How to install OpenHands on a Cloud VPS

OpenHands is an open-source AI software engineer that writes, runs and debugs code on your own server, working through development tasks the way a developer would.

Running it on your own server keeps your data and API keys with you, with no SaaS usage limits and predictable hourly billing.

One-click install on cloudlinux.ro

The fastest way: OpenHands installs automatically at the first boot of a new server.

1. Create a Cloud VPS from the control panel.
2. In the configuration step, pick OpenHands from the app catalog.
3. Start the server. The install runs in the background for a few minutes and its status shows on the server page.
4. Access details and generated passwords are saved on the server in /root/app-credentials.txt.

Manual install on any Ubuntu server

If you prefer doing it yourself, below is the exact script our automatic install runs. Execute it as root on a fresh Ubuntu server (24.04 recommended). It stops at the first error, and when it finishes you will find the access details in /root/app-credentials.txt.

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
docker volume create openhands_state
docker volume create openhands_projects
docker run -d --name openhands --restart=always \
  -p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 \
  -v openhands_state:/home/openhands/.openhands \
  -v openhands_projects:/projects \
  ghcr.io/openhands/agent-canvas:1
IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')
printf 'OpenHands ruleaza pe portul 8000, legat doar la localhost.\nAplicatia NU are autentificare proprie, de aceea nu este expusa public: un agent care ruleaza cod, lasat deschis pe internet, inseamna acces total la server.\nAcceseaz-o printr-un tunel SSH de pe calculatorul tau:\n  ssh -L 8000:127.0.0.1:8000 root@%s\nApoi deschide http://localhost:8000 in browser.\nAdauga o cheie API pentru un LLM (Anthropic sau OpenAI) din interfata; fara ea agentul nu functioneaza.\n' "$IP" > /root/app-credentials.txt

You can also save this script as a recipe in your account and reuse it on any new server.