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

# ARM server (cheapest, recommended for dev)
hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cax11 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin

# x86 server
hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cpx11 \
  --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 cax11 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin \
  --without-ipv4

With user-data (auto-run install script)

hcloud server create \
  --name dev \
  --type cax11 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --location nbg1 \
  --ssh-key connorads \
  --ssh-key connor@penguin \
  --user-data-from-file <(echo '#!/bin/bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/connorads/dotfiles/master/install.sh | bash')

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

# 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:

# 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:

# 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

# 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):

Full list: hcloud server-type list

Locations

SSH keys

# List keys
hcloud ssh-key list

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

Images

# List system images
hcloud image list --type system

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

Cloning GitHub repos (SSH agent forwarding)

Use SSH agent forwarding to clone private repos without copying keys to the server.

# First time only: add GitHub's host key
ssh connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "ssh-keyscan github.com >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts 2>/dev/null"

# Clone with agent forwarding (-A)
ssh -A connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "git clone git@github.com:you/repo.git"

# Clone specific branch
ssh -A connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "git clone git@github.com:you/repo.git && cd repo && git checkout branch-name"

# Push/pull with agent forwarding
ssh -A connor@$(hcloud server ip dev) "cd repo && git push"

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

ssh -A connor@$(hcloud server ip dev)
# Then on server: git clone/push/pull works with forwarded agent

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