Getting started

Start here.

Orbit is an anycast network that answers DNS, serves and protects websites, publishes RPKI and runs a public resolver. This page explains how an account is put together and what to do first.

01

Your account

You sign in with an Orbit identity at dash.yunzheng.space. There is no separate password for the console: authentication happens once, at auth.yunzheng.space, and the console trusts the result.

Everything you create belongs to a principal — either you, or a team you are acting as. The selector at the top of the console switches between them. A resource created while acting as a team belongs to the team, and it keeps belonging to the team when you leave.

TermWhat it means
ServiceA container for related things. A DNS service holds zones; a resolver service holds filtering rules.
ZoneA domain name we answer for, and the records inside it.
SiteOne hostname served through Shield.
PackThe plan attached to an account. Packs set the quotas — zones, records, hostnames, rules.
02

The first thing to set up

Which product you start with depends on what you are trying to do. All four paths are short.

If you want to…Start at
Host a domain's DNS with usDNS hosting — add the zone, then change the name servers at your registrar
Put a site behind our edgeConnect a hostname — three ways in, one of which leaves your DNS where it is
Reach an origin that has no public addressLink — the origin dials out and opens no inbound port
Sign your address spaceRPKI — a hosted CA, or just point your routers at our public cache
Nothing here requires a credit card, and the free pack is enough to run a real site. Limits are per account and are listed on the Account page in the console.
03

Doing it from a script instead

Everything the console does, the API does. Create a token on the API page, then:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer orb_…" https://dash.yunzheng.space/api/v1/me

API access is off until it is switched on for your account, which requires two-factor authentication or a passkey. See the API page for the whole surface.

04

Questions

Is there a free tier?

Yes. Orbit is run by a non-profit laboratory and is free for non-commercial use. The free pack covers DNS hosting, Shield, Verify and RPKI at limits a personal site never reaches.

Can other people help manage my resources?

Yes, through teams. Create resources while acting as the team and every member with the right role can manage them. Roles are viewer, operator, admin and owner; a viewer can never write.

Where do I go when something is wrong?

The Help Centre at helpdesk.yunzheng.space. For anything that looks like a network problem, the looking glass shows what our nodes see from every city we serve.

Next

Related

DNS hosting

Add a zone, point your registrar at our name servers, and manage records. Includes weighted answers, health-checked records, ALIAS at the apex and zone-file import.

Connect a hostname

Delegate the whole domain, delegate one hostname, or add a CNAME and leave your DNS where it is. What each one costs you and when to pick it.

Link (origin tunnels)

Run a small connector on your own server. It dials out to a city you choose and holds the connection open, so your site is reachable through Orbit without a public address and without an open port.

← All documentation