DevPod Deployment Guide on RamNode VPS | Dev Environments as Code

Prerequisites

RamNode VPS Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS	Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
CPU	1 vCPU	2+ vCPUs
RAM	2 GB	4 GB+
Storage	20 GB SSD	40 GB+ NVMe
Network	1 Gbps	1 Gbps

💡 The Premium KVM 4GB plan ($24/month) is an excellent choice — 2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM, and 60 GB NVMe. For lighter workloads, the Standard KVM 2GB ($10/month) works well.

Local Machine Requirements

A local computer running macOS, Windows, or Linux
An SSH key pair for passwordless authentication to your VPS
An IDE of your choice: VS Code, any JetBrains IDE, or a terminal editor

Secure Your VPS

Create a Non-Root User

Create user and grant sudo

adduser devuser
usermod -aG sudo devuser

Configure SSH Key Authentication

From your local machine

ssh-copy-id devuser@YOUR_VPS_IP

Disable password authentication on the VPS

sudo sed -i 's/#PasswordAuthentication yes/PasswordAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
sudo sed -i 's/PasswordAuthentication yes/PasswordAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
sudo systemctl restart sshd

Enable the Firewall

Configure UFW

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

Update System Packages

Update and install essentials

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y curl wget git ca-certificates gnupg lsb-release

Install Docker on the VPS

DevPod uses Docker to build and run devcontainers. Install Docker Engine using the official repository.

Add Docker repository and install

# Add the Docker repository
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) \
  signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \
  https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker Engine
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io \
  docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Configure Docker for Your User

Add user to docker group

sudo usermod -aG docker devuser
newgrp docker
docker run hello-world

⚠️ Important: The SSH user that DevPod connects with must be either root or a member of the docker group. DevPod will not function if Docker requires sudo.

Verify Docker installation

docker --version
docker compose version
systemctl is-active docker

Install DevPod on Your Local Machine

DevPod is a client-only tool — it runs entirely on your local machine and connects to remote infrastructure via SSH. You do not install DevPod on the VPS itself.

Option A: Desktop Application

Download the DevPod Desktop app for your platform from devpod.sh:

macOS (Apple Silicon): DevPod_macos_aarch64.dmg
macOS (Intel): DevPod_macos_x64.dmg
Windows: DevPod_windows_x64_en-US.msi
Linux: DevPod_linux_amd64.AppImage

Option B: CLI Installation

macOS (Apple Silicon)

curl -L -o devpod "https://github.com/loft-sh/devpod/releases/latest/download/devpod-darwin-arm64"
sudo install -c -m 0755 devpod /usr/local/bin
rm -f devpod

macOS (Intel)

curl -L -o devpod "https://github.com/loft-sh/devpod/releases/latest/download/devpod-darwin-amd64"
sudo install -c -m 0755 devpod /usr/local/bin
rm -f devpod

Linux (AMD64)

curl -L -o devpod "https://github.com/loft-sh/devpod/releases/latest/download/devpod-linux-amd64"
sudo install -c -m 0755 devpod /usr/local/bin
rm -f devpod

Windows (PowerShell)

md -Force "$Env:APPDATA\devpod"
Invoke-WebRequest -URI "https://github.com/loft-sh/devpod/releases/latest/download/devpod-windows-amd64.exe" -OutFile $Env:APPDATA\devpod\devpod.exe
$env:Path += ";" + $Env:APPDATA + "\devpod"

Verify installation

devpod version

Configure the SSH Provider

The SSH provider connects DevPod to any Linux machine accessible via SSH — perfect for a RamNode VPS.

Add the SSH provider

devpod provider add ssh -o HOST=devuser@YOUR_VPS_IP

Or through the Desktop App: navigate to Providers → + Add, select SSH, and enter your host as devuser@YOUR_VPS_IP.

SSH Key Configuration

DevPod requires passwordless SSH. If your key is not at the default path, add it to your SSH config:

~/.ssh/config

Host YOUR_VPS_IP
    User devuser
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/your_key

Verify the provider

devpod provider list

Optional: Enable Built-in SSH Client

Use DevPod's built-in SSH client

devpod provider set-options ssh \
  --option USE_BUILTIN_SSH=true

Create Your First Workspace

Workspaces are DevPod's core concept — each workspace is a containerized development environment built from a devcontainer.json configuration.

