Getting Started
Choose between hosted and self-hosted BRAD, understand the system, and plan your installation.
Start by deciding who will operate your CMS infrastructure. Both paths use the BRAD customer portal for purchases and licensing, and both result in a CMS installation on a domain chosen for your organization.
Choose a deployment
| Hosted BRAD | Self-hosted BRAD | |
|---|---|---|
| What you purchase | A software license with compatible hosting; a domain can be included | A software license and the modules you need |
| Infrastructure | Provisioned through the hosting service | Supplied and maintained by you or your hosting provider |
| Installation | The managed deployment pipeline prepares the application | You install the release and complete the browser wizard |
| Your setup work | Domain decisions, CMS settings, users, and integrations | Server, PostgreSQL, persistent storage, HTTPS, process management, and CMS settings |
| Starting guide | Hosted quickstart | Installation |
A domain registration, a hosting subscription, and a software license are separate services. Buying a domain alone does not deploy the CMS. Buying a license alone does not supply a server.
Plan before checkout
Decide the public address of the installation, such as app.example.com. Identify the account owner, the first CMS administrator, and the person responsible for renewals and infrastructure. If you already have a website or email on the domain, record its existing DNS configuration before making changes.
Review the module overview for purchasing and dependency considerations. Plan integrations such as outgoing email, payment collection, and file storage separately from the software purchase.
How the systems connect
The portal creates your order, invoice, and services. Once payment is settled, license issuance and applicable provisioning can proceed. The CMS verifies its license with BRAD during installation and later checks, and learns which paid modules it is entitled to use.
Your installed CMS uses PostgreSQL. The sales and licensing platform uses MySQL/MariaDB. A CMS installation does not need access to the portal's database.
Continue in order
- Purchase BRAD.
- Follow the hosted quickstart or review server requirements and install manually.
- Complete the CMS setup checklist.
- Confirm the launch checklist.