What a private network is#
A private network connects several of your own servers so they can talk to each other directly, without going over the public internet. Every server you add to a network gets a private IP on a shared subnet, and you can give it a short hostname so the other members can reach it by name instead of by raw address. This helps when you run more than one server and want them to communicate, for example a game server reaching a database, or a proxy reaching backend servers on a stable internal address.
A private network is a different thing from proxy routes and from a server's public allocations. A private network keeps traffic between your own servers, while a proxy route exposes a web service to the public. For the public side, see Networking for allocations and subdomains, and Proxy routes for the public side.
Private Networks item in its sidebar, and you manage the networks themselves from the account-level Networks page. Both are separate from Networking and from Proxy Routes.Creating a network#
Networks are created and owned at the account level, then servers join them. Open the Networks page, which lists every network you have along with a count chip next to the title that reads 1 of 5, showing how many of your five allowed networks are in use. The chip turns amber once you reach the limit. If you have no networks yet, the empty state reads No networks yet with a Create Network button. Otherwise, select New Network in the top right. That button is hidden once you reach five networks.
The create form asks only for a name. Type one into the Network name field and select Create, or press Enter. The panel assigns the subnet for you, so you do not pick an IP range. Select Cancel to dismiss the form without creating anything.
Adding a server to a network#
You can add a server to a network from two places. On the network's own page, open it from the Networks list to see its subnet and a Members list, then select Add Server and pick one of your servers from the Select a server... dropdown. Only servers you own and that are not already members appear as options.
The other way is from the server itself. Open the server, go to Private Networks in the sidebar, and you will see which networks the server belongs to. If it is not in any network, the page reads This server is not in any private networks. When there are networks the server can join, select Add to Network.
The add form has two fields. The first is a dropdown that starts on Select a network... and lists each available network with its subnet in parentheses, for example a name followed by something like (10.0.0.0/24). Networks the server already belongs to are filtered out. The second field is a hostname. As you type, the panel lowercases your input and strips anything that is not a letter, number, or hyphen, up to 63 characters. A fixed .pyro suffix sits to the right of the field, so a hostname of db becomes db.pyro on the network. Both fields are required. Select Add to join, or Cancel to back out.
Add button stays disabled until you have both a selected network and a hostname. If the request fails, the form shows the error returned by the panel, such as Failed to add to network.Managing memberships#
On the server's Private Networks page, each network the server belongs to is a row showing the network name, the private IP the server was assigned on that network, and, if you set one, its hostname.pyroname. Selecting a row opens that network's detail page, where you can see every member server and add or remove servers. On that page each member row also carries a small status dot, green for running, blue while installing or restoring, and red when the server is suspended.
To take a server off a network, select the trash icon on its row. From the server's own page the panel asks you to confirm with a Leave Network dialog and a Remove button; from the network detail page the same action shows a Remove Serverdialog. Either way it warns that the server's private IP will be released. Removing a server only takes it off that one network and does not affect its other memberships or its public allocations.
Deleting a network#
To remove a network entirely, open it from the Networks list and select the trash icon next to its name. A Delete Network dialog asks you to confirm and explains that all member servers will be disconnected and their private IPs released, and that the action cannot be undone. Deleting a network frees one of your five slots, so the count chip drops and New Network comes back if you were at the limit.
network.read permission. If a subuser does not have it, the Private Networks item will not appear in the server sidebar. See Users and permissions for how to grant access.