CloudVantage provides fast, reliable, and scalable cloud solutions that enable businesses and organisations to deploy servers and infrastructure with just a few clicks. With CloudVantage, you can easily create and manage virtual machines (Dews), networks, storage, and other cloud resources needed to run your applications efficiently.

CloudVantage allows you to scale and customise your servers easily, providing flexibility and efficient resource utilisation. Whether you are running a small web application or a large-scale enterprise system, CloudVantage gives you the tools to deploy and manage infrastructure confidently.

Key concepts

Familiarise yourself with these terms first — they are used throughout the documentation and will help you navigate it more easily.

Quick start path

1. Create an account

   Register at www.cloudvantage.com.ng and verify your email address before signing in.

2. Create a project

   Projects help you organise and manage your cloud resources. You'll be prompted to create one immediately after signing in for the first time. Project names must be unique platform-wide and a description is required.

3. Fund your wallet

   CloudVantage uses a prepaid wallet model. A virtual bank account is automatically created for you at registration. You must fund your wallet before provisioning any resources. Charges are deducted from your wallet immediately when a resource is created; unused time is refunded when you delete a resource.

4. Provision your first Dew

   Create a virtual server (Dew) with your chosen operating system, size (flavor), authentication method, and network configuration.

Platform overview

The CloudVantage platform is organised into the following sections, all accessible from the sidebar navigation:

• Compute — Dews (virtual servers), Server Snapshots, Auto Scaling
• Storage — Volumes, Volume Snapshots, Volume Backups
• Networking — Private Networks, Security Groups, Routers, Floating IPs, Load Balancer
• Security — Certificate Manager
• Account — Billing, Event Logs, Settings, Support

To begin using the CloudVantage platform, you need to create an account at www.cloudvantage.com.ng.

Registration steps

1. Visit the platform

   Go to www.cloudvantage.com.ng.

2. Click My Account

   Select My Account from the top navigation menu.

3. Register or sign in

   Click Create an Account if you're new. Existing users sign in with their email address and password.

4. Complete registration

   Enter all required details on the registration page and click Create Account.

5. Verify your email

   A verification email will be sent to your registered address. Open it and confirm your account before signing in.

Once signed in, you'll be prompted to create a project. Continue to Projects →

Projects are the primary organisational unit on CloudVantage. Every resource you create — Dews, volumes, networks, load balancers — belongs to a specific project. You can create multiple projects to separate different workloads or environments (e.g., development, staging, production).

Creating your first project

After signing in for the first time, you'll be automatically prompted to create a project before accessing your dashboard.

1. Enter a project name

   Choose a unique name. Project names must be unique across the entire platform.

2. Provide a description

   A description is required. Use it to identify this project's purpose or environment (e.g., "Production web infrastructure").

3. Click Create Project

   You'll be redirected to your dashboard where you can start provisioning resources.

Editing your current project

1. Click Manage Project

   Select Manage Project from the sidebar.

2. Update details

   Edit the project name or description as needed.

3. Save changes

   Click Save to apply the changes.

Creating additional projects

You can create multiple projects to separate different workloads or environments.

1. Open the project selector

   Click your current project name in the top bar.

2. Select Create New Project

   Enter a unique project name and a required description.

3. Click Create Project

   Switch between projects at any time using the project selector in the top bar.

When you register, a virtual bank account is automatically created for you. All resource costs are deducted from your wallet balance immediately upon provisioning. If you delete a resource before the billing period ends, the unused portion is refunded directly to your wallet.

How to fund your wallet

1. Click Fund Wallet

   Click the Fund Wallet button in the top-right corner of your dashboard.

2. View your virtual account details

   Your virtual bank account number and other details will be displayed on screen.

3. Copy the account details

   Copy the account number and bank details for your transfer.

4. Make a payment

   Transfer the desired amount using the provided account details. Once payment is confirmed, the funds will reflect in your CloudVantage wallet balance.

Switching billing currency

CloudVantage allows you to switch your billing currency between Naira (₦) and US Dollars ($).

1. Click Fund Wallet

   In the top-right corner of your dashboard.

2. Click Currency Settings

   Click Currency Settings below the account information.

3. Switch currency

   Select Switch to Dollar to change billing from Naira to USD, or the reverse to switch back.

Dews function like traditional machines but are hosted in the cloud. They can be configured with different amounts of CPU, memory, and storage depending on your workload requirements. CloudVantage allows you to scale and customise your servers easily, providing flexibility and efficient resource utilisation.

