Complete Host Setup Guide

1. Prerequisites & Hosting Agreement

Convert Your Account to a Hosting Account

Before you can host machines, you must agree to our hosting agreement and convert your account to a hosting account. This is a one-way conversion that changes your account permissions and access.

To convert your account:

1. Go to Settings → Account Type
2. Review and accept the Hosting Agreement (required)
3. Click Convert to Hosting Account
4. Your account will be converted immediately

Once converted, you can access our host community on Discord. Link your hosting account to gain access to our #host-support and #host-discussion channels for help and to connect with other providers.

2. System Requirements

Your machine must meet minimum requirements, but the ideal machine will exceed these guidelines, as some workloads require more resources.

Operating System

• Ubuntu 18.04 or newer (required)
• Ubuntu 22.04 recommended (latest, best hardware support)
• Ubuntu 20.04 acceptable but may have slower performance on some workloads
• Server edition preferred over desktop

Hardware Requirements

3. Install Ubuntu OS

Download Ubuntu ISO

Download the appropriate Ubuntu ISO for 64-bit PC (AMD64):

• Desktop or Server edition: Both work; Server recommended for headless setups
• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS recommended (latest stable with long-term support)
• Download from: https://ubuntu.com/download/server

Disk Partitioning Strategy

Critical: Our software requires an XFS partition for optimal performance. By default, this isn't created during Ubuntu install, so we need to set it up manually.

4. Install GPU Driver & Docker

$sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-550 -y
nvidia-smi -q

sudo apt install docker.io nvidia-docker2 -y
docker run --rm --gpus all nvidia/cuda:11.0-runtime nvidia-smi

Ubuntu 22.04 Only: Fix Cgroup Issue

Edit /etc/docker/daemon.json:

${
  "exec-opts": ["native.cgroupdriver=cgroupfs"],
  "runtimes": {
    "nvidia": {
      "path": "nvidia-container-runtime"
    }
  }
}

$sudo systemctl restart docker
docker info | grep "Cgroup Driver"
# Should output: Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs

5. Install Platform Manager Software

Get Your Installation Command

1. Log in to your provider dashboard
2. Go to Machines → Add Machine → Installation Command
3. Copy the personalized installation command (valid for 1 hour)

Run the Installation

$wget https://api.platform.dev/install -O install
sudo python3 install <YOUR_TOKEN_HERE> --interactive
history -d $((HISTCMD-1))

Installation flags:

• • --interactive: Recommended (prompts you through decisions)
• • --no-docker: Use if daemon update fails
• • --raidgpt: If using RAID with GPT partition table

6. Configure Networking

Open Port Range

Port Requirements:

• • Minimum: 1 per GPU
• • Recommended: 100+ per GPU
• • Example: 4 GPUs = 400 ports (16000-16399)
• • Both TCP and UDP must be open

$nc -l -p 16000

$echo -n "16000-16399" | sudo tee /var/lib/vastai_kaalia/host_port_range

7. List Your Machine

Via Dashboard

1. Go to Machines page
2. Find your newly registered machine (wait 1-5 minutes)
3. Click List button
4. Set hourly price (e.g., $0.65 per GPU)
5. Set availability end date
6. Click Confirm Listing

⚠️ During Active Rental:

• ✅ Keep machine online and stable
• ✅ Don't interfere with the machine
• ❌ Don't restart daemon or reboot
• ❌ Don't upgrade/downgrade components
• ❌ Don't run competing workloads

8. Machine Verification

Verification Status

When first listed, your machine has Unverified status:

• ✓ Machine is searchable
• ✗ Won't appear in default search filters
• ✗ Won't show in sorted-by-reliability lists

How to Get Verified (Fast)

• ✓ Maintain ≥99% uptime
• ✓ Pass performance benchmarks (run self-test)
• ✓ Reliably complete jobs without crashes
• ✓ Keep stable network connection
• ✓ Don't change components during verification

$vastai self-test machine <MACHINE_ID>

Timeline: 24-48 hours to verified (if all criteria met)

9. Optimization & Maintenance

Disable Automatic Driver Updates

$sudo apt-mark hold nvidia-driver-*

Set Minimum Bid Price

$vastai set machine <MACHINE_ID> min_bid 0.50

Customize APT Mirrors

If your machine is far from US-based mirrors:

$echo 'mirror.yandex.ru' | sudo tee /var/lib/vastai_kaalia/apt-select-out

10. Troubleshooting & Support

Get Help

• • Discord: #host-support and #host-discussion (link your hosting account first)
• • Dashboard: Click support chat widget (bottom right)
• • Email: support@platform.dev