Install Claude Code on your own server: the complete step-by-step guide

Open the OVHcloud website

Go to ovhcloud.com, click “My account” then “Create an account”. Pick “Individual” (or “Company” if you have a business registration number).

Fill in the form

Name, postal address, email, phone. Use your real address: the provider is required to verify it on a first purchase.

Confirm your email

You receive an email with a link: click it. Without this confirmation you cannot order anything.

Choose a strong password

At least 12 characters, with digits and symbols. Save it in your phone’s password manager: you will need it several times.

Turn on two-factor authentication

In My account → Security, enable verification by SMS or authenticator app. A server is a machine that belongs to you: lock the front door.

Add a payment method

In My account → Payment methods, register a card or PayPal. You can also pay at checkout, but a saved card makes the monthly renewal painless.

Open the VPS page

In the OVHcloud menu: Bare Metal Cloud → VPS (or type “VPS” in the site search). You land on the list of models.

Pick the model

Take the VPS-1, the entry-level model (2 cores, 4 GB of memory, 40 GB of storage): about €5.81 per month (roughly $7) including VAT, daily backup included. You can upgrade later without reinstalling.

Pick the operating system: Ubuntu 24.04

Under “Image” or “Operating system”, choose Ubuntu 24.04. It is the system this guide follows, the most common and the best documented.

Pick the data center

Choose the one closest to your visitors (Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia…). If one is “out of stock”, take another: it changes nothing for you.

Add automatic backups

The “Automated backup” option (around €0.35 per month) keeps a copy of your server every night. Take it: it is your safety net.

Confirm the order and pay

Duration “1 month” (no commitment), then “Order”. Pay with your card. On a very first purchase, the provider sometimes verifies your identity: check your email and send the requested document.

Wait for the delivery email

Between a few minutes and an hour. The email “Your VPS is ready” contains the IP address of your server (four numbers separated by dots, for example 92.222.25.227) and the password of the ubuntu user. Keep it safe.

Note the temporary technical address

Even before you have a domain, your server will answer at an address like https://92-222-25-227.sslip.io (your IP with dashes). Write it down: it is how you will check that everything works.

Open a terminal

On Mac: the Terminal app (Applications → Utilities). On Windows: Windows Terminal or PowerShell. On iPhone / iPad: an app like Termius or Blink Shell.

Connect with ssh

Type (replacing the IP with yours):

ssh ubuntu@92.222.25.227

Change the password

Right after the first login:

passwd

Create an SSH key on your computer

A key replaces the password with a secret file, far safer. On your computer (not on the server):

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

Send the key to the server

Still from your computer, on Mac or Linux:

ssh-copy-id ubuntu@92.222.25.227

type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub | ssh ubuntu@92.222.25.227 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Check that the key works

Open a second terminal and connect: if no password is requested, you are good. Do not close the first terminal before checking: it is your emergency door.

Update the system

sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade

Enable automatic updates

sudo apt -y install unattended-upgrades
printf 'APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";\nAPT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "1";\n' | sudo tee /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades

Install the firewall and open only three doors

sudo apt -y install ufw
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw --force enable

Install fail2ban against login attempts

sudo apt -y install fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable --now fail2ban

Disable password login

Since your key works (part 3), switch off the old method:

echo "PasswordAuthentication no" | sudo tee /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/60-security.conf
sudo systemctl reload ssh

Install the tools the next parts need

sudo apt -y install curl git tmux ca-certificates

Reboot once

sudo reboot

Install Caddy

sudo apt -y install debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https gnupg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt -y install caddy

Create your project folder

mkdir -p ~/my-project
chmod 755 ~ ~/my-project

Write a first page

cat > ~/my-project/index.html <<'EOF'
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title>My project</title></head>
<body><h1>My server is online</h1></body></html>
EOF

Tell Caddy what to serve

Replace the address with yours (your IP with dashes, followed by .sslip.io):

sudo tee /etc/caddy/Caddyfile > /dev/null <<'EOF'
92-222-25-227.sslip.io {
	root * /home/ubuntu/my-project
	encode zstd gzip
	file_server
}
EOF
sudo systemctl enable caddy
sudo systemctl reload caddy

Check in your browser

Open https://92-222-25-227.sslip.io (with your IP). You should see “My server is online” with the padlock. If the page takes a minute to answer the first time, Caddy is obtaining the certificate: that is normal.