Common use cases

• Hosting applications and websites
• Running databases
• Processing and transforming data
• File storage and backup targets
• Network services (DNS, VPN endpoints, proxies)
• Continuous integration / build servers

3.1 Provisioning a Dew

1. Navigate to your Dashboard

   Click Resources, then select Create Dew.

2. Select a plan

   You will see a list of available server plans (flavors) with their specifications and pricing. Example plans include:

   • Vantage Nano — 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 30 GB Disk
   • Additional flavors with increasing CPU/RAM/disk are available
   • Custom flavors can be created to match specific requirements

   Select your desired plan and click Configure to proceed.

3. Configure your server

   Set the following options:

   • Term Length — select your preferred billing period (monthly or yearly)
   • Operating System — choose your OS and version: Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, Windows, and others. Example: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
   • Instance Name — enter a name to identify this Dew within your project
4. Choose an authentication method

   See Authentication Methods below.

5. Configure the network

   Select one of the following options:

   Option	Accessibility	When to use
   Public Network	Accessible from the internet — server receives a public IP address	Web servers, APIs, or any service that needs to be reached externally
   Private Network	Internal only — not reachable from the internet	Databases, backend services, or instances you want to keep off the public internet. A private network must already exist in your project. You can assign a Floating IP later if external access is needed.

6. Review and provision

   Review the server configuration summary and price. Ensure your wallet has sufficient funds, then click Provision. Your new Dew will be created shortly.

Authentication methods

1. SSH Key Authentication (Recommended)

Select an existing keypair or create a new one. The keypair will be downloaded as a .pem file. Keep this file secure — it is required to access your server and cannot be retrieved from the platform again.

• Select from Existing Keypairs — click "Select from Existing Keypairs" and choose from the dropdown
• Create a New Keypair — click "Create New Keypair", enter a name, click "Create Key". The .pem file downloads automatically.

2. Password Authentication

Enter and confirm a password. The login username will be automatically generated for you.

3.2 Viewing Dew Information

To view details of any provisioned Dew:

1. Locate the Dew on your Dashboard
2. Click the Dew name

   A panel will appear displaying: public or private IP address, flavor specification, operating system, keypair used for authentication, and network configuration.

3.3 Monitoring & Metrics

You can monitor the performance of each provisioned Dew through the metrics dashboard. The platform provides visual graphs for the following metrics:

You can filter metrics by selecting a start and end date to analyse usage within a specific period.

1. Locate the instance on your dashboard
2. Click Show Metrics

   Click Show Metrics next to the instance.

3. View and filter

   The metrics page will display graphs for CPU, memory, disk, and egress. Use the date range selectors to analyse a specific period.

3.4 Alarms

Alarms notify you by email when resource usage exceeds defined thresholds. You can configure CPU, RAM, and disk thresholds independently and control how often notification emails are sent.

Creating an alarm

1. Click Show Metrics

   Locate the instance and click Show Metrics.

2. Select Alarming

   On the Metrics page, click the Alarming tab.

3. Click New Alarm and configure

   • CPU Threshold (%) — trigger level for CPU usage alerts
   • RAM Threshold (%) — trigger level for memory usage alerts
   • Disk Threshold (%) — trigger level for disk usage alerts
   • Notification Frequency — how often alert emails are sent while the threshold is breached
   • Maximum Emails Per Day — cap on daily alert emails to prevent inbox flooding
   • Statistic Type — Average, Maximum, or Minimum measurement used for threshold evaluation
   • Email Recipient — primary alert email address
   • CC Emails — optional additional recipients

Updating an alarm

1. Click Show Metrics next to the instance
2. Select Alarming → Edit Alarm

   Locate the alarm and click Edit Alarm.

3. Update and save

   Update the required fields and click Save.

Deleting an alarm

1. Click Show Metrics next to the instance
2. Select Alarming → Delete Alarm
3. Confirm

   The instance will no longer send alert notifications.

3.5 Resizing a Dew

Resizing a Dew allows you to adjust the resources allocated to it (vertical scaling). You can increase or decrease vCPUs and RAM, but disk size cannot be reduced once allocated — only increased.

1. Open Manage

   Locate the Dew and click Manage next to the instance.

2. Select Resize

   Click Resize Instance to open the resize configuration page.

3. Select option and configure

   Select your preferred resizing option (preconfigured or custom) and set the desired resources.

4. Click Initiate Resize

   The platform will begin the resize operation.

