Connect your computer

With Ubuntu installed, you link the spare computer to your Server Reforged account. You copy one command from your dashboard and run it on the spare computer.

Step 1: Get the command from your dashboard

1. Sign in to your dashboard.
2. Click Connect a rig. A rig is what the dashboard calls a computer that runs your game servers, and this page uses that word from here on.
3. The window that opens shows the command under Run this on the rig. Keep it open.

The command contains a code that works once and expires after 30 minutes. If it expires, click New code to get a fresh command.

Step 2: Open a terminal on the rig

The terminal is the text screen where you type commands. Log in on the rig’s own screen with the username and password you chose during the install. The screen you land on, ending in $, is the terminal.

Connecting over SSH instead

If you’d rather paste the command than type it, you may connect from your normal computer over SSH. SSH lets you use the rig’s terminal from another computer, and you turned it on during the install.

1. Find the rig’s address. Type ip a on the rig and look for an address that starts with 192.168 or 10., such as 192.168.1.42.

2. On your normal computer, open a terminal. On Windows, open PowerShell from the Start menu. On a Mac, open Terminal from Applications, then Utilities.

3. Type ssh followed by your username, @, and the rig’s address, then press Enter:

   ssh [email protected]

4. The first time, it asks whether you want to keep connecting. Type yes and press Enter, then enter your password.

Step 3: Run the command

If you’re typing on the rig, type the command exactly as the dashboard shows it. It’s one long line, so check it before you press Enter.

If you’re connected over SSH, click Copy command in the dashboard and paste it into your terminal. In PowerShell, press Ctrl+V or right-click. On a Mac, press Cmd+V.

Press Enter, and the rig asks for your password. The command needs admin rights to install things, which is what the sudo in it is for. Nothing appears on screen while you type the password.

The command installs a small program that lets your dashboard control the rig, then links the rig to your account. This takes a minute or two.

Step 4: Check that it connected

Go back to your dashboard. The Connect a rig window changes to say your rig is connected, and the rig appears in your Rigs list.

Once it’s connected, you can unplug the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The rig only needs power and its ethernet cable to your router, so it can sit anywhere those reach. If the rig is a laptop, you can close the lid. Connecting it sets the rig never to sleep, so closing the lid doesn’t turn the server off.

Next, create your first game server: ARK: Survival Ascended, ARK: Survival Evolved, Palworld, Minecraft (Bedrock Edition), or Minecraft: Java Edition.