--- icon: cloud title: Getting a machine description: Where to run Edgible if you have no spare computer: a virtual machine on your own computer, or a small cloud server, with your AI assistant doing the setup. next: get-edgible-running --- # Getting a machine Edgible runs on a computer you control. If you have a spare one, use that. If not, here are the other ways, and your AI assistant can do most of the work for each. | | Good for | Stays on | Cost | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **A spare computer** | Anything | If you leave it on | Free | | **A virtual machine on your own computer** | Trying Edgible, learning, testing | Only while your computer is on and awake | Free | | **A small cloud server** | A website or apps other people rely on | Always | A few dollars a month and up | ## What Edgible needs Whichever you choose, tell your AI these, so it gets them right: - **Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04,** or a Mac. On Windows, Ubuntu 26.04 in WSL2 is what we suggest first, a virtual machine if you want it kept apart from your own system. WSL2 works, but WSL stops when nothing is using it, so it needs a small scheduled task to stay up, and it stops when Windows sleeps. Your AI sets this up and asks first. - **Memory:** 2 GB for a website, 4 GB for an AI gateway, 8 GB for your own AI agent with its gateway. - **Disk:** 20 to 30 GB free. - **Internet out, and no ports in.** Edgible connects out, so there's nothing to open in a firewall or router. If your AI offers to open a port for Edgible, say no. - **On when you need it.** For apps other people use, a machine that stays on. ## A virtual machine on your own computer A virtual machine is a whole computer running inside yours. We use Multipass, Canonical's free tool for Ubuntu virtual machines, on a Mac, Windows or Linux. In Claude Code on your computer, say: > Create an Ubuntu 26.04 virtual machine with Multipass, named edgible-vm, with 2 CPUs, 8 GB memory and 30 GB disk. Install Multipass first if it isn't here. Don't open any ports. It takes a few minutes. Then, in [Get Edgible running](../get-edgible-running/), Claude Code stays on your computer and sets up the virtual machine from there. Say this in place of step 3: > Set up Edgible on the Multipass virtual machine named edgible-vm, so I can run my own apps there. And in step 4: > Is Edgible running on the edgible-vm? The virtual machine runs while your computer is on and awake. For anything other people rely on, choose a spare computer or a cloud server instead. **One thing to know about its clock.** When your computer sleeps, the virtual machine stops with it, and can wake hours behind. Edgible then refuses the machine's requests without saying why: an app waits for ever for its certificate, or a sign-in code is rejected. Your AI sets the machine's clock to correct itself when it makes it, so this should be rare. If it ever happens, say: > Check the clock on edgible-vm. It's a quick fix, and nothing is lost. ## A small cloud server A server you rent by the month, from Hetzner, DigitalOcean or AWS Lightsail for example. You make the account and pay; your AI walks you through the rest: > Help me create a small Ubuntu 26.04 server at Hetzner with 8 GB memory. Sign-in with an SSH key only, and no inbound ports except SSH. I'll install Edgible on it. Then, in [Get Edgible running](../get-edgible-running/), say this in place of step 3, with your server's address: > Set up Edgible on my server, which I reach with ssh root@203.0.113.10, so I can run my own apps there. And in step 4, *"Is Edgible running on my server?"* ## A spare computer An old laptop or desktop works well. A Mac can run Edgible as it is: just set it not to sleep. A PC is best wiped and given Ubuntu: > Help me put Ubuntu 26.04 on my old PC, so it can run Edgible all the time. I have a USB stick. Then follow [Get Edgible running](../get-edgible-running/) on that computer, or from your own, as above. ## What you've just done You have a machine for Edgible, without buying anything you didn't need, and your AI did the fiddly parts. - **A virtual machine** is a whole Ubuntu server, free, inside your own computer, and nothing on your computer itself changed. Not sure about it? Say *"Delete the edgible-vm"*, and it's gone. - **A cloud server or a spare computer** stays on, so it's ready for apps other people rely on. - **Either way, you can change your mind.** Start in a virtual machine, and when other people come to rely on your apps, your AI can move them to a machine that stays on, data and all.