5. Confirm or stop

   A confirmation dialog appears. Click Confirm Resize to apply or Stop Resize to revert.

3.6 Shutting Down & Restarting a Dew

You can shut down a running Dew at any time from the dashboard. A shut-down Dew becomes inactive but is not deleted — it continues to exist in your project and can be restarted whenever needed.

Shutting down a Dew

1. Locate the Dew on your dashboard
2. Click Manage next to the instance
3. Select Shutdown Server

   The server will power off and its status will change to Inactive.

Restarting a Dew

1. Locate the inactive Dew on your dashboard
2. Click Manage next to the instance
3. Select Restart Server

   The server will boot back up and its status will return to Active.

3.7 Deleting a Dew

Deleting a Dew permanently removes it from your project. Any unused time remaining in the billing period will be refunded to your wallet.

1. Locate the Dew on your dashboard
2. Click Manage next to the instance
3. Select Delete Server
4. Confirm the action

   A confirmation prompt will appear. Confirm to permanently delete the server.

Snapshots allow you to restore an instance in the event of data loss, a system failure, or issues arising from an update. The snapshot captures the full state of the Dew at the moment it is taken, including all files, installed packages, configuration, and running state.

Common uses for server snapshots:

• Pre-upgrade checkpoints — take a snapshot before applying major updates or changes
• Disaster recovery — restore an instance to a known-good state after failure
• Cloning — launch multiple identical servers from a single snapshot template
• Migration — move a server configuration to a new instance with different resources

4.1 Creating a Server Snapshot

1. Locate the instance

   Find the Dew you want to snapshot on your dashboard.

2. Open Manage

   Click the Manage icon next to the instance.

3. Select Create Snapshot
4. Enter a name

   Enter a descriptive name for the snapshot (e.g., prod-web-pre-upgrade-2025-01).

5. Choose a payment option

   Select monthly or yearly billing for snapshot storage.

6. Click Create Snapshot

   Snapshot creation may take several minutes depending on disk size.

4.2 Viewing Snapshots

Navigate to Server Snapshots on the sidebar. This page displays a list of all snapshots created for your Dews, showing: snapshot name, OS Distro, creation date, size, and status.

4.3 Managing Snapshots

Click Manage Snapshot next to any snapshot. Available actions include:

• Create a Volume from Snapshot — extract the snapshot's data as a new volume
• Edit Snapshot — update the name or description
• Launch a New Dew from Snapshot — spin up a new server using this snapshot as its disk image
• Delete Snapshot — permanently remove the snapshot (irreversible)

Launching a Dew from a Snapshot

1. Go to Server Snapshots from the sidebar
2. Click Manage Snapshot → Launch

   Select Launch next to the snapshot you want to use.

3. Proceed through the Dew creation process

   Configure the new Dew as needed (flavor, authentication, network) and provision it.

Creating a Volume from a Snapshot

1. Click Server Snapshots on the sidebar
2. Click Manage Snapshot → Create Volume from Server Snapshot
3. Provide details

   Enter Volume Name, Volume Size (cannot be smaller than the snapshot size), Payment Option, and an optional Description.

4. Click Create Volume

   The new volume will appear on the Volumes page, ready to attach to any instance.

Deleting a Snapshot

1. Navigate to Server Snapshots
2. Click Manage Snapshot → Delete Snapshot
3. Confirm

   Once deleted, the snapshot is permanently removed and cannot be recovered. Ensure you no longer need it before proceeding.

Auto Scaling automatically adjusts the number of virtual machines running your application based on demand. Instead of manually provisioning or removing servers, the platform continuously monitors resource usage and automatically increases or decreases instances as needed.

• High availability — maintain service during periods of increased traffic without manual intervention
• Cost efficiency — automatically scale down during low-demand periods to avoid paying for idle capacity
• Reduced operational overhead — eliminate the need to manually monitor and adjust server counts

5.1 Infrastructure & Networking

These settings form the template for every server the Auto Scaling Group launches. All instances in the group are created from the same configuration.

5.2 Scaling & Capacity Management

These settings control when and how the Auto Scaling Group adds or removes instances in response to demand.

Scaling policies

CPU-based scaling rules

Memory (RAM) based scaling rules

5.3 Traffic Management & Health Monitoring

The Auto Scaling Group integrates with a Load Balancer to distribute traffic across instances and verify their health.

