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Portal quickstart

Goal: from "I just signed up" to "I have a Business Central URL I can use." No CLI, no Azure, no Terraform.

1. Get access

BCDock is currently in early access. Two steps:

  1. Join the waitlist at bcdock.io/waitlist - email, name, and the BC config you'd like to start with. We review within 48 hours.
  2. Activate with your invite code at bcdock.io/signup once the email arrives. The signup wizard captures your time zone and default Azure region - both can change later under Profile → Settings.

After activation, sign in with the one-time code we email you and you land on the dashboard with no environments yet.

2. New environment

Click New environment at the top of the dashboard.

The form has three required choices:

  • Name — DNS-safe, 3–40 chars (e.g. acme-test, pr-42, training-cohort-q2). Becomes part of the URL.
  • BC version - pick from the cascading dropdown. Most recent versions are pre-built in your region and carry no tag - they provision in ~7-15 minutes on a warm pool. Versions that aren't pre-built are tagged on request: the first env on that version and country combination takes longer while the image is built (you're emailed when it's ready), then everything after is on the fast lane.
  • Country — the BC localisation. Defaults to your company's home country.

Optional:

  • Region — defaults to your company default; override per env if you need a US/EU/AU split.
  • Multi-tenant — leave on unless you have a specific reason to use single-tenant.

Click Create. The environment lands in the creating state immediately.

3. Wait for provisioning

The environment card shows live progress: VM provision → Docker setup → BC artifact download → container start. Most envs reach running in ~7-15 minutes on a warm pool; the very first env on a new version × country combo takes substantially longer (one-time image build per combination).

You can leave the page — refreshing comes back to the same state. We don't email you when it's done; the dashboard just goes green.

4. Open your environment

When the card flips to running:

  • Web Client URL — the BC interface. Sign in as Administrator with the password the card surfaces (and stores in your browser's password manager if you let it).
  • OData endpoint — for API integrations.
  • Dev endpoint — for AL extension publishing (CLI users — see Agent quickstart).

5. Hibernate when done

When you're not actively using the env, click Hibernate. The container is gzipped to blob storage; the URL stops responding; billing drops to the much-lower stored rate. Your data, extensions, users, and configuration all survive - resume any time and they're back exactly as you left them.

Current pricing lives on the pricing page; the shape is the same on every tier - per-second active rate while the env is running, much-cheaper per-second stored rate while it's hibernated.

To resume: click Resume on the env card. ~7-15 minutes back to running (longer if the platform decides you need a cross-version upgrade - the UI will prompt for confirmation).

To delete entirely: Delete removes the env and the stored backup after a 7-day operator-recovery grace window.

What's next

  • CLI quickstart — the same five steps from a terminal. Useful once you find yourself doing this often.
  • Agent quickstart — point Claude / Copilot / your favourite agent framework at bcdock. The agent reaches BCDock through the CLI on your behalf.
  • Concepts — pool vs environment, hibernation economics, why the model is shaped this way.
  • Limitations — what BCDock is and isn't. Read before using on real client work.

Troubleshooting

Stuck in creating past 30 minutes — likely a first-time image build for an unseen version × country combo. Check the env card's logs view; it'll show the current stage. If it's been past 90 minutes, reach out at hello@bcdock.io.

Web Client login fails — refresh the env card; the password may have rotated if the env was recreated. The current password is always on the card and via bcdock env get <name>.

"Sandbox use only" warning — yes, BCDock environments are not for production data. Use synthetic or anonymised data. See limitations.