Getting started
Account and plans
Native VM is used signed in. Your account decides your plan, Free or Pro, and the app asks for it each time it starts.
Creating an account
Accounts are made on toolxbd.com. Choose Create an account on Native VM's sign-in window, or go to toolxbd.com/register. Native VM never sees that form. Once the account exists, come back and sign in with the same email and password.
Signing in
Native VM opens on its sign-in window, and no server window opens until you've signed in and your access has been checked. While it checks, the window says Checking your access.
Your session is kept where your credentials are kept, the OS keychain unless you chose otherwise: your email and a session token, never your password. The next time you open Native VM, it checks the session's access again and opens straight onto your servers.
| What the account service answers | What happens |
|---|---|
| Your access is fine | Your servers open. |
| Your session has ended | You're asked to sign in again, with your email filled in. |
| Your account has no access | You see the service's reason, and the sign-in form. |
| No answer, a timeout or an untrusted certificate | A dialog says why, with Try again or Quit. Your session is kept. |
Signing out
Open the account menu at the right of any window's top bar and choose Sign out. After you confirm, Native VM removes the session, closes every server window, disconnecting each server, and shows the sign-in window.
Free and Pro
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Servers | 2 | No limit |
| Apps created on each server | 2 | No limit |
| Cron jobs on each server | 1 | No limit |
| Terminal | Yes | Yes |
| Wizard's advanced settings: commands, limits, environment | Yes | Yes |
| An app's environment variables | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced mode | No | Yes |
| Live Monitor and Uninstaller | No | Yes |
| Files outside the apps: Home, logs, nginx config | No | Yes |
| New apps from a private Git repository | No | Yes |
The top bar's account says Free or Pro. On Free, the Servers window shows how much of the plan is in use, and features that need Pro offer Upgrade to Pro, which opens toolxbd.com.
- Limits are on creating, not on keeping. Apps already on a server stay manageable however many there are. Cron jobs made while you were on Pro stay listed and editable.
- Servers belong to this computer, shared by every account signed in on it. On Free, the two servers added first open; the rest are listed, locked, until one of the two is removed or the account is Pro.
Checking your plan again
Bought Pro while the app was open? Choose Check my plan again from the account menu. The new plan reaches every window at once.
Easy mode and Advanced mode
Every server window has an Advanced mode switch at the foot of its sidebar. Easy mode keeps the window about your apps; Advanced mode adds the rest of the server:
- Live Monitor and Uninstaller in the sidebar,
- All services on the Services page, not only your apps',
- Home, logs and nginx config in the file manager,
- Private Git repositories in the New app wizard,
- More than one cron job on a server.
Advanced mode needs Pro. On Pro, choosing anything that needs it turns it on for you. On Free, those pages stay listed with a lock and offer Pro instead.