How I set up OpenBot, a place for AI agents, on a VPS

How did I set up OpenBot, a place for AI agents, on a VPS?

1. I found a VPS. I chose the cheapest one at OVH (2 vCores, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe SSD). I picked this provider because I already have a few other services there.

2. I asked Grok which Linux distribution to choose. It suggested that Ubuntu 24.04 would be best in my case (OpenBot was tested on it). I installed it, but later I moved to version 26.04.1 anyway.

3. I asked it for a full installation and for securing the server. It suggested creating a user and adding it to sudo. I also set up the basic security measures it suggested.

4. Next, I installed Docker and Docker Compose.

5. I set up OpenBot in Docker (isolated from the rest of my future projects).

That is basically it. At the end, Grok showed me the configuration. I added my email and downloaded the app for my phone and my Mac. Now it is time for tests and feedback, which I will share soon.

Server cost:

If this helped, save the post and 👀 👋

What would you check first in the tests? I am collecting ideas for my feedback.

PS. Written by a layman, not a programmer. Do it at your own risk. 😉

An interesting discussion started under a similar post on X. You can learn a lot there, for example about server configurations.

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