Vultr Infrastructure

Status: Production Ready | Dependencies: vultr-cli, SSH key pair

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Operations, troubleshooting, config, and cost snapshot: references/OPERATIONS.md

Step 0: Gather Required Information (MANDATORY)

STOP. Before ANY deployment commands, collect ALL parameters from the user.

Copy this checklist and confirm each item:

Required Parameters:
- [ ] SERVER_NAME      - Unique name for this server
- [ ] VULTR_REGION     - Region (ewr, ord, dfw, lax, lhr, fra, sgp, etc.)
- [ ] VULTR_PLAN       - Plan ID (see profiles below)
- [ ] SSH_KEY_NAME     - Name of SSH key in Vultr
- [ ] SSH_KEY_PATH     - Path to local SSH private key (default: ~/.ssh/id_rsa)

Deployment Purpose (determines recommended profile):
- [ ] Purpose: coolify / kasm / both / custom
      coolify → vc2-2c-4gb ($24/mo)
      kasm    → vc2-4c-8gb ($48/mo)
      both    → vc2-8c-32gb ($192/mo)
      custom  → Ask for specific plan

Recommended profiles by purpose:

| Purpose | Plan | vCPU | RAM | Monthly | |---------|------|------|-----|---------| | coolify | vc2-2c-4gb | 2 | 4GB | $24 | | kasm | vc2-4c-8gb | 4 | 8GB | $48 | | both | vc2-8c-32gb | 8 | 32GB | $192 |

DO NOT proceed to Prerequisites until ALL parameters are confirmed.

Prerequisites

Before using this skill, verify the following:

1. Vultr CLI Installed

vultr-cli version

If missing, install with:

# macOS
brew install vultr/vultr-cli/vultr-cli

# Linux (download binary)
curl -sL https://github.com/vultr/vultr-cli/releases/latest/download/vultr-cli_linux_amd64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv vultr-cli /usr/local/bin/

# Windows (scoop)
scoop bucket add vultr https://github.com/vultr/scoop-vultr.git
scoop install vultr-cli

# Go install
go install github.com/vultr/vultr-cli/v3@latest

2. Vultr Account & API Key

If you don't have a Vultr account:

Disclosure: This is a referral link. You'll receive $100 in credit, and the skill author receives $35 after you spend $25. Using this link helps support the development of these skills.

Get API Key: https://my.vultr.com/settings/#settingsapi

Create a Personal Access Token with All permissions.

3. vultr-cli Configured

vultr-cli account

If it shows an error, configure with:

# Set API key
vultr-cli config set api-key YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

# Or via environment variable
export VULTR_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
vultr-cli account

4. SSH Key Pair

ls ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

If missing, generate with:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa -N ""

5. SSH Key Uploaded to Vultr

vultr-cli ssh-key list

If empty, upload with:

vultr-cli ssh-key create --name "my-key" --key "$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)"

6. Test Authentication

vultr-cli regions list

If this fails: API key may be invalid. Create a new one.

Server Profiles

Coolify/Kasm Deployments

| Profile | Plan | vCPU | RAM | Disk | Monthly Cost | |---------|------|------|-----|------|--------------| | coolify | vc2-2c-4gb | 2 | 4GB | 80GB | $24 | | kasm | vc2-4c-8gb | 4 | 8GB | 160GB | $48 | | both | vc2-8c-32gb | 8 | 32GB | 640GB | $192 |

High-Frequency (NVMe, Best Performance)

| Profile | Plan | vCPU | RAM | Disk | Monthly Cost | |---------|------|------|-----|------|--------------| | hf-small | vhf-2c-4gb | 2 | 4GB | 64GB NVMe | $24 | | hf-medium | vhf-4c-16gb | 4 | 16GB | 256GB NVMe | $72 | | hf-large | vhf-6c-24gb | 6 | 24GB | 384GB NVMe | $108 |

<details> <summary>AMD High Performance (Dedicated vCPU)</summary>

| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Disk | Monthly Cost | |------|------|-----|------|--------------| | vhp-2c-4gb-amd | 2 | 4GB | 60GB NVMe | $30 | | vhp-4c-8gb-amd | 4 | 8GB | 120GB NVMe | $60 | | vhp-8c-16gb-amd | 8 | 16GB | 240GB NVMe | $120 |

</details>

Deployment Steps

Step 1: Set Environment Variables

export VULTR_REGION="ewr"                  # See regions below
export VULTR_PLAN="vc2-2c-4gb"             # See profiles above
export VULTR_OS_ID="1743"                  # Ubuntu 22.04 x64
export SERVER_NAME="my-server"
export SSH_KEY_NAME="my-key"

<details> <summary>Region options</summary>

| Code | Location | Region | |------|----------|--------| | ewr | New Jersey | US East | | ord | Chicago | US Central | | dfw | Dallas | US South | | lax | Los Angeles | US West | | sea | Seattle | US Northwest | | atl | Atlanta | US Southeast | | mia | Miami | US Southeast | | yto | Toronto | Canada | | lhr | London | UK | | ams | Amsterdam | Netherlands | | fra | Frankfurt | Germany | | cdg | Paris | France | | nrt | Tokyo | Japan | | sgp | Singapore | Asia | | syd | Sydney | Australia | | blr | Bangalore | India |

Run vultr-cli regions list for full list.

</details> <details> <summary>OS ID reference</summary>

| OS ID | Operating System | |-------|------------------| | 1743 | Ubuntu 22.04 x64 | | 2136 | Ubuntu 24.04 x64 | | 477 | Debian 12 x64 | | 447 | Debian 11 x64 | | 215 | CentOS 7 x64 |

Run vultr-cli os list for full list.

