Hetzner Server Management

Create and manage Hetzner Cloud servers using the

hcloud

CLI.

Prerequisites

```
hcloud
```
CLI installed (via mise:
```
hcloud = "latest"
```
)
Authenticated:
```
hcloud context create <name>
```
with API token from https://console.hetzner.cloud

Quick Reference

Create a server

bash

# Prefer ARM (best value)
hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cax21 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin

# x86 fallback
hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cpx21 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin

# IPv6-only (saves ~$0.60/month on IPv4)
hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cax21 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin \
  --without-ipv4

With user-data (auto-run install script)

bash

# Use heredoc - process substitution <(echo '...') escapes the shebang incorrectly
hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cax21 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin \
  --user-data-from-file - <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/connorads/dotfiles/master/install.sh | bash
EOF

The dotfiles installation takes ~5 minutes. To monitor progress:

bash

# Quick status check
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "cloud-init status"

# View recent installation logs
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "sudo journalctl -u cloud-final -n 50 --no-pager"

# Follow installation in real-time
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "sudo journalctl -u cloud-final -f"

# Check if tools are installed
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "which zsh mise && echo \$SHELL"

With swap (recommended for production)

Ubuntu cloud images don't include swap by default. Add swap via cloud-init at creation:

bash

# Create server with 16GB swap (1:1 ratio for 16GB RAM server)
hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cax33 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin \
  --user-data-from-file - <<'EOF'
#cloud-config
swap:
  filename: /swapfile
  size: 16G
  maxsize: 16G
EOF

Recommended swap sizes:

4GB RAM → 4-8GB swap
8GB RAM → 8GB swap
16GB+ RAM → 16GB swap (1:1 ratio)

Add swap to existing server:

bash

# Create 16GB swap file
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "sudo fallocate -l 16G /swapfile && \
  sudo chmod 600 /swapfile && \
  sudo mkswap /swapfile && \
  sudo swapon /swapfile && \
  echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab"

# Verify swap is active
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "free -h"

Common commands

bash

# List servers
hcloud server list

# Get server IP
hcloud server ip dev

# SSH to server
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev)

# Delete server
hcloud server delete dev

# Power operations
hcloud server poweroff dev
hcloud server poweron dev
hcloud server reboot dev

# Rebuild (reinstall OS, keeps IP)
hcloud server rebuild dev --image ubuntu-24.04

Server types (commonly used)

Prices in USD for EU regions (US regions ~20% higher):

Type	Arch	vCPU	RAM	Disk	~USD/mo
cax11	ARM	2	4GB	40GB	$4.50
cax21	ARM	4	8GB	80GB	$8
cax31	ARM	8	16GB	160GB	$16
cpx21	x86	3	4GB	80GB	$9
cpx31	x86	4	8GB	160GB	$18

Full list:

hcloud server-type list

Locations

ID	City	Country
fsn1	Falkenstein	DE
nbg1	Nuremberg	DE
hel1	Helsinki	FI
ash	Ashburn	US
hil	Hillsboro	US
sin	Singapore	SG

SSH keys

bash

# List keys
hcloud ssh-key list

# Add a key
hcloud ssh-key create --name mykey --public-key-from-file ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Images

bash

# List system images
hcloud image list --type system

# ARM images
hcloud image list --type system --architecture arm

Cloning GitHub repos (SSH agent forwarding)

Use the

<name>-agent

SSH host (which has agent forwarding enabled) to clone private repos without copying keys to the server. If you hit host key errors, add GitHub's host key first.

bash

# First time only: add GitHub's host key
ssh dev "ssh-keyscan github.com >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts 2>/dev/null"

# Confirm forwarded agent is visible
ssh dev-agent "ssh-add -l"

# Clone with agent forwarding (use -agent suffix)
ssh dev-agent "mkdir -p ~/git && cd ~/git && git clone git@github.com:you/repo.git"

# Clone specific branch
ssh dev-agent "mkdir -p ~/git && cd ~/git && git clone git@github.com:you/repo.git && cd repo && git checkout branch-name"

# Push/pull with agent forwarding
ssh dev-agent "cd repo && git push"

For interactive sessions (e.g., lazygit):

bash

ssh dev-agent
# Then on server: git clone/push/pull works with forwarded agent

Post-creation setup

After creating a server, always clear any old host keys for that IP (Hetzner reuses IPs):

bash

ssh-keygen -R $(hcloud server ip dev) 2>/dev/null
ssh-keyscan $(hcloud server ip dev) >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts 2>/dev/null

Then add/update

~/.ssh/config

with two profiles:

# Hetzner <name> - no agent forwarding (safe for AI agents)
Host <name>
    HostName <ip-address>
    User connor
    ForwardAgent no

# Hetzner <name> - with agent forwarding (for git push/pull)
Host <name>-agent
    HostName <ip-address>
    User connor
    ForwardAgent yes

Get IP:
```
hcloud server ip <name>
```
If entry exists, update the HostName in both profiles
Default profile (
```
<name>
```
) has no agent forwarding - safer for AI agents
Use
```
<name>-agent
```
when you need to push/pull to GitHub
This enables VS Code Remote-SSH to show the server in the dropdown

Notes

ARM (cax*) servers are best value for dev work
IPv6-only saves money but requires Tailscale/cloudflared for access from IPv4 networks
User-data runs as root on first boot
The dotfiles install.sh handles creating user
```
connor
```
, installing Nix, home-manager, and mise tools

hetzner-server

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Hetzner Server Management

Prerequisites

Quick Reference

Create a server

With user-data (auto-run install script)

With swap (recommended for production)

Common commands

Server types (commonly used)

Locations

SSH keys

Images

Cloning GitHub repos (SSH agent forwarding)

Post-creation setup

Notes