Help for hosts

Installing on Ubuntu

What you need, what the installer changes, and how to remove it.

KernelMachine is preparing an invite-only beta; no launch date is set. This describes how it works at launch. Join the waitlist

What you need

• A desktop or server PC, 64-bit (x86-64), with Ubuntu on the PC itself. Not a laptop (they overheat and sleep when the lid closes), and not a virtual machine.
• Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04, Desktop or Server.
• An NVIDIA RTX 30-series card or newer (an RTX 3090, 4080, 4090 or 5080, say), or a data-center card such as the A100, H100 or H200, with 16 GB of memory or more. Any mix of cards works; cards that miss either rule stay in the PC but aren't rented. Not GTX cards, not AMD, not Macs.
• 250 GB of free disk. The installer checks. On Ubuntu Server, it counts the part of the disk Ubuntu's own installer left unused, and puts it to use.
• A steady internet connection. A cable is better than Wi-Fi.
• Your Ubuntu password (an account that can install software).

Check your internet plan first. Renters' traffic goes through your connection. Many home plans forbid running servers or business use, and some limit monthly data. That risk is yours, so read your plan's terms. A business plan avoids the question.

Install

1. Sign in and open My machines. Copy your install line there: it carries your account's code, so the PC joins your account by itself.
2. On the PC, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open Terminal (or log in to the server), paste the line and press Enter. (The public line works too, without signing in first:
   wget -qO- https://kernelmachine.com/install | bash
   Then scan the code it shows, as below.)
3. It checks the PC and lists what it will change (below). Running it is your go-ahead.
4. Type your password when asked. Nothing shows while you type; that's normal.
5. With your own line, the PC is on your account already. With the public line, scan the code it shows with your phone, or open the link, and sign in to add the PC. The code works for a day: you can also type it on My machines, under "A machine showing a pairing code?". Setup waits for it a while, then carries on in the background.
6. Leave it. Once the PC is on your account, the rest runs in the background, and you can close the window. It restarts the PC once, after a 60-second countdown (press Enter to restart later instead).

Setup takes 10 to 20 minutes, plus that one restart. Then, by itself, the machine tests its cards (about 5 minutes), measures its internet (about a minute) and starts its 2-day trial. Follow it on your machines page; you don't need to do anything.

More machines: use the same line from My machines on each PC; each joins your account by itself, and My machines says so, with Remove in case one isn't yours. Making a new line there stops the old one working.

Approval: during the beta, a person approves each new host once, usually within a day. If we invited you, your machines need no approval.

Want to look first? Add -s -- --dry-run after bash: it shows what would happen and changes nothing.

Only want to know if this PC qualifies? Add -s -- --check after bash. It checks every card and your free disk, needs no password and changes nothing.

What it changes on your PC

• Installs NVIDIA's graphics driver (the same version on every host, from Ubuntu's own signed packages, so Secure Boot can stay on). It replaces a different NVIDIA driver if you have one. Newer drivers usually run older software, so your own AI tools should keep working. Cards older than the RTX 20 or GTX 16 series (a GTX 1080 or Tesla P40, say) have no driver afterwards; setup won't run if your screen is plugged into one. It may also install Ubuntu's newest Linux version, which the signed driver comes with, and restart into it. 8-card server boards (HGX) get the driver's server edition and NVIDIA's fabric manager, which joins their cards. If you use NVIDIA's CUDA download source, the driver still comes from Ubuntu; CUDA itself stays.
• Installs Docker from Docker's own site (replacing Ubuntu's copy, keeping your images) and NVIDIA's container toolkit. If you already had Docker settings, it keeps a backup, and Docker keeps its files where you put them. Download sources left from an earlier Docker install are turned off, since they'd clash with the new one.
• On Ubuntu Server, if Ubuntu's own installer left part of the disk unused (on a big disk it uses only 100 GB), it gives that space to the system.
• Turns off sleep and suspend, so rentals aren't cut off, and turns on automatic time sync if it's off.
• Keeps Ubuntu's automatic updates away from the graphics driver, the Linux kernel and Docker, so a nightly update can't break your cards. Other security updates install as normal.
• Runs the KernelMachine host program as a background service that starts with the PC, and adds network rules so rentals can't reach your home network or send email.
• On Ubuntu Desktop, adds a KernelMachine icon that opens your machines page.
• If your disk is encrypted and asks for its password at start, each restart waits for you to type it, so the PC is offline until you do.

There's nothing to set up on your router. The host program connects out to us, and accepts only encrypted connections that carry a valid pass for a rental on your machine.

If something goes wrong

If this PC can't host, the installer says why before it asks for your password, and changes nothing. If setup stops later, it shows one sentence saying what happened, and a "Copy details for support" block. Send that to support@kernelmachine.com. The full log is in /var/log/km-install.log. It's safe to run the line again; if setup is still running in the background, pasting it again shows its progress.

Common messages:

• "Ubuntu was still installing its own updates after 15 minutes." Wait a while, or restart, and run it again.
• "Ubuntu hasn't published a signed graphics driver for Linux … yet." Your kernel is newer than Ubuntu's signed driver. Try again in a few days.
• "KernelMachine needs 250 GB of free disk." Free up space, or use a bigger disk.
• "Couldn't make a secure connection." Usually this PC's clock is wrong. Set the right date and time, then run the line again.
• "This PC runs Linux …, not one of Ubuntu's standard versions." Install the package it names, restart, and run the line again.
• "Docker's settings turn off its network setup." Take the setting it names out of /etc/docker/daemon.json, then run the line again.
• "KernelMachine needs a card with 16 GB of memory or more." Cards like the RTX 3070, 3080 or 4070 have 8 to 12 GB, so they can't be rented.
• "A rental is running on this PC, and setup would cut it off." Press Pause on your machines page, wait for the rental to end, then run the line again.

Removing it

Press Pause on your machines page and wait until no rentals are running. Then run:

It won't run while a rental is running. It removes the host program, its services, its update rules and its network rules, and any renter's leftover app and files, and turns sleep back on. The graphics driver and Docker stay installed.

Updated October 8, 2026. Questions? Email support@kernelmachine.com.