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Computer Management

Connect Your Own Machine

By TermSquad · Last reviewed

Bring Your Own Machine connects an Ubuntu server you already pay for to TermSquad. In the app this option is called Bring my Own VM. It is billed per machine each month; your VM provider bills the server separately. See pricing for the current price.

Check the requirements

Your machine needs:

  • A fresh install of Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 LTS on x86_64, booted with systemd.
  • At least 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM and a 40 GB disk, with at least 24 GB free.
  • Root access, or a user who can run sudo.
  • Outbound HTTPS and DNS. Keep your existing SSH port reachable.

The installer checks these first and stops without changing anything if the machine is not suitable. It refuses machines that already run applications, containers, web servers or databases, or that already have user files. There is no force option: reinstall Ubuntu through your provider and try again.

Connect the machine

  1. Start a new computer and choose Bring my Own VM under Choose your machine. The Connect your machine buttons on termsquad.com open setup with it already selected.
  2. Confirm that the VM is a fresh install with nothing to keep, then select Continue to payment.
  3. After payment, copy the install command. It is single use, expires after 30 minutes and should be kept private.
  4. Paste it in your VM as root. The page shows VM connected, Installing TermSquad and Checking terminal access.

You can close the page while the installation runs. TermSquad emails you when the machine is ready.

What changes on your machine

TermSquad installs its runtime, Squad Memory, Herdr, Agent Browser and the tools your agents need, and creates the agent and admin users. No new inbound ports are opened; the machine connects out over an encrypted tunnel. After both web terminals are verified, SSH moves to the TermSquad users and root SSH login is turned off, with automatic rollback if anything fails. Your provider’s console always remains available.

What stays with your provider

Start, stop, restart, backups, restores, operating system resets and hardware upgrades are not available in TermSquad for your own machine. Use your VM provider for those actions.

Cancel or stop paying

Cancellation suspends TermSquad web access only. Your server, SSH access, data and running agents are left untouched. You can reactivate after the previous subscription has ended.