5.4 Editing an Auto Scaling Stack

The following settings are locked after creation. If you need to change these, you must delete and recreate the Auto Scaling Group:

• Image (snapshot template)
• Flavor (VM size)
• Key Pair (SSH access)
• Network and Subnet
• Security Groups

All other parameters — scaling thresholds, capacity limits, cooldown periods, health check settings, and traffic configuration — can be modified after creation as your workload requirements change.

5.5 Pricing & Billing

Resources created within an Auto Scaling Group are billed the same way as standalone resources. Each instance and its associated load balancer pool member incur standard platform charges.

A Volume is a persistent block storage device that can be attached to a Dew. Unlike the Dew's built-in disk, a Volume exists independently — data persists even if the server is restarted or terminated. Volumes can be detached from one Dew and reattached to another.

6.1 Creating a Volume

1. Click Volumes on the sidebar

   Select Volumes from the dropdown menu.

2. Click Create Volume

   In the top-right corner of the Volumes page.

3. Enter details

   Enter the Name, Size (in GB), and Payment Option (Monthly or Yearly). Review the estimated cost before confirming.

4. Click Create Volume

   Ensure your wallet has sufficient funds before proceeding.

6.2 Attaching and Detaching Volumes

Attaching a volume to an instance

1. Navigate to Volumes from the sidebar
2. Locate the volume and click Manage Volume
3. Select Attach to Instance

   Choose the target instance from the dropdown and click Attach. The volume will appear as a new block device on the server (e.g., /dev/vdb).

Detaching a volume from an instance

1. Navigate to Volumes from the sidebar
2. Click Manage Volume for the volume
3. Select Detach from Instance

   Confirm the detachment. The volume will move to "Available" status and can be attached to a different instance or deleted.

6.3 Deleting a Volume

1. Navigate to Volumes from the sidebar
2. Locate the volume, click Manage Volume, then select Delete Volume
3. Confirm the action

6.4 Volume Snapshots

A Volume Snapshot is a point-in-time copy of a storage volume. It preserves the exact state of the volume's data at the moment it is taken, and can be used to create a new volume from that saved state.

Creating a volume snapshot

1. Navigate to Volumes → Volumes from the sidebar
2. Locate the volume, click Manage Volume → Create Volume Snapshot
3. Enter details

   Enter a Snapshot Name, Description, and Payment Option. The size is auto-populated from the source volume.

4. Click Create Volume Snapshot

   The snapshot will appear on the Volume Snapshots page.

Editing a volume snapshot

1. Navigate to Volumes → Volume Snapshots from the sidebar
2. Click Manage Volume Snapshot → Edit Volume Snapshot
3. Update Name or Description and click Update Snapshot

Creating a new volume from a snapshot

1. Navigate to Volumes → Volume Snapshots
2. Click Manage Volume Snapshot → Create Volume
3. Fill in details

   Enter Volume Name, Size (must be ≥ snapshot size), Billing Plan, and optional Description.

4. Click Create Volume

   The new volume will be listed on the Volumes page, ready to attach.

Deleting a volume snapshot

1. Navigate to Volumes → Volume Snapshots
2. Click Manage Volume Snapshot → Delete Volume Snapshot and confirm

6.5 Volume Backups

A Volume Backup is a secure, independent copy of your volume stored separately from your running system. Unlike snapshots (which are tied to the volume's lifecycle), backups exist independently — making them suitable for longer-term data protection and disaster recovery.

Creating a volume backup

1. Navigate to Volumes → Volumes from the sidebar
2. Locate the volume, click Manage Volume → Create Volume Backup
3. Enter details

   Enter a Backup Name, Description, and Payment Option. The size is auto-populated.

4. Click Create Volume Backup

   The backup will appear on the Volume Backups page.

Restoring a volume from a backup

1. Navigate to Volumes → Volume Backups
2. Click Manage Backup → Restore Backup
3. Choose destination

   • New Volume — enter a name for the new volume to be created from the backup
   • Existing Volume — select a volume from the dropdown to overwrite it with the backup data

   Click Restore to confirm.

Deleting a volume backup

1. Navigate to Volumes → Volume Backups
2. Click Manage Volume Backup → Delete Volume Backup and confirm

A Private Network allows your servers to communicate securely with each other within your cloud environment. Traffic between servers on the same private network stays internal — it is never exposed to the public internet. You can attach private network instances to routers and assign them Floating IPs when external access is needed.

Creating a Private Network

1. Click Networks on the sidebar → Private Networks
2. Click Create Network

   In the top-right corner.

3. Enter a Network Name and optional Description

   Choose a name that identifies this network's purpose (e.g., prod-network, backend-db-net).

