> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.osmedeus.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Hetzner Provider Guide > Step-by-step guide for running osmedeus cloud on Hetzner Cloud servers, the lowest cost provider web-ui-assets Introduction Cloud Step-by-step guide for running osmedeus cloud on Hetzner Cloud servers. Hetzner offers the lowest cost per instance among all supported providers, making it ideal for high-volume scanning. ## Prerequisites * A Hetzner Cloud account ([https://console.hetzner.cloud](https://console.hetzner.cloud)) * An API token * An SSH key pair (local `~/.ssh/id_rsa` and `~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub`) ### Get Your API Token 1. Go to **Hetzner Cloud Console** > select your project (or create one) 2. **Security** > **API Tokens** > **Generate API Token** 3. Set permissions to **Read & Write** 4. Copy the token (shown only once) You can also store it as an environment variable: ```bash theme={null} export HETZNER_API_TOKEN="your-token-here" ``` ## Configuration ### Minimal Setup ```bash theme={null} # Enable cloud feature osmedeus config set cloud.enabled true # Credentials osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.token ${HETZNER_API_TOKEN} osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.location hel1 osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.server_type "cx23" # 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM (current generation) osmedeus cloud config set defaults.provider hetzner # SSH osmedeus cloud config set ssh.private_key_path ~/.ssh/id_rsa osmedeus cloud config set ssh.public_key_path ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub osmedeus cloud config set ssh.user root # Clean the setup scripts first osmedeus cloud config set setup.commands.clear "" # Worker setup osmedeus cloud config set setup.commands.add "sudo apt-get update" osmedeus cloud config set setup.commands.add "sudo apt-get install -y -qq curl git tmux unzip jq rsync" osmedeus cloud config set setup.commands.add "curl -fsSL https://www.osmedeus.org/install.sh | bash" osmedeus cloud config set setup.commands.add "osmedeus install base --preset" ``` ### Server Types Hetzner's pricing is significantly cheaper than other providers: | Server Type | vCPU | RAM | Disk | \$/hr | \$/month | Best For | | ----------- | ---- | ----- | ------ | --------- | --------- | --------------------------- | | cx22 | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB | \~\$0.007 | \~\$4.50 | Light scans, single targets | | cx32 | 4 | 8 GB | 80 GB | \~\$0.013 | \~\$8.50 | General scanning | | cx42 | 8 | 16 GB | 160 GB | \~\$0.025 | \~\$16.50 | Heavy scans, parallel tools | | cx52 | 16 | 32 GB | 320 GB | \~\$0.050 | \~\$33.00 | Large-scale operations | | cpx21 | 3 | 4 GB | 80 GB | \~\$0.008 | \~\$5.50 | CPU-optimized scanning | | cpx31 | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB | \~\$0.015 | \~\$10.00 | CPU-optimized, more RAM | ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.server_type cx32 ``` ### Locations | Location | Code | Region | | ----------- | ------ | ------- | | Falkenstein | `fsn1` | Germany | | Nuremberg | `nbg1` | Germany | | Helsinki | `hel1` | Finland | | Ashburn | `ash` | US East | | Hillsboro | `hil` | US West | | Singapore | `sin` | Asia | ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.location fsn1 ``` ### Custom Image Use a pre-built snapshot for faster boot: ```bash theme={null} # After setting up a server manually with all tools: # Hetzner Console > Servers > your-server > Snapshots > Create Snapshot # Note the snapshot ID osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.image 12345678 ``` ### SSH Key (optional) If you have an SSH key registered in Hetzner Cloud: ```bash theme={null} # Hetzner Console > Security > SSH Keys > note the key name osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.ssh_key_name my-key-name ``` ### Cost Limits ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud config set limits.max_hourly_spend 0.50 osmedeus cloud config set limits.max_total_spend 5.00 osmedeus cloud config set limits.max_instances 20 ``` ## Examples ### Quick Domain Recon ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud run -f fast -t example.com --auto-destroy ``` Cost: \~\$0.007 (1 x cx22 x 1 hour) -- less than a penny. ### Budget Bulk Scanning Hetzner's low prices make it perfect for scanning many targets: ```bash theme={null} # 20 workers scanning 200 targets for ~$0.28 osmedeus cloud run \ -f fast -T targets.txt --instances 20 \ --sync-back --auto-destroy ``` Cost: 20 x $0.007 x 2 hours = **$0.28\*\* ### Custom Command Pipeline ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud run \ --custom-cmd "subfinder -d {{Target}} -o /tmp/osm-custom/subs.txt" \ --custom-cmd "cat /tmp/osm-custom/subs.txt | httpx -o /tmp/osm-custom/live.txt" \ --custom-cmd "cat /tmp/osm-custom/live.txt | nuclei -o /tmp/osm-custom/nuclei.txt" \ --sync-path "/tmp/osm-custom/" \ -t example.com --auto-destroy ``` Cost: \~\$0.007 ### Distributed Nuclei at Scale ```bash theme={null} # Split 10,000 URLs across 10 Hetzner workers osmedeus cloud run \ --custom-cmd "cat {{Target}} | nuclei -o /tmp/osm-custom/results.txt" \ --sync-path "/tmp/osm-custom/results.txt" \ --sync-dest "./nuclei-hetzner" \ -T urls.txt --instances 10 --auto-destroy ``` Cost: 10 x $0.007 x 1 hour = **$0.07\*\* ### Port Scanning ```bash theme={null} # Use a bigger instance for masscan (needs more resources) osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.server_type cx32 osmedeus cloud run \ --custom-cmd "masscan {{Target}} -p1-65535 --rate 10000 -oG /tmp/osm-custom/masscan.txt" \ --custom-cmd "cat /tmp/osm-custom/masscan.txt | grep 'Host:' | awk '{print \$2\":\" \$5}' | sed 's|/.*||' > /tmp/osm-custom/open-ports.txt" \ --sync-path "/tmp/osm-custom/" \ -t 203.0.113.0/24 --auto-destroy ``` ### Persistent Low-Cost Lab ```bash theme={null} # Create 5 workers and keep them running all day osmedeus cloud create --provider hetzner -n 5 # Run multiple scans throughout the day osmedeus cloud run -f fast -t target1.com --reuse osmedeus cloud run --custom-cmd "nmap -sV {{Target}}" -t target2.com --reuse osmedeus cloud run -f general -T targets.txt --reuse # Destroy at end of day osmedeus cloud destroy all --force ``` Cost: 5 x $0.007 x 8 hours = **$0.28\*\* for a full day of scanning on 5 machines. ### EU-Based Scanning Hetzner's European locations are useful when you need scans originating from EU IP space: ```bash theme={null} # Use German datacenter osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.location fsn1 osmedeus cloud run -f fast -t eu-target.com --auto-destroy # Use Finnish datacenter osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.location hel1 osmedeus cloud run -f fast -t nordic-target.com --auto-destroy ``` ### High-Performance with cx42 ```bash theme={null} # Use 8 vCPU / 16 GB RAM instance for heavy parallel scanning osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.server_type cx42 osmedeus cloud run \ --custom-cmd "subfinder -d {{Target}} -all -o /tmp/osm-custom/subs.txt" \ --custom-cmd "cat /tmp/osm-custom/subs.txt | httpx -td -threads 200 -o /tmp/osm-custom/live.txt" \ --custom-cmd "cat /tmp/osm-custom/live.txt | nuclei -c 100 -o /tmp/osm-custom/nuclei.txt" \ --custom-cmd "cat /tmp/osm-custom/live.txt | katana -d 3 -jc -o /tmp/osm-custom/crawl.txt" \ --sync-path "/tmp/osm-custom/" \ -t example.com --auto-destroy ``` Cost: \~\$0.025 per hour ## Cost Comparison Why Hetzner is the cheapest option for bulk scanning: | Scenario | Hetzner (cx22) | DigitalOcean (s-2vcpu-4gb) | AWS (t3.medium) | | ---------------------- | -------------- | -------------------------- | --------------- | | 1 instance x 1 hour | \$0.007 | \$0.022 | \$0.042 | | 5 instances x 2 hours | \$0.07 | \$0.22 | \$0.42 | | 10 instances x 4 hours | \$0.28 | \$0.89 | \$1.66 | | 20 instances x 8 hours | \$1.12 | \$3.57 | \$6.66 | Hetzner is \~3x cheaper than DigitalOcean and \~6x cheaper than AWS for equivalent specs. ## Troubleshooting ### "Unauthorized" Error Your API token is invalid or expired. Generate a new one in the Hetzner Cloud Console. ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.token ``` ### Server Type Not Available Some server types may not be available in all locations. Try a different location: ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud config set providers.hetzner.location nbg1 ``` ### SSH Connection Issues Hetzner servers default to `root` user: ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud config set ssh.user root ``` Verify your SSH key is correctly configured: ```bash theme={null} osmedeus cloud run --custom-cmd "whoami" -t test --verbose-setup ``` ### Rate Limiting Hetzner's API has rate limits. If creating many instances at once, you may hit them. Space out creation or contact Hetzner support to increase limits. ### Cleaning Up ```bash theme={null} # List all infrastructure osmedeus cloud list # Destroy specific osmedeus cloud destroy # Destroy everything osmedeus cloud destroy all --force # If out of sync, check Hetzner Console directly: # Console > Servers > look for osmedeus-prefixed servers ``` ## Best Practices 1. **Use cx22 as default** -- 2 vCPU / 4 GB is enough for most scans at \$0.007/hr 2. **Scale horizontally** -- 10 x cx22 is cheaper and faster than 1 x cx52 for parallelizable workloads 3. **Always `--auto-destroy`** -- even at \$0.007/hr, forgotten instances add up 4. **Use European locations** (fsn1, nbg1) for lowest latency to Hetzner's network 5. **Pre-build snapshots** for frequently-used tool configurations to skip setup time 6. **Set modest cost limits** -- even \$5.00 max\_total\_spend goes a long way at Hetzner pricing