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Server Provisioning Paths

EasyRunner separates getting a server from initializing it as a web host.

flowchart TD
    choice{Need a server?}
    hetzner[EasyRunner creates a Hetzner VPS]
    existing[You bring an Ubuntu server]
    init[er server init]
    deploy[er app add + er app deploy]

    choice --> hetzner
    choice --> existing
    hetzner --> init
    existing --> init
    init --> deploy

The Two Paths

Use this path when you want EasyRunner to create a Hetzner Cloud VPS and register it.

er link hetzner default --api-key <hetzner-api-token>  # (1)!
er server create my-server hetzner                     # (2)!
er server init my-server --username root                # (3)!
  1. Stores the Hetzner project credential.
  2. Creates and registers the server.
  3. Installs and configures the web-host stack.

EasyRunner handles the cloud-provider provisioning step, then the server joins the same web-host lifecycle as any other server.

Use this path when you already have an Ubuntu server from Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Azure, AWS, GCP, a homelab, or another provider.

er server add my-server <server-ip>       # (1)!
er server show-ssh-key my-server          # (2)!
er server init my-server --username root  # (3)!
  1. Registers the server and creates an EasyRunner SSH key.
  2. Prints the public key you need to authorize on the server.
  3. Installs and configures the web-host stack.

You create the VPS/VM and authorize EasyRunner's generated SSH key. EasyRunner then initializes it like any other web host.

What Initialization Does

er server init turns the Ubuntu machine into an EasyRunner web host. It installs and configures the hosting stack, including Podman for containers, Caddy for HTTPS routing, server users, firewall rules, and supporting systemd behavior.

The convergence matters

EasyRunner-created servers and manually provisioned servers are not two separate product worlds. They are two ways to get an Ubuntu machine into EasyRunner. After er server init, app deployment works the same way.

Choosing a Path

Choose this When
EasyRunner-provisioned Hetzner server You want the fastest path and are happy to use Hetzner Cloud.
Existing Ubuntu server You already have infrastructure, want a different provider, or want to control provisioning manually.
Product model

Provisioning answers "where does the machine come from?" Initialization answers "is this machine ready to host apps with EasyRunner?" Keeping those ideas separate makes it easier to switch providers later.