4. Click Create Network

Viewing Network Details

1. Click Networks → Private Networks
2. Click Manage Network → View Network Details

   Displays the network's configuration, attached subnets, and connected resources.

Editing a Private Network

1. Go to Networks → Private Networks
2. Click Manage Network → Edit Network
3. Update the network name and/or description and click Update Network

Managing Subnets

A subnet defines the IP address range that servers within a private network can use. Only one subnet can be created per private network. The subnet uses CIDR notation to define its IP range.

Creating a Subnet

1. Go to Networks → Private Networks

   Locate the network and click Manage Network → Create Subnet.

2. Configure the subnet

   • Subnet Name — a descriptive label
   • Network Address (CIDR) — the IP range in CIDR notation (e.g.,192.168.10.0/28). Use RFC 1918 private ranges: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, or 192.168.0.0/16. Ensure CIDRs do not overlap with other networks in your environment.
   • DHCP — enable automatic IP assignment for connected instances. Enabled by default. Recommended for most use cases.
   • Allocation Pools — optionally restrict which IPs within the range are auto-assigned via DHCP
   • DNS Name Servers — optionally specify DNS servers (e.g., 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4)
3. Click Create Subnet

Editing a Subnet

Only the subnet name can be modified after creation. To change the CIDR, IP version, or other core settings, delete and recreate the subnet.

1. Go to Networks → Private Networks → Manage Network → View Network Details → Subnets tab
2. Click Manage Subnet → Edit Subnet

   Update the name and save.

Deleting a Subnet

1. Navigate to Networks → Private Networks → Manage Network → View Network Details → Subnets tab
2. Click Manage Subnet → Delete Subnet and confirm

Deleting a Private Network

1. Go to Networks → Private Networks

   Click Manage Network → Delete Network and confirm.

A Security Group acts as a virtual firewall for your servers, controlling which network traffic is allowed to reach them (ingress) and which traffic they are allowed to send out (egress). Rules within a security group specify the protocol, port range, and source or destination of allowed traffic.

When a Dew is provisioned, two security groups are automatically created:

• The default security group — allows all outbound (egress) traffic
• A server-specific group with port 22 (SSH) open for remote access

Creating a Security Group

1. Click the Networks tab → Security Groups
2. Click Create Security Group
3. Enter a name and description, then click Create Security Group

   Use descriptive names that identify the group's purpose (e.g., web-servers, database-access, allow-https-only).

Creating a Security Group Rule

1. Click Manage Rule next to the security group → Add New Rule
2. Configure the rule

   • Rule Type — predefined rules (SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, etc.) auto-fill the port and protocol. Select Custom TCP or Custom UDP to specify your own values.
   • Direction — Ingress controls inbound traffic; Egress controls outbound traffic.
   • EtherType — select IPv4 for most use cases.
   • Port Range — auto-fills based on rule type, or specify manually. Enter a single port (e.g., 8080) or a range (e.g., 8000-8999).
   • Remote — source (ingress) or destination (egress). This can be specified as:
   • CIDR block — e.g., 0.0.0.0/0 for anywhere, 203.0.113.0/24 for a range, 192.168.1.50/32 for a single IP
   • Security Group — restrict to traffic from instances in another security group
   • Description — optional label to document the rule's purpose
3. Click Submit

Attaching or Detaching Security Groups

1. Click Manage Rules next to the security group
2. Choose Attach to Instance or Detach from Instance

   Select the target instance from the dropdown and attach or detach.

Deleting Security Groups and Rules

To delete a rule, click the delete icon next to it and confirm. To delete an entire security group, first ensure it is not attached to any Dew.

Common rules reference

A router enables communication between different networks. Routers connect private networks and allow traffic to flow between subnets or to external networks such as the internet. When a router is created on CloudVantage, it is automatically connected to the external network, giving it a publicly routable external IP address.

To allow a server on a private network to communicate outside that network (e.g., to reach the internet or another subnet), the private subnet must be connected to a router via a router interface.

Creating a Router

1. Click Networks → Routers

   Click Create Router in the top-right corner.

2. Enter a Name and Description

   Choose a name that identifies this router's purpose or the networks it will connect.

3. Click Create Router

   The router is automatically connected to the external network upon creation.

