Getting a Server

An ODK Central server is where your forms live, enumerators submit data, and project managers review submissions. SurveyLoopr provisions a dedicated managed ODK Central environment with a custom subdomain, automatic SSL certificate, and server controls.

Deployment typically takes about 2–5 minutes, but image availability and DNS can take longer. This is not a guaranteed completion time. A credit card is required to deploy a server — servers are paid products starting at $79/month. If you only want the free LooprAI Workspace, you do not need a card.

If you are new to ODK, read ODK Central Basics first for a high-level overview of Central, Collect, forms, users, and submissions.

What you'll need

• A SurveyLoopr account (sign up here if you haven't already)
• A server name (can be changed later from the dashboard)

Step 1: Click "Create Server"

From your SurveyLoopr dashboard, click the Create Server button in the top-left of the sidebar or the quick-action card in the center of the dashboard.

A dialog opens with a server configuration form.

Step 2: Name your server

Enter a server name. This becomes part of your server's URL:

https://[your-server-name].surveyloopr.com

Choose a name that reflects your project or organization. You can use letters, numbers, and hyphens.

Step 3: Choose your plan

SurveyLoopr offers pay-as-you-go server plans. None of the server plans has a submissions limit, a form limit, or a user limit. The natural limit is server capacity: CPU, memory, storage, traffic, and how heavily your team uses ODK Central.

Plan	Server resources	Best for
Starter	2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB storage, 20 TB traffic	Small teams, pilots, single-project servers
Professional	4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 160 GB storage, 20 TB traffic	Active production programs and medium organizations
Enterprise	8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 320 GB storage, 20 TB traffic	Large teams, heavy data collection, and more performance headroom

Start with the smallest server that fits your current fieldwork. You can resize later from the server settings page when storage, traffic, or performance needs increase.

Step 4: Customize your server

Before deployment, you can customize the ODK Central login experience with your logo, login image, title, subtitle, and theme. This is useful when a project is shared with partner organizations or enumerator teams who need to recognize the correct server immediately.

Step 5: Wait for provisioning

After submitting the form, SurveyLoopr:

1. Allocates a cloud server; location is assigned by Hetzner during provisioning because SurveyLoopr does not currently expose a customer-facing region selector
2. Installs and configures ODK Central
3. Issues an SSL certificate
4. Points the subdomain DNS to your server

Deployment typically takes about 2–5 minutes, but image availability and DNS can take longer. This is not a guarantee. You'll see a progress indicator on the server card. When it turns green and shows "Running," your server is ready.

Step 6: Set your ODK admin password

After the server is deployed, the ODK Central admin account is created with the same email address you used for your SurveyLoopr account.

ODK Central sends a password setup email to that address. Open the email, follow the password setup link, and choose your ODK Central admin password. If you do not see the message, check spam or junk mail.

URL:      https://[your-server-name].surveyloopr.com
Email:    [your SurveyLoopr email]
Password: set from the ODK Central email

Learn the day-to-day Central workflow in ODK Central Basics.

Step 7: Share the server with your team

SurveyLoopr server sharing controls who can manage the server from the SurveyLoopr dashboard, publish forms from the workspace, and connect DataSnap reports to that server.

From the server detail page, click Share and invite teammates by email. You can assign a permission level:

SurveyLoopr role	What it is for
User	View the shared server and use it in connected SurveyLoopr workflows
Manager	User access, plus pause and resume the server
Admin	Manager access, plus server deletion and branding changes

Team members can use shared servers for SurveyLoopr-side work such as managing the server, uploading or publishing forms from the workspace, and connecting DataSnap reports.

Learn more about those connected workflows in How to Convert a Word or PDF Questionnaire Using LooprAI and Creating a DataSnap Report.

Step 8: Understand ODK Central access

There are two separate sharing systems:

1. SurveyLoopr sharing controls access to the server inside SurveyLoopr: server management, workspace publishing, and DataSnap connections.
2. ODK Central access controls who can log in to ODK Central, manage projects, upload forms inside Central, review submissions, or collect data.

For everything inside ODK Central, use the official ODK documentation. Start with Using ODK Central for projects, forms, submissions, and day-to-day Central workflows. For ODK Central user roles and access control, see Managing Users in Central.

"The one-click server setup is what made SurveyLoopr worth it for our team. We went from 'let's try ODK' to a live server with SSL in the time it takes to make tea."

— Jobael, Researcher, ARCED Foundation

What's next?

With a server running, first learn the ODK Central basics: projects, forms, users, ODK Collect setup, and submissions. Start with ODK Central Basics, then move into DataSnap when you are ready to analyze data quality.

Next: DataSnap Report →