Connecting to Instances

Once your instance is Deployed, you can connect via SSH, set up VS Code Remote, and forward ports for services like Jupyter.

SSH Connection

The SSH command is available on your instance’s detail page. The general format is:

ssh root@<instance-ip> -p <port> -i ~/.ssh/your_key

For example:

ssh root@203.0.113.42 -p 22 -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Some instances use a non-standard SSH port. Always check the port shown in your instance details.

First Connection

On your first connection, you will be asked to confirm the server fingerprint:

The authenticity of host '203.0.113.42 (203.0.113.42)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:xxxxx.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Type yes to continue. This is normal for new instances.

Verify GPU Access

After connecting, confirm that your GPU is available:

# Check GPU status
nvidia-smi

# Check CUDA version
nvcc --version

# Verify PyTorch GPU access (if Finetune or Inference template)
python3 -c "import torch; print(torch.cuda.is_available()); print(torch.cuda.get_device_name(0))"

Port Forwarding

To access services running on your instance from your local browser, use SSH port forwarding:

ssh root@<instance-ip> -p <port> -i ~/.ssh/your_key -L <local-port>:localhost:<remote-port>

Common Ports

Service	Remote Port	Local Forward Command
Jupyter Notebook	8888	`-L 8888:localhost:8888`
TensorBoard	6006	`-L 6006:localhost:6006`
Gradio	7860	`-L 7860:localhost:7860`
VS Code Server	8080	`-L 8080:localhost:8080`

Example — forward Jupyter to your local machine:

ssh root@203.0.113.42 -p 22 -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa -L 8888:localhost:8888

Then open http://localhost:8888 in your browser.

VS Code Remote SSH

VS Code can connect directly to your instance for a full IDE experience.

Setup Steps

Install the Remote - SSH extension in VS Code.
Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P).
Select Remote-SSH: Connect to Host….
Enter the connection string: root@<instance-ip> -p <port>.
When prompted, select the SSH key to use.
VS Code will install its server component on the instance and connect.

SSH Config (Optional)

For quicker access, add your instance to ~/.ssh/config:

Host runcrate-instance
    HostName 203.0.113.42
    Port 22
    User root
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Then connect with: ssh runcrate-instance or select runcrate-instance from VS Code.

File Transfer

Use scp to copy files to and from your instance:

# Upload a file
scp -P <port> -i ~/.ssh/your_key ./local-file.py root@<instance-ip>:/root/

# Download a file
scp -P <port> -i ~/.ssh/your_key root@<instance-ip>:/root/results.csv ./

# Upload a directory
scp -r -P <port> -i ~/.ssh/your_key ./my-project root@<instance-ip>:/root/

Troubleshooting

Connection refused

Verify the instance status is Deployed on the dashboard.
Confirm you are using the correct IP address and port from the instance details.
The instance may still be starting up — wait a minute and try again.

Permission denied (publickey)

Ensure your SSH key is added to your Runcrate account and was selected during deployment.
Verify you are using the correct key file: ssh -i ~/.ssh/correct_key ...
Check file permissions: chmod 600 ~/.ssh/your_key

Connection timed out

Check your local network and firewall settings.
Verify the instance IP and port on the dashboard.
If the instance was recently deployed, wait 1-2 minutes for networking to initialize.

Welcome

SDKs

CLI

Inference

Compute

Storage

Dedicated Clusters

Billing

Account

FAQ

Connecting to Instances

SSH Connection

First Connection

Verify GPU Access

Port Forwarding

Common Ports

VS Code Remote SSH

Setup Steps

SSH Config (Optional)

File Transfer

Troubleshooting

​SSH Connection

​First Connection

​Verify GPU Access

​Port Forwarding

​Common Ports

​VS Code Remote SSH

​Setup Steps

​SSH Config (Optional)

​File Transfer

​Troubleshooting

SSH Connection

First Connection

Verify GPU Access

Port Forwarding

Common Ports

VS Code Remote SSH

Setup Steps

SSH Config (Optional)

File Transfer

Troubleshooting