---
title: "Get started with VPC"
description: "Create your first VPC in MyAccount, launch a node on it, and check that the node has its private address on the new network."
content_type: "get-started"
product: "vpc"
platform: "MyAccount"
url: "/myaccount/vpc/get-started/"
---

# Get started with VPC

Build a private network and put your first node on it. You need a MyAccount account with some credit
or a payment method on file, and an SSH key saved in MyAccount so that you can sign in to the node.
The whole path takes about 10 minutes, a few of them waiting for the VPC and the node to start.

A VPC is a private network in one region. Resources on it reach each other on private addresses, and
that traffic stays off the public internet. That makes it the place for anything only your own
servers should talk to, such as a database or an internal service.

## Create the VPC

1. Open **Network > VPC** and click **Create VPC**.
2. Keep the suggested **VPC Name**, or type one that says what the network is for, such as
   `app-network`.
3. Under **Select CIDR Option**, keep **E2E provided IPv4 CIDR**. E2E picks a range of 512 private
   addresses for you, which is plenty for a first network. The other choice, **Custom CIDR**, is for
   when you need your own range or subnets; see
   [VPC address ranges](/myaccount/vpc/concepts/vpc-address-ranges/).
4. To pay only for the hours the VPC exists while you try it out, keep **Hourly** under **Select an
   Hourly / Committed Plan**.
5. Click **Create VPC Network**, and close the message that confirms the address range.

The VPC shows **Creating** in the list, then **Active** after a few minutes. Select it and note two
things on its **VPC Details** tab: the **CIDR**, such as `10.100.74.0/23`, and the private IP in
**Network Gateway**, such as `10.100.74.1`.

## Launch a node on the VPC

Create a Linux node in the same region as the VPC, the way
[Create a node](/myaccount/node/how-to/create-a-node/) describes, with two choices in the create
form's **VPC** section:

1. Turn on **Enable VPC** and pick your new VPC from the list. It is marked **Default**, the label
   the list gives a VPC with an E2E provided range.
2. To reach the node over SSH from your computer, tick **Enable this option to assign a static
   public IPv4 address for this node**.

Pick your SSH key in the form as usual, and create the node. It shows **Running** after a few
minutes.

## Check that the node is on the VPC

Sign in to the node over SSH on its public IP; see
[Connect to a Linux node](/myaccount/node/how-to/connect-to-a-linux-node/). Then list its addresses:

```bash
ip -4 -br addr
```

One interface holds an address from the VPC's range. For a VPC with the range `10.100.74.0/23`, it
looks like this:

```text
lo               UNKNOWN        127.0.0.1/8
ens3             UP             203.0.113.71/23
ens4             UP             10.100.74.6/23
```

Here `ens3` carries the public address, and `ens4` the node's private IP on the VPC; the interface
names depend on the operating system, so yours may differ. To check that the private network
answers, ping the gateway's private IP that you noted:

```bash
ping -c 3 10.100.74.1
```

Three replies come back, and the node is on your private network. Resources you put on the same VPC
use this private IP, `10.100.74.6` here, to reach it.

## What to do next

- Put more resources on the network: attach an existing node from its **Network** tab, as
  [Attach a node to a VPC](/myaccount/node/how-to/attach-a-node-to-a-vpc/) describes.
- Keep a database or an internal port open to the VPC only, with a security group rule whose source
  is **VPC Network**; see [Add or edit rules](/myaccount/security-group/how-to/add-or-edit-rules/).
- Join this VPC to another one, in the same region or the other, with
  [Peer two VPCs](/myaccount/vpc/how-to/peer-two-vpcs/).
- For help with any message along the way, see
  [Troubleshooting VPC](/myaccount/vpc/troubleshooting/vpc/).