</details>

Step 2: Get SSH Key ID

SSH_KEY_ID=$(vultr-cli ssh-key list | grep "$SSH_KEY_NAME" | awk '{print $1}')
echo "SSH Key ID: $SSH_KEY_ID"

# Verify
if [ -z "$SSH_KEY_ID" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: SSH key '$SSH_KEY_NAME' not found. Upload it first."
  exit 1
fi

Step 3: Create Firewall Group

# Create firewall group
FW_GROUP_ID=$(vultr-cli firewall group create --description "my-firewall" | grep -oP 'ID: \K\S+')
echo "Firewall Group ID: $FW_GROUP_ID"

# Allow SSH
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port 22 --subnet 0.0.0.0/0

# Allow HTTP/HTTPS
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port 80 --subnet 0.0.0.0/0
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port 443 --subnet 0.0.0.0/0

# Allow Coolify ports
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port 8000 --subnet 0.0.0.0/0
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port "6001:6002" --subnet 0.0.0.0/0

# Allow KASM ports
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port 8443 --subnet 0.0.0.0/0
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port 3389 --subnet 0.0.0.0/0
vultr-cli firewall rule create --id "$FW_GROUP_ID" --protocol tcp --port "3000:4000" --subnet 0.0.0.0/0

Step 4: Create Instance

vultr-cli instance create \
  --region "$VULTR_REGION" \
  --plan "$VULTR_PLAN" \
  --os "$VULTR_OS_ID" \
  --ssh-keys "$SSH_KEY_ID" \
  --firewall-group "$FW_GROUP_ID" \
  --label "$SERVER_NAME" \
  --hostname "$SERVER_NAME"

Step 5: Wait and Get Instance IP

# Wait for instance to be ready
echo "Waiting for instance to be active..."
sleep 30

# Get instance ID
INSTANCE_ID=$(vultr-cli instance list | grep "$SERVER_NAME" | awk '{print $1}')
echo "Instance ID: $INSTANCE_ID"

# Get IP address
SERVER_IP=$(vultr-cli instance get "$INSTANCE_ID" | grep "Main IP" | awk '{print $3}')
echo "SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP"

Step 6: Wait for Server Ready

# Wait for SSH to be available (typically 60-90 seconds)
echo "Waiting for server to be ready..."
until ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no root@$SERVER_IP "echo connected" 2>/dev/null; do
  sleep 5
done
echo "Server is ready!"

Step 7: Verify Connection

ssh root@$SERVER_IP "uname -a && free -h && df -h /"

Step 8: Output for Downstream Skills

# Vultr only offers x86 architecture
SERVER_ARCH="amd64"

# Save to .env.local for downstream skills
echo "SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP" >> .env.local
echo "SSH_USER=root" >> .env.local
echo "SSH_KEY_PATH=~/.ssh/id_rsa" >> .env.local
echo "SERVER_ARCH=$SERVER_ARCH" >> .env.local
echo "COOLIFY_SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP" >> .env.local
echo "KASM_SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP" >> .env.local

echo ""
echo "Instance deployed successfully!"
echo "  IP: $SERVER_IP"
echo "  Arch: $SERVER_ARCH"
echo "  SSH: ssh root@$SERVER_IP"

Verify Deployment

ssh root@$SERVER_IP "echo 'Vultr instance connected successfully'"

Kubernetes Auto-Scaling

Vultr Kubernetes Engine (VKE) supports node pool autoscaling.

Create VKE Cluster with Autoscaling

# Create cluster
vultr-cli kubernetes create \
  --region "$VULTR_REGION" \
  --version "v1.28.2+1" \
  --label "my-k8s"

# Get cluster ID
CLUSTER_ID=$(vultr-cli kubernetes list | grep "my-k8s" | awk '{print $1}')

# Create autoscaling node pool
vultr-cli kubernetes node-pool create "$CLUSTER_ID" \
  --plan "vc2-2c-4gb" \
  --label "worker-pool" \
  --quantity 2 \
  --min-nodes 1 \
  --max-nodes 5 \
  --auto-scaler true

How It Works

Vultr automatically adds nodes when workload increases
Nodes are removed when demand decreases
Specify min-nodes and max-nodes to control scaling range

Cleanup

Warning: This is destructive and cannot be undone.

# Delete instance
INSTANCE_ID=$(vultr-cli instance list | grep "$SERVER_NAME" | awk '{print $1}')
vultr-cli instance delete "$INSTANCE_ID"

# Delete firewall group
FW_GROUP_ID=$(vultr-cli firewall group list | grep "my-firewall" | awk '{print $1}')
vultr-cli firewall group delete "$FW_GROUP_ID"

# Optionally delete SSH key
# vultr-cli ssh-key delete "$SSH_KEY_ID"

Operations

Troubleshooting, best practices, configuration variables, and cost snapshots are in references/OPERATIONS.md.

Logging Integration

When performing infrastructure operations, log to the centralized system:

# After provisioning
log_admin "SUCCESS" "operation" "Provisioned Vultr instance" "id=$INSTANCE_ID provider=Vultr"

# After destroying
log_admin "SUCCESS" "operation" "Deleted Vultr instance" "id=$INSTANCE_ID"

# On error
log_admin "ERROR" "operation" "Vultr deployment failed" "error=$ERROR_MSG"

See admin skill's references/logging.md for full logging documentation.

admin-infra-vultr