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AgentKennel

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Install guide · Vultr

Install AgentKennel on Vultr

Paste one script into the Cloud-Init User Data field while you create the instance. About ten minutes later the dashboard is up on HTTPS, with a dozen Claude Code terminals ready to start. No SSH needed.

What you need

1. Copy the setup script

This is a cloud-init script. When the instance boots for the first time, it creates a user named agents with sudo, and runs the AgentKennel installer as that user with your password. The installer sets up Claude Code, the dashboard and a Let's Encrypt certificate.

With JavaScript on, this page puts a random password into the script for you.

cloud-init
#cloud-config
users:
  - default
  - name: agents
    shell: /bin/bash
    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
runcmd:
  - [bash, -c, "sudo -iu agents bash -c 'curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yanhs/agentkennel/master/install.sh | AGENTKENNEL_PASSWORD=CHANGE-ME bash -s -- --yes --no-guests' > /var/log/agentkennel-install.log 2>&1"]

The script installs from the master branch of the public repository, the same command as the README's one-line install, with --yes (ask nothing) and --no-guests (no other people work on this server). Its output goes to /var/log/agentkennel-install.log.

2. Create the instance

  1. In the Vultr portal, go to Products → Compute and press Deploy.
  2. Choose Shared CPU, a location near you, and a Cloud Compute plan (see the size note below).
  3. Under Configure Software, pick the operating system: Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12.
  4. Server Settings such as SSH keys are optional: you won't need SSH for this guide.
  5. Fill in Server Hostname and Server Label.
  6. Under Additional Features, turn on Cloud-Init User Data and paste the script from step 1.
  7. Press Deploy.

How big a instance?

The AgentKennel README doesn't name a minimum size. Memory decides how many terminals can be loaded at once: each loaded terminal is its own Claude Code process. AgentKennel keeps at most 12 loaded (AGENTKENNEL_MAX_ACTIVE), unloads one that has been idle for 2 hours, and brings it back when you click it. Start with the number of agents you expect to run at the same time; the Server tab shows how much memory each one uses. Vultr can move an instance to a bigger plan later (Settings → Change Plan); it can't move it to a smaller one, so don't start bigger than you need.

3. Wait, then open the dashboard

Give it 5 to 10 minutes. The installer gets a free name for the instance's IP address from sslip.io and a trusted certificate for it, so you don't need a domain. The address is the public IPv4 address with dashes instead of dots:

Sign in with the password from the script.

4. Sign in to Claude in the first terminal

Press ＋ New. A terminal opens in ~/projects with Claude Code running in it. The first time, Claude Code asks for a colour theme, then how to log in: your Claude subscription or an API key. Follow its prompts. You do this once; every terminal after that uses the same login. Then give the agent its first task.

5. Change the password

The script, with the password in it, is stored in the instance's metadata at Vultr. Anyone who can read your Vultr account or that metadata can read it. After the first sign-in, open the dashboard's menu ⋯ → Password and set a new one.

Forgot it later? Open the server's console at Vultr and run sudo -iu agents ~/agentkennel/install.sh --reset-password. It prints a new one-time link to set a new password; the old one and every signed-in browser stop working.

If the page doesn't open

If the address still doesn't load after 15 minutes, read the install log. In the Vultr portal, open the instance and click View Console at the top right: a terminal in the browser. The default user's credentials are in the instance's Overview tab. Sign in there and run:

sudo tail -n 40 /var/log/agentkennel-install.log

Next steps

Vultr documentation