After you install Companion OS

You have installed Companion OS and signed in. This page explains what the machine does by itself in the first few minutes, how to check that it worked, and the settings a home lab usually needs next: the time zone, remote access, updates, and a firewall decision.

What happens on its own

The setup job runs at the lowest CPU and I/O priority. On current images, a desktop notification shows its progress (“Setting up Companion OS: step 3 of 7”) and finishes with “Companion OS is ready” (see Install Companion OS from a USB stick). Older images do not show desktop notifications. If you open Companion Hub from the dock before setup finishes, wait a minute and try again.

Check that it worked

Open a terminal (select the Terminal icon in the dock) and run these commands:

ci-os-info                                       # Companion OS version, setup status, Hub address, models, disk, GPU
systemctl status ci-os-first-boot-setup.service  # a finished run shows inactive (dead) and status=0/SUCCESS
ollama list                                      # downloaded local models
docker ps --format '{{.Names}}  {{.Status}}'     # Hub's containers: ci-hub, ci-hub-db, ci-hub-queue, traefik
curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' http://localhost:5002/   # 200 means Hub answers

A healthy machine lists nomic-embed-text and gemma3:1b, shows four running containers (ci-hub, ci-hub-db, and ci-hub-queue say healthy), and prints 200. If something is missing, see Troubleshooting Companion OS.

To run the first-time setup again, for example after a network problem, run:

sudo ci-os-setup

The log of the setup is in /var/log/ci-os-first-boot-setup.log.

Open Hub and pair it

Set your time zone and keyboard

The one-click installer includes a Language, keyboard, time zone… button (see Install Companion OS from a USB stick). If you did not use it, the machine defaults to English, a US keyboard layout, and the time zone detected from the network (or UTC if the machine was offline). After your first sign-in, check the clock. To change the time zone or keyboard layout from the terminal, run:

sudo timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Berlin     # list the names with: timedatectl list-timezones
sudo localectl set-x11-keymap de                # or use Settings, Keyboard

You can also change them in Settings, System, Date & Time, and Region & Language.

Reach the machine from other devices

These are listening on your network out of the box:

If you want a host firewall, allow what you use and turn it on:

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp          # SSH
sudo ufw allow 5002/tcp        # Companion Hub
sudo ufw enable

Docker applies its own rules for published container ports, so check from another device that the ports you meant to close are closed.

Keep it up to date

• Operating system. Security updates install automatically. To update everything yourself, run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade. Older images show a number of updates waiting at the first sign-in because the image carries the packages of its build day. Newer ones keep that pop-up off and ci-os-info tells you when a restart is waiting.
• Companion Hub. Update it from its dashboard. See Updating Companion Hub.
• Back up before big changes. See Backup and restore.

Where things are

Next

• Troubleshooting Companion OS
• Choose hardware for Companion OS
• Installing your first app