Setup guide

From approved to building, in four steps.

About 15 minutes. No coding experience needed.

This page uses stand-in text. Wherever you see YOUR-USERNAME or SERVER-ADDRESS, use the real values from your welcome email. They aren't shown here because this page is public.
Remember: Surgical Sandbox has nothing to do with the University of Limerick or University Hospital Limerick. Everything you store here is outside the UL and UHL networks. Do not upload patient data or any other sensitive data.

1. Choose your password

Open the one-time link in your welcome email and choose a password. One password works for this website and for the Sandbox server.

2. Install Tailscale and accept the invite

The Sandbox server sits on a private network called Tailscale. Install it from tailscale.com/download and sign in with the same email address you gave us (a free personal account is fine).

Then open the invite link in your welcome email and accept it. Keep Tailscale switched on whenever you work on the server.

3. Connect with VS Code

Install VS Code, then add the Remote - SSH extension (Extensions icon, search "Remote - SSH", Install).

Press F1, choose Remote-SSH: Connect to Host… and enter:

YOUR-USERNAME@SERVER-ADDRESS

Pick Linux if asked, say Continue to the fingerprint question, and type your password. Then choose File → Open Folder and open:

/srv/data/users/YOUR-USERNAME

4. Build your site

Open websites/public/index.html, change something and save. It's live straight away at:

https://www.YOUR-USERNAME.darawalsh.com
Good to know. Your site is static: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and images. Everything in websites/public is visible to the whole Internet, so keep passwords and private files out of it. There are no automatic backups yet, so keep your own copy of anything important.

Prefer a terminal?

Open Terminal (macOS/Linux) or PowerShell (Windows) and run:

ssh YOUR-USERNAME@SERVER-ADDRESS

Nothing appears as you type your password; that's normal.

Your folders

/srv/data/users/YOUR-USERNAME/
├── websites/public/   your live website
├── compose/           reserved for later
├── appdata/           reserved for later
└── backups/           your own backup copies

If something goes wrong

  • Connection times out: check Tailscale is switched on and that you accepted the invite.
  • Permission denied at login: check your username. If you just changed your password, wait a few seconds.
  • Forgot your password: use Forgot password on this site.
  • Permission denied in a folder: expected outside your own space.
  • Site shows an old page: force-refresh your browser.

No account yet? Request access. Already set up? Log in to see this guide with your own details filled in.