Cloud server setup: open a machine and connect over SSH in about 20 minutes

Agent series, part 1. A cheap machine that stays online is the floor under every later job: an agent, and a scheduled brief.

Disclosure: the Alibaba Cloud link on this page is an affiliate link. A purchase through it may earn this site a commission, at no extra cost to you. The price is the same as going there yourself.

This is part 1 of deploying an AI research agent. No code. Copy and paste. The later parts of that series run on this machine.

How to choose: For a machine that stays online for a research agent and a scheduled brief, rent a lightweight application server. Do not use a computer at home, and do not start on a full ECS instance. Start at 2 vCPU and 2 GB. If the budget allows, 2 vCPU and 4 GB leaves room for a larger open-source project. Use Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS. Pick a region close to you, such as Hangzhou, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, so SSH latency stays low. At checkout, set a custom password, allow only ports 22, 80, and 443, and set a hostname you will recognize, such as quant-lab. Buy one month first. Prices and discounts follow the official campaign page. This page is opening the instance and connecting over SSH. It is not the cloud quant desk, not the paper-trading ledger, not a broker terminal, and not the learning path. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.

Who it is for: Someone with no code who wants a cheap machine online all week, so a research agent and a morning brief have somewhere to run. The path is copy and paste. Windows 10 and 11 already include OpenSSH. macOS uses Terminal. About 20 minutes from checkout to a root shell, then a normal user named lab for day-to-day login. The Chinese page compares the monthly cost to one milk tea.

Who it is not for: Someone who only reviews after the close on a computer they leave on. That work stays local. Someone who wants QMT, which needs a Windows image, not this Ubuntu image. Someone who already has a machine and wants Miniconda, cron, and a Qwen key. That is the cloud quant desk, a different article. Someone who wants a broker terminal that sends orders. That comparison is the quant-platform guide. This page does not publish a live price. The official campaign page wins. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.

The same walkthrough in Chinese is opening a cloud server. Miniconda, cron, and a Qwen key, once the machine is already up, are the cloud quant desk. That desk is not this page. After a research backtest passes, the two-week ledger is paper trading. Broker terminals that send orders on a China stock account are how to choose a quant trading platform. QMT needs Windows, not this Ubuntu image. The order of what to learn is the learning path. None of those is a language version of this page. Docker for a research agent is still Chinese-only: one-click Docker deploy. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.

Facts below follow the Chinese walkthrough. Prices and discounts follow the official campaign page. The Chinese page compares the monthly cost to one milk tea, and says new customers are often offered 85% of list price. This is not investment advice.

01 · Why not a computer at home

An agent that reads the market and writes a brief needs something that stays online. A home computer fails three ways. You shut it down. Home broadband uses a dynamic IP. A router sits in front of the machine, so inbound traffic from the internet does not reach it. An entry-level cloud server removes all three at once. The Chinese page compares the monthly cost to one milk tea. You sleep. The machine keeps working.

02 · The size: entry level is enough

One open-source research agent plus a scheduled script does not need a large machine:

Size. Start at 2 vCPU and 2 GB. If the budget allows, 2 vCPU and 4 GB leaves room for a larger open-source project.
Product. Prefer a lightweight application server. Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud both sell one. At the same price it is simpler than a full ECS instance, and it includes a traffic package. That is the beginner default.
Region. Pick a node close to you, such as Hangzhou, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. SSH latency stays low.
Image. Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS. Those images have the most tutorials and the fewest surprises.
Term. A first purchase for a new customer is often discounted. Buy one month, and renew for longer once the machine behaves. Prices and discounts follow the official campaign page.

Alibaba Cloud · see the current offer →

03 · Change three defaults at checkout

Leave the rest of the order form alone. Change three things:

Login. Choose a custom password. Make it a strong password you can remember. You will switch to key login later.
Firewall. Allow only 22 (SSH), 80, and 443. When a later agent needs another port, open that port and no others. A rule that allows every port leaves the machine unprotected.
Hostname. Set a name you will recognize in the console, such as quant-lab.

04 · One command logs you in

Windows 10 and 11 include OpenSSH. You do not install a client. On a Mac, open Terminal. The console shows a public IP after the instance is up. Put that IP in place of YOUR_IP:

ssh root@YOUR_IP
# The first connection asks "Are you sure you want to continue connecting?" Type yes.
# Then type the password you set. The screen shows nothing while you type. That is normal. Press Enter.

A welcome banner and a prompt that looks like root@hostname:~# means you are on the machine. Later commands are pasted into that window.

05 · Three things to do after the first login

# 1) Update packages. Do this on the first login.
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# 2) Create a normal user. Use this user day to day, not root.
adduser lab          # set a password when asked; press Enter through the rest
usermod -aG sudo lab

# 3) Set the clock. Later scheduled jobs depend on it.
timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Shanghai

Then exit, and log in day to day with ssh lab@YOUR_IP. Write the IP and the password down somewhere safe. They are the key to this desk.

