Two-factor authentication
Turn on two-factor authentication for your Metis Cloud account, save backup codes, sign in with a code, and turn it off.
Two-factor authentication adds a second step when you sign in with your email and password. You type a six-digit code from an authenticator app on your phone, such as Google Authenticator, 1Password or Authy.
On your Metis Cloud account it is optional, but you need it to prepare and download exports. An export holds your instance’s keys.
This page is about your console account. Two-factor authentication inside your instance is separate. See Two-factor authentication in the User Guide.
You manage it in the Two-factor authentication card under Settings. Open the account menu (your name at the top right) and click Settings. The card shows the badge On or Off.
Turn it on
Start
In the Two-factor authentication card, click Turn on.
If your account has a password, the dialog Turn on two-factor authentication asks you to confirm it. Type your Password and click Continue. If you signed up with Google or GitHub and have no password, this step is skipped.
Scan the QR code
The dialog Scan with your authenticator app shows a QR code. Scan it with your authenticator app. If you cannot scan it, type the key shown under “Or enter this key by hand:” into the app instead. The app lists the entry as Metis Cloud.
Enter a code
Type the six-digit code the app shows into Code and click Verify.
If the code does not match, wait for the next code and try again.
You see “Two-factor authentication is on.”
Save your backup codes
The dialog Save your backup codes opens. Each code signs you in once if you lose your authenticator. The codes are shown only now.
Click Copy or Download (a text file named metis-cloud-backup-codes.txt) and keep them somewhere safe. Then click Done.
Two-factor authentication is on only after a code verifies. If you click Cancel at the scan step, it stays Off.
Sign in with a code
After you sign in with your email and password, the page asks you to “Enter the code from your authenticator app.”
- Type the six-digit code into Authenticator code.
- Tick Trust this device for 30 days if you do not want to be asked on this device for 30 days.
- Click Continue.
If you do not have your phone, click Use a backup code and type one of your backup codes into Backup code. To go back, click Use the authenticator app. Click Back to sign in to return to the email and password form.
If the code is wrong, a message shows under the form. Try the next code.
Make new backup codes
Make new codes if you used most of yours, or if someone else may have seen them.
- In the Two-factor authentication card, click New backup codes.
- If your account has a password, the dialog Make new backup codes asks for it. Type it and click Continue.
- Save the new codes from the Save your backup codes dialog, then click Done.
Old backup codes no longer work.
Turn it off
- In the Two-factor authentication card, click Turn off.
- If your account has a password, the dialog Turn off two-factor authentication asks for it. Type it and click Continue. If your account has no password, two-factor authentication turns off at once.
You see “Two-factor authentication is off.” You can no longer prepare or download exports until you turn it on again.
Exports need two-factor authentication
Without two-factor authentication, an instance’s Exports tab shows Two-factor authentication is required for exports, and Prepare export and Download are disabled. Click Settings in that message to turn it on.
It does not matter how you signed in. What counts is that two-factor authentication is on for your account. See Export your data.