From a Git Repository

Create workspace from GitHub

devpod up github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-try-node

From a Local Directory

Create workspace from local project

devpod up ./my-project

Advanced Options

Custom name, branch, and IDE selection

# Custom workspace name
devpod up github.com/my-org/my-app --id my-app-workspace

# Target a specific branch
devpod up github.com/my-org/my-app@develop

# Choose your IDE
devpod up github.com/my-org/my-app --ide vscode        # VS Code (default)
devpod up github.com/my-org/my-app --ide openvscode     # VS Code in browser
devpod up github.com/my-org/my-app --ide intellij       # JetBrains
devpod up github.com/my-org/my-app --ide none           # Terminal only

Manage Workspaces

Command	Description
`devpod list`	List all workspaces and their status
`devpod up WORKSPACE`	Start or reconnect to a workspace
`devpod stop WORKSPACE`	Stop a workspace (preserves state)
`devpod delete WORKSPACE`	Permanently remove a workspace
`devpod ssh WORKSPACE`	SSH directly into a workspace container
`devpod status WORKSPACE`	Check workspace status

Auto-Inactivity Shutdown

Configure workspaces to automatically stop when inactive, saving VPS resources:

Set inactivity timeout

devpod provider set-options ssh \
  --option INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT=30m

Create a devcontainer.json

Add a .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file to your projects to define reproducible development environments.

Node.js Example

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

{
  "name": "Node.js Dev Environment",
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/javascript-node:22",
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/github-cli:1": {}
  },
  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "extensions": [
        "dbaeumer.vscode-eslint",
        "esbenp.prettier-vscode"
      ]
    }
  },
  "forwardPorts": [3000, 5173],
  "postCreateCommand": "npm install",
  "remoteUser": "node"
}

Python Example

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

{
  "name": "Python Dev Environment",
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/python:3.12",
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers-contrib/features/poetry:2": {}
  },
  "forwardPorts": [8000],
  "postCreateCommand": "pip install -r requirements.txt"
}

Optimize Your RamNode VPS for DevPod

Docker Storage Cleanup

Manual and automated cleanup

# Manual cleanup
docker system prune -af --volumes

# Automated weekly cleanup via cron
(crontab -l; echo "0 3 * * 0 docker system prune \
  -af --volumes >> /var/log/docker-prune.log 2>&1") \
  | crontab -

Docker Daemon Configuration

Create /etc/docker/daemon.json

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "3"
  },
  "storage-driver": "overlay2",
  "default-address-pools": [
    { "base": "172.17.0.0/16", "size": 24 }
  ]
}

Enable Swap (Optional)

For VPS plans with limited RAM, adding swap provides a safety net:

Add swap space

sudo fallocate -l 4G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
echo "/swapfile none swap sw 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
sudo sysctl vm.swappiness=10

Troubleshooting

SSH Connection Refused

Verify your SSH key is correctly configured and the user has passwordless access. Check port 22 is open (sudo ufw status), the SSH service is running (sudo systemctl status sshd), and try enabling the built-in SSH client: devpod provider set-options ssh --option USE_BUILTIN_SSH=true.

Docker Permission Denied

Confirm your user is in the docker group: groups devuser. Log out and back in (or run newgrp docker) after adding the group. Verify Docker runs without sudo: docker ps.

Workspace Build Failures

Check available disk space (df -h), ensure Docker is running (systemctl is-active docker), review your devcontainer.json for syntax errors, and try recreating with devpod up WORKSPACE --recreate.

Slow Performance

Consider upgrading to a higher-tier RamNode VPS plan. Enable swap if RAM is constrained. Use Docker build caching by keeping base images pulled. Clean unused images and containers regularly.

DevPod Environment Ready!

Your DevPod remote development setup is now complete on a RamNode VPS. You have reproducible, containerized dev environments powered by the devcontainer standard — a self-hosted, vendor-free alternative to GitHub Codespaces at a fraction of the cost. RamNode's NVMe-backed VPS infrastructure provides the performance your development workflows demand — starting at just $4/month.

Deploy DevPod