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Vast.ai offers full virtual machines (VMs) in addition to Docker-based instances. VMs provide a complete Linux environment, making them ideal for workloads that require init managers, nested containerization, or process tracing.

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Feature Comparison

VMs offer capabilities not available in Docker-based instances:
  • Init manager support (e.g., systemd) — required for running Docker, Kubernetes, Snap, or other containerization tools inside your instance
  • Process tracing (ptrace) support
However, VMs come with some trade-offs:
  • Slower creation and boot times
  • Higher disk overhead
  • Smaller selection of available machines
  • Fewer preconfigured templates
  • Only SSH launch mode is currently supported

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Creating a VM

Make sure you have added your SSH keys to your Account page before creating a VM. SSH keys cannot be edited on running VMs, and SSH is currently the only supported connection method.
Use one of the templates below to get started. These templates automatically filter for VM-capable machines and will launch a VM when you rent:
TemplateDescriptionProvidesUse Cases
Ubuntu 22.04 VMUbuntu 22.04 server with CLI accessCUDA, DockerDocker Compose applications, CUDA performance profiling
Ubuntu Desktop (VM)Ubuntu desktop with a graphical environmentCUDA, DockerGUI applications, visual development workflows
Environment variables in VMs are written to /etc/environment.

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Customizing VM Templates

VM images are packaged as Docker images from the docker.io/vastai/kvm repository. All VM templates must use one of these images, specified with the fully qualified name (e.g., docker.io/vastai/kvm:ubuntu_terminal).
Add vms_enabled=true to the Extra Filters field of the template to filter for machines that support VMs.

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Docker Options

VM templates support the following flags in the Docker options field, which behave the same as in Docker-based instances:
OptionExampleDescription
Environment variables-e JUPYTER_DIR=/ -e TEST=OKWritten to /etc/environment inside the VM
Ports-p 8081:8081 -p 8082:8082/udpExpose additional ports
For more details on these options, see Docker Environment.

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Launch Modes

Currently only SSH is supported. See the SSH guide for connection details.

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Differences from Docker-Based Instances

  • Data copy: The cloud copy utility for VMs only supports migrating the entire VM — individual folder copies are not available.
  • Copy scope: Copy is only supported between two VMs, not between VMs and external cloud storage providers.
  • Copy command: Use vastai vm copy $SRC $DEST to invoke the VM copy utility.