Guide

Add a VPS to your fleet.

Any Linux server can be a fleet machine: the same small runtime you install on a desktop keeps your agent sessions alive on it, and it shows up in the same rail as your desktop and laptop. About five minutes, outbound connections only — you never open a port to the internet.

Using an AI coding agent on that machine? Copy these steps into it: it checks the machine and runs the install, and hands you the one sign-in step it can't do itself.

What it says

Install the Aulay runtime on this machine so it joins my Aulay fleet. Guide: https://aulay.io/guides/vps

1. Check the machine. Run `uname -sm`. Linux on x86_64 or aarch64 and macOS are supported. On Linux, run `ldd --version`: glibc 2.39 or newer is required (Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13 or newer). If glibc is older, stop and tell me to use Docker instead (https://aulay.io/guides/docker). Make sure curl is installed.
2. Install as the user who should own the runtime (not root, no sudo):
   curl -fsSL https://market.aulay.io/runtime.sh -o /tmp/aulay-runtime.sh && sh /tmp/aulay-runtime.sh
3. Sign-in needs me: the installer prints a link and waits for a one-time code to be pasted into a terminal. Your shell has no terminal, so when it stops at sign-in, don't work around it. Tell me to run this in a terminal on this machine (an SSH session is fine), then wait for me to say it's done:
   sh /tmp/aulay-runtime.sh
4. Verify with `sh /tmp/aulay-runtime.sh status`. It should show the runtime service running and this computer paired. Tell me the computer's name as it will appear in Aulay.

1. Provision a server
2. Install git
3. Install the runtime
4. Sign in from any browser
5. Verify and name it

1Provision a server

Any provider works — Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, whatever you already use. Pick a recent Ubuntu or Debian image. Agents are mostly CPU-and-RAM bound while they work, so 2 vCPUs and 4 GB of RAM is a comfortable floor; the smallest instances work for light use.

Both x86_64 and ARM64 instances work (AWS Graviton, Hetzner CAX, Oracle Ampere), and the installer picks the right build. Use Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 13 or newer: older releases ship a glibc the runtime can't run on. On an older OS, use the Docker guide instead.

No firewall changes are needed. The runtime only dials out over HTTPS (port 443) and listens on localhost — nothing is exposed to the internet.

2Install git

Agents run in ordinary terminal sessions on the machine, so the tools they use must be installed there. The only one you need up front is git. On Ubuntu or Debian:

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y git curl

You don't install agent CLIs yourself. The first time you start a Claude Code, Codex, Cursor Agent or OpenCode session on this machine, Aulay offers to install it, and it asks again when a newer version is out. You'll sign in to the agent CLI itself the first time it runs.

PI is installed with npm, so it needs Node.js on the server (for example sudo apt-get install -y nodejs npm). Already have agent CLIs installed? Aulay uses them as they are until you install or update one through Aulay.

3Install the runtime

The same one-liner that installs the runtime on a desktop. It fetches the latest runtime-host build, verifies its checksum, installs it under ~/.aulay, and registers a systemd service so the runtime starts on boot and restarts if it ever crashes.

$ curl -fsSL https://market.aulay.io/runtime.sh | sh

Run it from an SSH session, not a non-interactive script — the next step is a sign-in prompt that needs your terminal. Running as a regular user installs a per-user service; running as root installs a system service.

4Sign in from any browser

The installer prints a sign-in link. Open it in a browser on any device — your laptop or your phone, it doesn't have to be the server — sign in to your Aulay account, and the page shows a one-time code. Paste that code back into the terminal prompt. That's the whole enrollment: the server mints its own runtime credentials and connects to the fabric.

5Verify and name it

Check the runtime is healthy, then open Aulay on any device — the new machine is in your fleet rail, ready for sessions.

$ curl -fsSL https://market.aulay.io/runtime.sh | sh -s -- status

Two finishing touches worth doing:

—Installed as a regular user? Enable lingering so the service keeps running after you log out of SSH: sudo loginctl enable-linger $USER
—Name the machine. The fleet shows the hostname by default. To use a friendlier name, set AULAY_NAME="vps-01" in the environment before running the installer.

Good to know

Updates are automatic: The runtime updates itself between sessions. The installer takes a verb after -s --: update forces an update, login re-runs the browser sign-in and refreshes the runtime token, status shows the service and local readiness, and remove stops the service and deletes the runtime files — for example curl -fsSL https://market.aulay.io/runtime.sh | sh -s -- update.
Network footprint: Outbound HTTPS/WSS to *.aulay.io (and the release CDN for downloads). Local ports bind to 127.0.0.1 only. Nothing inbound, no VPN, no port forwarding.
Containers: Running Docker on the server? The Docker guide runs the runtime as a container with one command instead. In a container of your own, run it in the foreground rather than installing a service: curl -fsSL https://market.aulay.io/runtime.sh | sh -s -- run.
Where things live: Binary, config, and credentials under ~/.aulay; agent workspaces under ~/.aulay/workspace. Set AULAY_WORKSPACE before installing to put work somewhere else (a bigger disk, for example).

That's a fleet machine.

Kick off an agent on it from your desktop, close the laptop, and check on it from your phone — the session lives on the VPS now.

Open Aulay