FYI, you need to add the api-key config section to the stream.conf file on the parent node in order to enable the api key and allow child nodes to send data to the parent node. I thought it went into the netdata.conf file... I also kinda wonder why it matters what file has what config since the different config sections all have section headings like `[stream]` or `[web]`.

So, the answer to my question is that you can get multiple nodes showing up without a cloud account. Just have to configure it correctly.