Managing a Router

Go to Networks → Routers, locate the router, and click Manage Router. Available actions:

• View Router Details — configuration, external IP, and attached interfaces
• Edit Router — update name or description
• Delete Router — permanently remove (must be disconnected from all subnets first)

Creating a Router Interface

Interfaces allow a router to connect to a subnet, enabling communication between that subnet and other networks (including the internet via the router's external gateway). Without an interface, servers on a private subnet cannot reach resources outside that subnet.

1. Go to Networks → Routers → Manage Router → View Router Details → Interfaces tab
2. Select Create Interface

   Choose the Subnet to connect, set a Payment Option, and add an optional description.

3. Click Create Interface

   The router will now route traffic between the connected subnet and the external network.

Deleting a Router Interface

1. Navigate to Networks → Routers → Manage Router → View Router Details → Interfaces tab
2. Click Delete Interface next to the interface and confirm

   Removing an interface disconnects the subnet from the router. Servers on that subnet will lose external connectivity.

Deleting a Router

1. Go to Networks → Routers

   Click Manage Router → Delete Router and confirm.

A Floating IP is a publicly routable IP address that can be attached to a private instance or a load balancer, allowing it to be accessible from the internet. Floating IPs are separate from instances — you allocate the IP to your project first, then associate it with a specific resource. You can reassociate a Floating IP between resources at any time without releasing it. You just have to disassociate it from the current resource and associate it with another resource.

Allocating a Floating IP

Allocating a Floating IP reserves it for your project. Once allocated, you can associate it with any instance or load balancer port within your project.

1. Go to Networks → Floating IPs

   Click Allocate IP to Project.

2. Configure

   Select the Pool (External — the public IP pool), choose a Payment Option, and add an optional Description.

3. Click Allocate IP

   The IP address is reserved for your project and appears in your Floating IPs list.

Associating a Floating IP with an Instance

1. Go to Networks → Floating IPs

   Click Associate Floating IP next to the IP address.

2. Select the port

   Choose the target port from the dropdown — a Dew port or a load balancer port. Click confirm.

Releasing a Floating IP

Releasing a Floating IP removes it from your project entirely. The IP is returned to the public pool and is no longer available to you.

1. Go to Networks → Floating IPs

   Click Release Floating IP next to the address and confirm.

A Load Balancer acts as a traffic distributor that sits between your users and backend servers. It receives incoming requests and intelligently routes them to healthy backend servers based on the configured algorithm and health monitoring rules.

Common use cases

• High Availability — eliminate single points of failure by distributing traffic across multiple servers
• Scalability — handle increased traffic by adding backend servers to the pool
• SSL/TLS Termination — offload SSL/TLS encryption from backend servers to the load balancer
• Traffic Management — route requests using different protocols and ports
• Health Monitoring — automatically detect and remove unhealthy servers from rotation

Key components

Prerequisites

• At least one running backend instance to receive traffic
• Network configuration: access to an external or private network
• SSL certificates uploaded to Certificate Manager (required only for TERMINATED HTTPS listeners)

Creating a Load Balancer

Navigate to Networks → Load Balancers and click Create Load Balancer. The creation wizard has five steps.

Step 1 — Load Balancer Details

Name (Required) — enter a descriptive name (e.g., production-web-lb, api-load-balancer).

IP Address (Optional) — leave blank to have an IP assigned automatically. Specifying an IP is not recommended for most deployments.

Network (Required)

• External Network — the load balancer receives a public IP directly. Use for public-facing websites and APIs.
• Private Network — accessible only within your private infrastructure. Use for internal services and backends. Attach a Floating IP to make it publicly accessible.

Step 2 — Listener Details

Protocol (Required)

Timeout settings

Step 3 — Pool Details

Load Balancing Algorithm (Required)

Session Persistence (Required)

Step 4 — Pool Members

Pool members are the backend servers that receive traffic. For each backend server:

Weight example: Server A (weight 2) + B (weight 1) + C (weight 1) → A receives 50%, B and C each receive 25%.

