own password, source network rules, and login history.
6. Use notes and checklist items for operational reminders, not secrets.
7. Use temporary maintenance snapshots only for approved short maintenance windows.
8. Use the least disruptive available action.
9. Use console only when direct screen access is required.
10. Confirm the service returns to the expected state.
11. Promote the restored state if it is the state to keep, and delete temporary snapshots only when they are no longer needed.
12. Log out when finished.

If anything looks wrong, stop and contact CFTS support before taking disruptive recovery actions.

23. One-page Quick Reference

If a service is offline

1. Confirm it is the correct service.
2. Open Actions.
3. Use Power on, if available.
4. Wait for the dashboard to show Online.
5. Allow extra time for the guest operating system and applications to start.

If a service is online but not responding

1. Check guest tools status.
2. Check IP address status.
3. Check CPU, memory, disk, and network indicators.
4. Open the console, if available.
5. Use graceful Restart only if appropriate.
6. Use hard recovery only if graceful recovery is unavailable, has failed, or CFTS instructs you to use it.

If an action is missing

1. Check service power state.
2. Check guest tools status.
3. Check whether the operating system supports the action.
4. Check whether your account is expected to have that permission.
5. Contact CFTS support if still unclear.

If a snapshot option is missing

1. Confirm your account is expected to have temporary maintenance snapshot access.
2. Check whether the service is online or offline.
3. Confirm the service card is the correct assigned service.
4. Contact CFTS if snapshot access should be enabled.

If you need to undo a recent change

1. Open Snapshot manager, if available.
2. Confirm the snapshot is active and was created before the change.
3. Use Restore + Power On only after confirming newer changes may be lost.
4. Use Promote restored state if the restored snapshot should become the ongoing service state.
5. Contact CFTS if you need backup restore, data recovery, or help choosing the right restore point.

If the console will not connect

1. Wait briefly.
2. Select Reconnect.
3. Refresh the console tab.
4. Check whether your browser or network blocks secure web sockets.
5. Contact CFTS if the issue continues.

If you see suspicious login history

1. Change your password if possible.
2. Do not share screenshots containing passwords or secrets.
3. Contact CFTS support.