How do I install the Openhost Deployment skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add cloud-in-a-bottle/openhost-deployment in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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Is Openhost Deployment free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Openhost Deployment?

cloud-in-a-bottle (@cloud-in-a-bottle) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Openhost Deployment by cloud-in-a-bottle

Name: Openhost Deployment
Author: cloud-in-a-bottle

File contents

Cloud in a Bottle Instance Deployment

How to stand up a new Cloud in a Bottle instance on a server.

Requirements

Fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server (cloud VPS or bare metal) with root SSH access
A domain with DNS control
Ansible installed locally (uv tool install ansible-core)
ACME account key at ansible/secrets/certbot_private_key.json

DNS records

Two records are needed before deployment:

Type	Name	Value
NS	`host.example.com`	`ns1.host.example.com`
A	`ns1.host.example.com`	server IP

This delegates *.host.example.com to the CoreDNS instance that Cloud in a Bottle runs on the server.

Option 1: Provision script (run on the server)

SSH into the server as root and run:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cloud-in-a-bottle/cloud-in-a-bottle/main/scripts/provision.sh | sudo bash -s -- --domain host.example.com

Optional flags:

--branch <branch> -- deploy a specific branch (default: main)
--repo <url> -- use a different repo URL

The script:

Creates the host user, copies SSH keys from root
Installs ansible-core and git
Clones the openhost repo
Runs the ansible playbook (apt packages, podman, pixi, CoreDNS, Caddy, systemd service)
Generates an ACME account key (Let's Encrypt) if missing
Starts the openhost systemd service

Option 2: Ansible from a local machine

From a local clone of the repo:

# Full setup on a fresh server
ansible-playbook ansible/setup.yml \
  -i <IP>, \
  -e domain=<domain> \
  -e initial_user=root \
  --private-key=~/.ssh/YOUR_KEY

# Fast re-deploy (pull code, update config, restart)
ansible-playbook ansible/deploy.yml \
  -i <IP>, \
  -e domain=<domain> \
  --private-key=~/.ssh/YOUR_KEY

The trailing comma after the IP is required (tells ansible it's a host list, not a file).

To deploy a specific commit: -e openhost_commit=$(git rev-parse HEAD). The commit must be pushed.

What gets installed

The ansible playbook configures:

podman (rootless) -- container runtime, runs as the host user
CoreDNS (:53) -- authoritative DNS, wildcard *.domain to server IP
Caddy (:443/:80) -- TLS termination via ACME DNS-01, reverse proxy to the router
Cloud in a Bottle router (:8080) -- Python app (Quart/Hypercorn), runs as a systemd service (openhost.service)
pixi -- package manager for the Python environment
Data directories under /opt/openhost
The openhost0 dummy interface at 10.200.0.1 for container-to-host networking

Verifying the instance

# SSH in
ssh host@<domain>

# Check service
systemctl status openhost

# View logs
journalctl -u openhost -f

# Health check
curl https://<domain>/health

The dashboard is at https://<domain>/. On first visit you set the owner password.

Dev mode

For local development without DNS or TLS:

cd openhost
openhost up --dev

Serves HTTP on :8080. No CoreDNS or Caddy.

Filesystem requirements

Rootless podman uses idmapped mounts for bind-mounted data directories. The server must use a filesystem that supports idmapped mounts (ext4, xfs, btrfs, tmpfs). The bootstrap fails early if this is not the case.

---name: openhost-deploymentdescription: Reference for provisioning and deploying Cloud in a Bottle instances. Covers server requirements, DNS setup, Ansible deployment, and the provision script.---# Cloud in a Bottle Instance DeploymentHow to stand up a new Cloud in a Bottle instance on a server.## Requirements- Fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server (cloud VPS or bare metal) with root SSH access- A domain with DNS control- Ansible installed locally (`uv tool install ansible-core`)- ACME account key at `ansible/secrets/certbot_private_key.json`## DNS recordsTwo records are needed before deployment:| Type | Name | Value ||------|------|-------|| NS | `host.example.com` | `ns1.host.example.com` || A | `ns1.host.example.com` | server IP |This delegates `*.host.example.com` to the CoreDNS instance that Cloud in a Bottle runs on the server.## Option 1: Provision script (run on the server)SSH into the server as root and run:```bashcurl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cloud-in-a-bottle/cloud-in-a-bottle/main/scripts/provision.sh | sudo bash -s -- --domain host.example.com```Optional flags:- `--branch <branch>` -- deploy a specific branch (default: main)- `--repo <url>` -- use a different repo URLThe script:1. Creates the `host` user, copies SSH keys from root2. Installs ansible-core and git3. Clones the openhost repo4. Runs the ansible playbook (apt packages, podman, pixi, CoreDNS, Caddy, systemd service)5. Generates an ACME account key (Let's Encrypt) if missing6. Starts the openhost systemd service## Option 2: Ansible from a local machineFrom a local clone of the repo:```bash# Full setup on a fresh serveransible-playbook ansible/setup.yml \ -i <IP>, \ -e domain=<domain> \ -e initial_user=root \ --private-key=~/.ssh/YOUR_KEY# Fast re-deploy (pull code, update config, restart)ansible-playbook ansible/deploy.yml \ -i <IP>, \ -e domain=<domain> \ --private-key=~/.ssh/YOUR_KEY```The trailing comma after the IP is required (tells ansible it's a host list, not a file).To deploy a specific commit: `-e openhost_commit=$(git rev-parse HEAD)`. The commit must be pushed.## What gets installedThe ansible playbook configures:- **podman** (rootless) -- container runtime, runs as the `host` user- **CoreDNS** (:53) -- authoritative DNS, wildcard `*.domain` to server IP- **Caddy** (:443/:80) -- TLS termination via ACME DNS-01, reverse proxy to the router- **Cloud in a Bottle router** (:8080) -- Python app (Quart/Hypercorn), runs as a systemd service (`openhost.service`)- **pixi** -- package manager for the Python environment- Data directories under `/opt/openhost`- The `openhost0` dummy interface at `10.200.0.1` for container-to-host networking## Verifying the instance```bash# SSH inssh host@<domain># Check servicesystemctl status openhost# View logsjournalctl -u openhost -f# Health checkcurl https://<domain>/health```The dashboard is at `https://<domain>/`. On first visit you set the owner password.## Dev modeFor local development without DNS or TLS:```bashcd openhostopenhost up --dev```Serves HTTP on `:8080`. No CoreDNS or Caddy.## Filesystem requirementsRootless podman uses idmapped mounts for bind-mounted data directories. The server must use a filesystem that supports idmapped mounts (ext4, xfs, btrfs, tmpfs). The bootstrap fails early if this is not the case.

Frequently asked questions

Openhost Deployment