Skip to main content

getting started

From download to first scan in under 15 minutes.

This guide walks through installing Abhra, activating your license, connecting a cloud account, and running the first posture scan. Designed for engineers who want to skip the marketing and just get to work.

Prerequisites

  • Windows 10+, macOS 12+ (coming v1.1), or Ubuntu 20.04+
  • 64-bit processor, 4 GB RAM minimum (8 GB recommended)
  • 500 MB disk space for installation, more for scan data
  • Internet connection for license activation + cloud API calls
  • Cloud credentials with read-only permissions
    • AWS: Access Key + Secret Key with ReadOnlyAccess attached
    • Azure: Service Principal (Tenant / Client / Secret IDs) with Reader role
    • GCP: Service Account JSON with Viewer role at project scope

Step 1: Download & install

Grab the right installer from the download page. Abhra ships as a native desktop binary — no extra runtime required.

Windows
1. Download Abhra-Setup-1.8.0.exe from abhra.app/download
2. Run the installer and follow the setup wizard
3. Abhra appears in your Start Menu + Desktop
4. First launch takes ~30 seconds to initialize
Linux (Debian / Ubuntu)
# Download the .deb package
wget https://abhra.app/api/download?platform=deb -O Abhra-1.8.0-amd64.deb

# Install (apt resolves dependencies if needed)
sudo dpkg -i Abhra-1.8.0-amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f -y

# Launch (as your normal desktop user, not root)
/opt/Abhra/abhra-desktop

Step 2: Register and activate your license

On first launch you'll see the sign-in screen.

  1. Click “Register here” to create your local account (name, email, password).
  2. Save the recovery code shown after sign-up — you cannot recover the account without it.
  3. Paste your license key (format: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX).
  4. Click “Activate installation”.
  5. You'll land on the dashboard automatically.
No license key? Start a free 30-day trial from the download page or ask your organization admin to issue one from Admin → License Management.

Step 3: Create a project & connect a cloud account

Projects organize scans by environment, customer, or compliance scope.

  1. Click the project selector in the sidebar → “New project”.
  2. Enter a project name and the organization it represents.

Next, go to Settings → Connections and add a cloud account:

  1. Click “Add connection”.
  2. Select your provider: AWS, Azure, or GCP.
  3. Enter credentials:
    • AWS — Access Key + Secret Key + default Region
    • Azure — Tenant / Client / Secret / Subscription IDs
    • GCP — Project ID + Service Account JSON
  4. Click “Save connection”.
Your credentials are encrypted with AES-256 and stored in the local SQLite database. They never leave your machine and are never sent to abhra.app.

Step 4: Run your first scan

  1. Select your connection from the sidebar (not “All connections”).
  2. Click “Test” on the dashboard to verify connectivity.
  3. Click “Scan now” and watch live progress.
  4. Real-time counters show resources, identities, and network objects discovered.

Typical durations: 2–5 minutes (small estate), 5–15 minutes (medium), 15–30 minutes (large multi-region environments).

Step 5: Review results

After the scan completes, explore your posture across these surfaces:

  • Dashboard — overall risk score, severity counts, toxic combinations
  • Asset inventory — every cloud resource by type and region
  • IAM analysis — users, roles, groups, MFA status, privilege levels
  • Network analysis — VPCs, subnets, security groups, gateways
  • Risk analysis — findings with severity, remediation steps, framework citations
  • Attack paths — multi-step exploit chains visualized
  • Graph view — relationship map across resources + identities
  • Reports — export PDF / Excel evidence packs

Previous

All docs

Next

Compliance guide