Bring your own VM (App Servers)

What it's for

You already have a VPS or bare-metal server. Instead of migrating off it, connect it to Dada over SSH once — we install Docker and an edge agent, and from then on you manage it (and deploy to it) from the console like any other resource. No app has to move.

How to connect

1. Go to App Servers → Add VM.
2. Give it a Name (lowercase, DNS-style — used for the VM record and its Portainer endpoint).
3. Under Source, choose Connect existing VM.
4. Fill in:
   • VM IP address
   • SSH port (default 22)
   • SSH user (default root)
   • SSH private key — pasted directly. It is used once to install Docker and the edge agent, then discarded; it is never stored.
5. Submit. Status starts at Provisioning, then WaitingForAgent (blue → amber) while the edge agent phones home, then Ready (green) once Portainer confirms the heartbeat.

Gotchas

• The SSH key is never stored — if the connect attempt fails partway, you'll need to paste it again to retry (see below). There's no "save for later."
• WaitingForAgent has no built-in timeout/progress indicator in the current UI — if it sits there a long time, check that the VM can reach the platform's network and that Docker installed correctly; the console won't tell you what's wrong on its own yet.
• If the connect fails (status Failed), use Retry connect on the server's detail page to paste the SSH key again. The VM IP is read-only in the retry modal — you cannot fix a wrong IP this way. If the IP itself was wrong, delete the server and create it again with the correct IP.
• Delete is available from the App Servers list (row action) for anyone with manage permission — deleting redirects you to Operations to watch it finish.

After it's Ready

Already have containers running on it? Head to Adopt existing workloads to bring them under management without rebuilding anything.

Not yet supported

• Changing the VM IP on an existing server (delete + recreate is the only path).
• A visible timeout or actionable diagnostics while stuck in WaitingForAgent.
• Deploying a brand-new app to a VM environment from the Applications page — VM environments are deliberately blocked there; use App Servers workflows instead.