# Directus: your first steps

> Your administrator login, collections and files, the API and how to update.

Source: https://veldhost.eu/docs/directus-getting-started

Picked Directus? Your site came with Directus installed on the Node.js runtime — a data platform and headless CMS that wraps your PostgreSQL database in an admin app and an instant API.

## What gets installed

- **Directus** from the official npm package (pinned; checksums verified by npm), running as a systemd service on Node.js 22 with its own **PostgreSQL** database in your container, schema created by `directus bootstrap`.
- Your **administrator** (the email address on your veldhost account), `uploads/` for files and `extensions/` for your own extensions next to the code.
- Settings live in `.env` in the site's code root (Files tab): the database, the secret, the public address and the storage location. Telemetry is off.

## First login

1. Your site page shows the sign-in address (`/admin/login`), your login email and a generated password — we display it for 7 days, so save it now.
2. Sign in, then set your own password under **User Directory → your profile**.
3. Create a collection under **Settings → Data Model**, add fields and items; the REST API answers at `/items/<collection>` and GraphQL at `/graphql` as soon as a role may read it (**Settings → Access Control**).
4. Files uploaded in the **File Library** are stored in `uploads/` and included in your backups.

## Updating

- Press **Back up now** on the Files tab first.
- Bump the `directus` version in `package.json` (Files tab), then run a deploy: it runs `npm install` and restarts; Directus applies its database migrations on start.

## Limits

- Directus needs 1 GB of memory (Pro or higher).
- Reset mails and flows that send email need an `EMAIL_TRANSPORT` in `.env`; until then, ask support to reset a password.