Step 5 — Health Monitor

Health monitor types:

Health monitor settings:

After creation

• Note the IP address — needed for DNS records or direct traffic routing
• Monitor health checks — ensure all pool members show as healthy in the dashboard
• Test connectivity — send test requests to verify traffic is being distributed
• Configure DNS — point your domain name to the load balancer IP address

Best practices

High availability

• Use at least 2 pool members — a single member defeats the purpose of a load balancer
• Always configure health checks to detect failures automatically

Security

• Use TERMINATED HTTPS for public services — centralises certificate management
• Monitor certificate expiration dates in Certificate Manager
• Keep backend servers accessible only through the load balancer where possible
• Use private networks for backends to reduce attack surface

Performance

• Choose the right algorithm — ROUND_ROBIN for similar-capacity servers; LEAST_CONNECTIONS for variable request durations or long-lived connections
• Tune timeout values — balance fast failure detection with tolerance for slow responses
• Avoid unnecessary session persistence — prefer stateless architectures with shared session storage (Redis, Memcached)
• Adjust member weights based on server capacity

Cost optimisation

• Start with the minimum required pool members and scale as traffic grows
• Monitor actual utilisation and remove unnecessary pool members
• Right-size your backend servers based on actual load

Troubleshooting

Certificate Manager allows you to upload SSL/TLS certificates once and reuse them across services such as Load Balancers and Auto Scaling Groups, without needing to store certificates directly on individual servers. All certificates are securely encrypted at rest — only you have access to your stored certificates and keys.

Common use cases

• Load Balancer SSL/TLS Termination — secure HTTPS traffic without managing certs on each backend
• Auto Scaling Groups — manage certificates for dynamically created instances
• Centralised Certificate Storage — keep all certificates in one secure, organised location
• Certificate Lifecycle Management — track expiration dates and manage renewals

Accessing Certificate Manager

1. Navigate to Certificate Manager from the sidebar
2. You'll see two tabs: Overview and Secrets

   • Overview — total number of stored secrets
   • Secrets — list of all certificates with create/delete actions

Creating a Certificate

Before uploading, ensure you have:

• Created secure backups of certificate files and private keys in an encrypted location
• Documented which certificates are used for which services
• Verified you have all required files: Private Key, Server Certificate, and CA Chain

1. Click the Secrets tab → Create Secret
2. Fill in certificate details

   • Name — a descriptive identifier (e.g., production-web-cert, staging-api-cert)
   • Secret Type — select Certificate from the dropdown
   • Expiration Date — enter in DD/MM/YYYY format
3. Upload the three certificate files (all must be in PEM format)

   • Private Key (.pem) — your certificate's private key
   • Server Certificate (.pem) — the certificate file from your CA
   • CA Chain Certificate (.pem) — the certificate authority chain file
4. Click Create Secret

   Your certificate appears in the Secrets list showing name, type, and expiration date.

Accepted file formats

Certificate Manager accepts certificates in PEM format. To check if a file is PEM format, open it in a text editor — it should begin with -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----.

• .crt or .cer files in PEM format — upload directly or rename to .pem
• DER binary or PKCS#7 (.p7b) files — convert to PEM first:

# Convert .crt (DER format) to PEM
openssl x509 -inform der -in certificate.crt -out certificate.pem

# Extract certificates from PKCS#7 (.p7b)
openssl pkcs7 -print_certs -in certificate.p7b -out certificate.pem

Safe certificate rotation

To replace a certificate without service disruption, always follow this order:

1. Upload the new certificate

   Give it a different name from the existing certificate.

2. Update your Load Balancer

   Attach the new certificate to your Load Balancer and any other affected services.

3. Verify HTTPS is working with the new certificate

   Test thoroughly before proceeding to the next step.

4. Delete the old certificate

   Only after confirming the new certificate is fully active and working.

Recovery from accidental deletion

1. Re-upload the certificate immediately using your local backup (this is why maintaining backups is critical)
2. Re-attach the certificate to affected Load Balancers or services
3. Monitor your services to confirm they're functioning correctly

Note: there may be downtime between deletion and re-upload.

Best practices

• Maintain secure backups — certificates cannot be downloaded after upload; always keep encrypted backups locally
• Use descriptive names — clearly identify purpose (e.g., production-web-cert-2026)
• Monitor expiration dates — check regularly and plan renewals well in advance
• Rotate before expiry — upload and attach new certificates before old ones expire
• Never delete certificates in use — verify no services reference a certificate before deleting
• Secure your private keys — delete key files from insecure locations after uploading

Troubleshooting

When you provision any resource, the cost for the selected billing term is deducted immediately from your wallet balance. CloudVantage's billing model is designed to be transparent and flexible:

• Charges are deducted immediately when a resource is provisioned
• Deleting a resource before the billing period ends triggers a refund for the unused portion
• Refunds are returned directly to your CloudVantage wallet — not to your bank account
• This allows you to scale resources up or down without financial waste

Viewing your invoices

The CloudVantage Billing page allows you to view and download your monthly invoices. Visit cloudvantage.com.ng/billing or click Billing in the sidebar.