Run the official installer

On the server, as the ubuntu user (not with sudo):

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Make the command available

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
claude --version

Connect your Claude subscription

In your project folder:

cd ~/my-project
claude auth login

Paste the code into the terminal

Back in the terminal, it is waiting with “Paste code here”. Paste the code, press Enter. Check:

claude auth status

Mark the folder as trusted

On first launch, Claude asks whether you trust this folder. Launch it once:

claude

Make a first test

claude -p "Describe the files in this folder"

Start a session that survives closing the terminal

With tmux, a program keeps running after you leave:

tmux new -s claude
cd ~/my-project
claude remote-control --name "my-server"

Answer “y” to the question

The first time, Claude asks “Enable Remote Control? (y/n)”: type y then Enter. The screen shows “Connected · my-server”.

Detach the session

Press Ctrl + B, then D. The terminal comes back, but the Claude session keeps running in the background. (To return to it later: tmux attach -t claude.)

Open the Claude app on your phone

Code tab: your server “my-server” appears in the list of devices. Tap it, then “New session”.

Give a first instruction

For example: “Change the home page title to ‘Welcome to my place’”. Claude edits index.html; reload your page in the browser: the title changed. You are coding from your phone.

Make the session restart by itself (optional, more technical)

A systemd service relaunches Remote Control when the server boots:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/claude-remote.service > /dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Claude Code Remote Control
After=network-online.target
[Service]
User=ubuntu
WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/my-project
Environment=PATH=/home/ubuntu/.local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/.local/bin/claude remote-control --name "my-server" --permission-mode acceptEdits
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now claude-remote

Stop the tmux session if you use the service

Both must not run at the same time: tmux kill-session -t claude.

Open your domain’s DNS zone

At your registrar (OVHcloud: Domain names → your domain → DNS zone; otherwise wherever you bought the domain).

Edit the A record of the domain

Find the line of type A whose subdomain is empty (the domain itself). Set its target to your server’s IP. If there is none, add it: type A, empty subdomain, target 92.222.25.227, TTL 300.

Do the same for “www”

Type A, subdomain www, target: the same IP. Delete any CNAME “www” that pointed elsewhere.

Touch nothing else

The MX, SPF, DKIM and TXT lines are about your email: leave them alone. You only change the address of the website.

Add the domain to Caddy

On the server, edit the Caddyfile so it also serves your domain (replace with yours):

sudo tee /etc/caddy/Caddyfile > /dev/null <<'EOF'
92-222-25-227.sslip.io, mysite.com, www.mysite.com {
	root * /home/ubuntu/my-project
	encode zstd gzip
	file_server
}
EOF
sudo systemctl reload caddy

Wait for propagation

Between one minute and one hour, sometimes more if the old address had a long time-to-live. Check with a service like dnschecker.org: when your IP shows everywhere, it has propagated.

Open your domain over HTTPS

https://mysite.com must show your page with the padlock. Caddy requested the certificate by itself as soon as the domain pointed to it. If you still see the old site, clear your browser cache or try a private window.

Updates

They are automatic (part 4). Once a month, log in and type sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade && sudo reboot for the updates that need a restart.

Backups

Your provider backs up the server every night (option from part 2). To restore: your VPS page → Backups. Also keep your files in a git repository (cd ~/my-project && git init); Claude knows how to use it.

When something breaks

The right reflex: describe what you see to Claude, or to the AI you usually use, in your own words. It will walk you through. If the server does not answer at all, reboot it from your provider’s control panel.

What it costs, and how to stop

About €5.81 (roughly $7) per month for the server, about $20 for the Claude subscription, plus your domain (about $15 a year for a .com). No commitment: the server is cancelled from your provider’s control panel, the subscription from your Claude account.