# How to get started

**URL:** <https://community.dreamfactory.com/t/how-to-get-started/1284>\
**Category:** REST API\
**Created:** [July 18, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://community.dreamfactory.com/t/how-to-get-started/1284 "2015-07-18T14:33:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![abyss996](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.dreamfactory.com/abyss996/32/337_2.png) [@abyss996](https://community.dreamfactory.com/u/abyss996)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://community.dreamfactory.com/t/how-to-get-started/1284/1 "2015-07-18T14:33:56Z")

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Hello everyone. I’m trying to make a REST API using a MySQL database. I have several restrictions because I’m using a shared server(I don’t have access to ssh). I’m pretty new to this. So how do I get started with Dreamfactory?

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**Author:** ![formerstaff](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.dreamfactory.com/formerstaff/32/1133_2.png) [@formerstaff](https://community.dreamfactory.com/u/formerstaff)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://community.dreamfactory.com/t/how-to-get-started/1284/2 "2015-07-20T14:31:52Z")

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The easiest way to get started is to use our hosted system to try out the product. You can register here: [https://www.dreamfactory.com/user/register](https://www.dreamfactory.com/user/register)  
The hosted system is intended for “kicking the tires” and not for production applications.

Your mysql host should have help documents available on making external connections. These will be valuable for helping you get your MySQL service connected.

To get started you’ll also want to familiarize yourself with our documentation: [https://github.com/dreamfactorysoftware/dsp-core/wiki](https://github.com/dreamfactorysoftware/dsp-core/wiki)

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**Author:** ![formerstaff](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.dreamfactory.com/formerstaff/32/1133_2.png) [@formerstaff](https://community.dreamfactory.com/u/formerstaff)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.dreamfactory.com/t/how-to-get-started/1284/3 "2015-07-22T19:00:03Z")

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You may also be interested in this blog post: [https://blog.dreamfactory.com/add-a-rest-api-to-any-sql-db-in-minutes](https://blog.dreamfactory.com/add-a-rest-api-to-any-sql-db-in-minutes)

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**Author:** ![jeffreystables](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.dreamfactory.com/jeffreystables/32/173_2.png) [@jeffreystables](https://community.dreamfactory.com/u/jeffreystables)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://community.dreamfactory.com/t/how-to-get-started/1284/4 "2015-08-06T19:07:07Z")

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Hi @abyss996, how’s it going now that you’ve had some time getting started with DreamFactory?