06 · Pitfalls

SSH will not connect. About nine times out of ten, the security group did not allow port 22. Check the firewall in the console. Also use the public IP, not the private IP.
Password guessing. A public machine is scanned every day. The later step is SSH keys, with password login turned off. Until you can do that, a strong password is enough.
A bill that jumps. A fixed entry plan does not. Upgrading the size, or buying extra traffic, does change the bill. Set a balance alert in the billing center.
Forgetting to renew. The vendor keeps the disk for a few days and then releases it. Renew early, or copy databases and scripts back to your own computer on a schedule.

The machine is yours. The next job is an open-source research agent on it.

Next, in Chinese: Docker deploy of a research agent →

A purchase through the Alibaba Cloud entry on this page may earn this site a commission. New customers are often offered 85% of list price. The official campaign page wins. Your price is the same as going there yourself.

Alibaba Cloud · see the current offer →

Related English guides: a cloud quant desk · paper trading · quant trading platforms · a learning path · all guides · all tools

Frequently asked questions

How to choose a first cloud server?

For a machine that stays online for a research agent and a scheduled brief, rent a lightweight application server. Do not use a computer at home, and do not start on a full ECS instance. Start at 2 vCPU and 2 GB. If the budget allows, 2 vCPU and 4 GB leaves room for a larger open-source project. Use Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS. Pick a region close to you, such as Hangzhou, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, so SSH latency stays low. At checkout, set a custom password, allow only ports 22, 80, and 443, and set a hostname you will recognize, such as quant-lab. Buy one month first. Prices and discounts follow the official campaign page. This page is opening the instance and connecting over SSH. It is not the cloud quant desk, not the paper-trading ledger, not a broker terminal, and not the learning path. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.

Who it is for?

Someone with no code who wants a cheap machine online all week, so a research agent and a morning brief have somewhere to run. The path is copy and paste. Windows 10 and 11 already include OpenSSH. macOS uses Terminal. About 20 minutes from checkout to a root shell, then a normal user named lab for day-to-day login. The Chinese page compares the monthly cost to one milk tea.

Who it is not for?

Someone who only reviews after the close on a computer they leave on. That work stays local. Someone who wants QMT, which needs a Windows image, not this Ubuntu image. Someone who already has a machine and wants Miniconda, cron, and a Qwen key. That is the cloud quant desk, a different article. Someone who wants a broker terminal that sends orders. That comparison is the quant-platform guide. This page does not publish a live price. The official campaign page wins. This page is not the tool-order guide and not the site FAQ.

Why not a computer at home?

A research agent and a morning brief need something that stays online. A home computer fails three ways. You shut it down. Home broadband uses a dynamic IP. A router sits in front of the machine, so inbound traffic from the internet does not reach it. An entry-level cloud server removes all three. The Chinese page compares the monthly cost to one milk tea. You sleep. The machine keeps working.

Which size should you buy?

A research agent plus a scheduled script is a small job. Start at 2 vCPU and 2 GB. If the budget allows, 2 vCPU and 4 GB leaves room for a larger open-source project. Prefer a lightweight application server. Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud both sell one. At the same price it is simpler than a full ECS instance, and it includes a traffic package. Pick a region close to you, such as Hangzhou, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, so SSH latency stays low. Use Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS. Those images have the most tutorials. Buy one month first, and renew for longer once the machine behaves. Prices and discounts follow the official campaign page. The Chinese page says new customers are often offered 85% of list price through this site's entry. The official page wins.

Which three defaults should you change?

Leave the rest of the order form on its defaults. Change three things. Login: choose a custom password, and make it a strong password you can remember. You will switch to key login later. Firewall: allow only port 22 for SSH, plus 80 and 443. When a later agent needs another port, open that port and no others. A rule that allows every port leaves the machine unprotected. Hostname: set a name you will recognize in the console, such as quant-lab.

How do you log in over SSH?

Windows 10 and 11 include OpenSSH. You do not install a client. On a Mac, open Terminal. The console shows a public IP after the instance is up. Run ssh root@YOUR_IP, with that public IP in place of YOUR_IP. The first connection asks "Are you sure you want to continue connecting?" Type yes. Then type the password you set. The screen shows nothing while you type. That is normal. Press Enter. A welcome banner and a prompt that looks like root@hostname:~# means you are on the machine. Later commands are pasted into that window.

What are the three things to do after the first login?

Three commands. Update packages: apt update && apt upgrade -y. Create a normal user for day-to-day work, and do not stay on root: adduser lab, then usermod -aG sudo lab. Set the clock, because later scheduled jobs depend on it: timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Shanghai. Then exit, and log in as ssh lab@YOUR_IP. Write the IP and the password down somewhere safe. They are the key to this desk.

What pitfalls does this walkthrough call out?

Four. SSH that will not connect is, about nine times out of ten, a security group that did not allow port 22. Check the firewall in the console, and use the public IP, not the private IP. A public machine is scanned every day by people guessing passwords. The later step is SSH keys and password login turned off. Until then, a strong password is enough. A fixed entry plan does not jump at the end of the month. Upgrading the size, or buying extra traffic, does change the bill. Set a balance alert in the billing center. If you forget to renew, the vendor keeps the disk for a few days and then releases it. Renew early, or copy databases and scripts back to your own computer.