Getting Started
Licensing
Knocknoc licensing is based on the number of users, click here for more information. You will need to have a license to use Knocknoc, and a trial or monthly license can be purchased from the Knocknoc Licensing Portal. The licenses covers the amount of users you have setup in the system, there is no limit on the amount of groups, backends, agents or ACLs. SAML is also included out of the box!
Server Setup
Cloud or self-hosted, you need a Knocknoc server, and once you have it up and running you will be able to login to the admin panel and start configuration. For cloud users you should receive your URL and login details via the licensing portal. For self-hosted here is the self-hosted install guide. The self hosted server assumes some system administration knowledge, and generally the ability to have an inbound public IP for your users to access Knocknoc.
Agent Installation
The agents perform the backend work of updating ACLs, you need at least one, even if it's on the same machine as Knocknoc server. Here is the agent install guide. You can install the agent on any machine that can reach both the Knocknoc server, and the target of the backend, it only needs an HTTPS connection to the Knocknoc server.
Backends and ACLs
Backends and ACLs work hand in hand to provide a pathway for your fine-tuned group access. Here are the guides for currently supported backends. And here are the guides for basic ACL configuration. Backends have types, like Haproxy, ipset or scripts. A backend modifies the ACL to perform the allow listing function of Knocknoc.
Groups and Authentication
Groups need to be created locally in the admin portal, however users can be assigned either locally or via the SAML or LDAP authentication steps. We recommend SAML where possible, as it is the most secure option for many people. Here are the authentication guides and the the group setup guide. A group maps Users to ACLs, so you can have fined grained control over what resources your users have access to, even down to an HTTP protocol level.
Test it out!
That first time you login and works feels like magic. We can't wait for you to enjoy using Knocknoc every day.
Roll it out to your users
Once everything is ready, you need to then need to demonstrate or document the steps for your users, and away you go.
We are preparing helpful onboarding resources for your users, and while the process is different and change is hard, the ease of use of Knocknoc is a great for users.
Monitor and Manage
Knocknoc can stream metrics using GELF, and can supply regular exports of user activity. It also has an audit trail function, so you can see exactly what resources which users had access to when. Security teams looking to track fine grained access to network resources, can even export to CSV as required.