---
title: "Get started with Guardian Essentials"
description: "From signing in to your first reviewed drift, in four steps."
product: "Guardian"
edition: "Essentials"
type: "get-started"
url: "https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/get-started/"
---
# Get started with Guardian Essentials

Guardian scans your CIs, records their configuration and tells you what changed since the last scan. This page takes you from signing in to reviewing your first drift.

## Before you start

You need a Guardian Essentials account. If you've been invited, use the link in your invitation email to set a password, then sign in.

## Add your first CIs

A CI is anything Guardian can scan: a server, a laptop, a boundary device or a cloud entity. On the **Dashboard**, **Welcome to Guardian** offers the quickest ways to add some:

- **Install the Guardian Agent** on a Windows, macOS or Linux device.
- **Connect an AWS account** to discover EC2, RDS, S3 and more automatically.
- **Import CIs from your ServiceNow CMDB.**

![The Add CI dialog](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/assets/screenshots/add-a-ci.png)

For every option, including scanning without an agent, see [Add CIs](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/cis/add-cis/index.md).

## Run a scan

New CIs are scanned when they connect. To scan again, open the CI from **All CIs** and select **Run Scan Now**. To scan on a schedule, see [Scan schedules](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/scans/schedules/index.md).

## Review what changed

After a second scan, anything that changed appears on **Detected Drift**. Each item shows the CI, when the change was detected, and the value before and after. See [Detected Drift](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/detected-drift/index.md).

## Approve what you expected

Drift that was planned or authorised can be approved, with a reason or a change request reference, so only the unexpected is left to look at. See [Approve drift](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/detected-drift/approve-drift/index.md). If you use ServiceNow, Guardian can do this for you: see [Change reconciliation](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/change-reconciliation/index.md).

## Where next

- [*Learn* **Guardian concepts** The words Guardian uses, and what they mean.](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/get-started/concepts/index.md)
- [*Set up* **Groups and environments** Organise CIs so schedules and policies apply to the right ones.](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/cis/groups-and-environments/index.md)
- [*Check* **Compliance** Assess CIs against policies and benchmarks.](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/compliance/index.md)