Billing by resource type

Event logs provide an audit trail of system and user events within your project. Each log entry includes the timestamp and a description of the action performed.

Event logs are useful for:

• Auditing — track what changed, when, and by whom
• Change tracking — review configuration changes across your project over time
• Troubleshooting — identify the sequence of events leading to unexpected behaviour or failures
• Compliance — maintain a record of infrastructure operations for governance purposes

Accessing Event Logs

1. Click Event Logs on the sidebar
2. Browse the list of recorded events

   Events are displayed in reverse chronological order. Review recent activity within your project.

Accessing Settings

1. Click the Wallet Balance in the top-right corner of your dashboard
2. Select Currency Settings

   This navigates to the Settings page. You can also visit cloudvantage.com.ng/settings directly.

Available settings

If you need assistance or have any questions, click the Support tab on the sidebar. From there, you can send a message to our support team via email, and we will respond to help resolve your issue.

Self-service resources

The CloudVantage Managed Database service allows you to run production MySQL databases without managing the underlying infrastructure. You can provision a fresh database or migrate an existing database from any external environment into CloudVantage in a secure, guided, and reliable process.

Database Migration

The Database Migration Service enables you to move existing MySQL databases from any external environment into CloudVantage Managed Databases with minimal downtime and reduced operational risk.

Prerequisites

Before starting a migration, ensure you have the following ready:

• Your source database is accessible over the network
• Source database IP address
• Database username and password with sufficient privileges
• Correct database name (must match exactly)
• A database flavor with at least 4 GB RAM is recommended for faster migration

Step-by-step migration guide

Step 1 — Select a Database Flavor

1. Click Managed Databases from the sidebar
2. Click Migrate Database

   In the top-right corner. A modal window will appear prompting you to select a database flavor.

3. Select a flavor

   Choose the target database configuration that matches your workload. Example flavor:

   Name	RAM	CPU	Storage	Price
   Vantage Advanced	16 GB	6 vCPUs	200 GB	₦110,000/month

   ℹ️

   RAM recommendation

   A minimum of 4 GB RAM is recommended for faster and more efficient migration. For large databases, select a higher RAM flavor.

4. Click Next

Step 2 — Database Setup

Configure your target database on CloudVantage.

1. Set the required fields

   Field	Description
   Database Engine	Currently supported: MySQL
   Database Name	Must exactly match the name of the database on your source server (e.g., employees)
   Target Username	Username that will be created for accessing the new database (e.g., test-user)
   Target Password	Password for the new database user. Enter and confirm. Use a strong password.
   Management Interface	Choose how you want to manage your database: PhpMyAdmin, Adminer, or None (command-line only via mysql client)
   Payment Option	Monthly or Yearly — billed according to the selected flavor

   ⚠️

   Database name must match exactly

   The database name entered here must be identical to the name on your source server. A mismatch will cause the migration to fail.

2. Click Next: Source DB Info

Step 3 — Source Database Information

Provide connection details for the database you want to migrate.

1. Enter source database details

   Field	Description
   Source IP Address	IP address of your source database server (e.g., 172.168.192.304)
   Source Port	Default MySQL port is 3306
   Source Username	Username with migration privileges (e.g., migration_user)
   Source Password	Password for the source database user

   ℹ️

   Use a dedicated migration user

   Create a dedicated database user specifically for migration with only the required privileges. Delete this user from the source database after migration is completed.

2. Click Check Database Connection

   This performs a connectivity test to verify database accessibility, credentials validity, and required permissions. If the connection fails, verify your IP address, database name, username, password, and port, then retry.

3. Once connection is successful, click Next: Migration Settings

Step 4 — Migration Settings

Choose how the migration will be executed.

1. Select your migration type
2. Click Start Migration

   The migration process begins. You can monitor both provisioning and migration progress from the dashboard.

   • While the database is being provisioned: Provisioning = In Progress, Migration = Pending
   • Once provisioning completes: Provisioning = Completed, Migration = In Progress
   • Once migration finishes: Migration = Completed

Post-migration checklist

• Verify all tables and data are present in the new database
• Test application connectivity using the new CloudVantage credentials
• Update your application's database connection settings
• Remove the temporary migration user from the source database

Best practices

• Always run a Test Migration before a Live Migration
• Use a dedicated migration user with only the required privileges
• Choose a flavor with sufficient RAM — minimum 4 GB recommended
• Schedule Live Migration during low-traffic hours to minimise user impact

Troubleshooting