Quick Start

Get VeloGuardian DNS filtering running on your network. No VeloGuardian account required — the appliance runs independently on your LAN.

System requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
vCPU	1	2
RAM	1 GB	2 GB
Disk	8 GB	20 GB
Network	1 bridged adapter	1 bridged adapter
Hypervisor	VMware, VirtualBox, or Proxmox	VMware ESXi / Workstation

Setup

1. Download the OVA

   Download VeloGuardianDNS.ova from the downloads page.

2. Import and boot

   Import the OVA into your hypervisor. Assign at least 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, and a bridged network adapter so the appliance gets an IP on your LAN.

   Power on the VM. The appliance boots to a console menu.

3. Configure the network

   The console auto-configures via DHCP on first boot. For a static IP:

   • Select 1) Network Configuration
   • Choose Static and enter the IP, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS servers
   • The change takes effect immediately

   Use option 5) Show Web Interface URL to see the appliance’s address.

4. Sign in to the dashboard

   Open https://<appliance-ip> in your browser. The appliance uses a self-signed certificate, so your browser will warn you on first visit — accept the warning to continue. The default credentials are:

   • Username: admin
   • Password: admin

   Change the password immediately under Settings > Password.

5. Point your network to the appliance

   Set your router’s DNS server to the appliance IP. Every device on your network will now have its DNS queries filtered.

   Alternatively, configure individual devices to use the appliance as their DNS server.

6. Customize your filtering

   The appliance ships with sensible defaults, but you can:

   • Add or remove blocklists
   • Create filtering profiles for specific devices
   • Set up time-based schedules (e.g., block social media during work hours)
   • Configure allow/deny rules to override blocklist decisions

Tip

For the best experience, assign the appliance a static IP. If the appliance IP changes (e.g., DHCP lease expires), your network loses DNS resolution until the router is updated.

Default blocklists

The appliance ships with four curated blocklists enabled out of the box:

Blocklist	What it blocks
Steven Black Unified	Ads, trackers, malware, fakenews
OISD Small	Ads, tracking, telemetry
Phishing Army Extended	Known phishing domains
URLhaus Malware Filter	Active malware distribution domains

These update automatically every day at 4 AM. You can add more from the Blocklists page.

What’s next?

• Dashboard guide — explore the web interface, query logs, statistics, and reports
• Blocklists & filtering — categories, profiles, custom lists, schedules, and rules
• Console CLI — network configuration, system status, and updates