Onboarding

Onboarding is also known as activation

What is onboarding?

Onboarding is also known as "CRAM authentication" or "authentication"

Onboarding (or activating) is the one-time, irreversable bootstrapping of a freshly provisioned Atsign. During activation, the client generates a cryptographic identity (a keypair) and registers it with the server as the proof of ownership.

The end result of activation is the .atKeys file; a portable credential file that represents your ownership of that Atsign. Ensure that you backup this file, as losing it means your Atsign's data becomes unrecoverable!

Activating can be done with the at_activate binary which can be downloaded several ways: from the at_onboarding_cli pub.dev package, NoPorts release archives, or built/ran from GitHub source.

at_activate

In this section, we will learn how to use at_activate to onboard an Atsign. at_activate is a CLI tool that helps with activation and enrollments.

Installing at_activate

at_activate is Atsign's official activation CLI tool. It contains functions like initial activation (CRAM) and for generating additional namespace-scoped copies (APKAM).

Installation via dart pub

Installation via dart pub

To install it through pub.dev must have Dart installed on your system.

1. Ensure you have Dart installed

dart --version

1. Install at_activate using dart pub

dart pub global activate at_onboarding_cli

1. You should be able to run at_activate in your terminal

at_activate

If missing, check $HOME/.pub-cache/bin for the at_activate binary. You may need to add this directory to your $PATH.

Uninstallation

To uninstall, simply do

dart pub global deactivate at_onboarding_cli

Installation via NoPorts archives

Installation via NoPorts archives

You may also download at_activate as an executable binary through our NoPorts release archives.

1. Download the correct archive according to your CPU architecture from https://github.com/atsign-foundation/noports/releases/latest.

Refer to this table on which archive to download. Not sure which architecture you have?

• On macOS or Linux run uname -m .

• On Windows, check Settings > System > About > System type.

Operating System	CPU architecture	Archive to download
MacOS	x64	sshnp-macos-x64.zip
MacOS	ARM64	sshnp-macos-arm64.zip
Linux	x64	sshnp-linux-x64.tgz
Linux	ARM64	sshnp-linux-arm64.tgz
Linux	RiscV64	sshnp-linux-riscv64.tgz
Linux	ARM	sshnp-linux-arm.tgz
Windows	x64	sshnp-windows-x64.zip

1. Unarchive the zip, and move the binary to a folder in your path.

macOS

Substitute sshnp-macos-x64.zip if you are on an Intel Mac.

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
unzip -q -o ~/Downloads/sshnp-macos-arm64.zip -d /tmp
install -m 755 /tmp/sshnp/at_activate ~/.local/bin/
rm -rf /tmp/sshnp ~/Downloads/sshnp-macos-arm64.zip

macOS does not include ~/.local/bin on the default PATH, so you may need to add it:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
exec zsh

Linux

Substitute the archive name for your architecture.

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
tar -xzf ~/Downloads/sshnp-linux-x64.tgz -C /tmp
install -m 755 /tmp/sshnp/at_activate ~/.local/bin/
rm -rf /tmp/sshnp ~/Downloads/sshnp-linux-x64.tgz

Most distributions already put ~/.local/bin on your PATH. Check with echo $PATH, and if it is missing:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
exec bash

Windows

The simplest route on Windows is the NoPorts-x64.msi installer from the same release page, which handles PATH for you. To use the archive instead, run the following in PowerShell:

$dest = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\NoPorts"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $dest | Out-Null
Expand-Archive -Force -Path "$HOME\Downloads\sshnp-windows-x64.zip" -DestinationPath "$env:TEMP\noports"
Move-Item -Force "$env:TEMP\noports\sshnp\at_activate.exe" $dest
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:TEMP\noports", "$HOME\Downloads\sshnp-windows-x64.zip"

Add it to your user PATH:

$dest = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\NoPorts"
$user = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$user;$dest", "User")

Close and reopen PowerShell for the change to take effect.

Initial activation

Ensure you have at_activate installed before moving on.

1. Use the onboard command to onboard your Atsign. Replace <@atsign> with your Atsign. Example: at_activate onboard -a @alice

at_activate onboard -a <@atsign>

1. You will then be prompted with a yes/no question. It is very important you backup and keep the .atKeys file safe. Enter "Y" to confirm you acknowledge this message and continue to step 3.

1. You will receive an OTP in your email. Enter the OTP into your terminal.

[Information] Requesting my.atsign.com to send a verification code
[Information] Successfully sent verification code to your registered e-mail or phone
[Action Required] Enter your verification code: DTBW

1. Your Atsign will then be activated and manager keys will be generated in $HOME/.atsign/keys

[Information] Fetching CRAM Key from my.atsign.com
[Information] CRAM Key fetched successfully

      Find : #[1/50] : Found atServer address for @blueshark82_jttest in atDirectory - 2b8169fc-de0b-5a90-90cb-ed600904f4f0.swarm0003.atsign.zo...
   Connect : #[2/50] : Connected to @blueshark82_jttest atServer
[Success] Your .atKeys file saved at /home/user/.atsign/keys/@blueshark82_jttest_key.atKeys

1. Backup a copy of this file in some place safe (like a personal drive or through secure cloud storage you trust).