Linode Infrastructure

Status: Production Ready | Dependencies: linode-cli, SSH key pair

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Operations, troubleshooting, config, and cost snapshot: references/OPERATIONS.md

Step 0: Gather Required Information (MANDATORY)

STOP. Before ANY deployment commands, collect ALL parameters from the user.

Copy this checklist and confirm each item:

Required Parameters:
- [ ] SERVER_NAME      - Unique name for this server
- [ ] LINODE_REGION    - Region (us-east, us-central, us-west, eu-west, ap-south, etc.)
- [ ] LINODE_TYPE      - Linode type (see profiles below)
- [ ] SSH_KEY_LABEL    - Label of SSH key in Linode
- [ ] SSH_KEY_PATH     - Path to local SSH private key (default: ~/.ssh/id_rsa)

Deployment Purpose (determines recommended profile):
- [ ] Purpose: coolify / kasm / both / custom
      coolify → g6-standard-2 ($36/mo)
      kasm    → g6-standard-4 ($72/mo)
      both    → g6-standard-8 ($144/mo)
      custom  → Ask for specific type

Recommended profiles by purpose:

Purpose	Type	vCPU	RAM	Monthly
coolify	g6-standard-2	2	4GB	$36
kasm	g6-standard-4	4	8GB	$72
both	g6-standard-8	8	16GB	$144

DO NOT proceed to Prerequisites until ALL parameters are confirmed.

Prerequisites

Before using this skill, verify the following:

1. Linode CLI Installed

linode-cli --version

If missing, install with:

# Python (pip) - Recommended
pip3 install linode-cli

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install linode-cli

# Linux (pipx)
pipx install linode-cli

2. Linode Account & API Token

If you don't have a Linode account:

Disclosure: This is a referral link. You'll receive $100 in credit for 60 days, and the skill author receives $25 account credit after you spend $25. Using this link helps support the development of these skills.

Get API Token: https://cloud.linode.com/profile/tokens

Create a Personal Access Token with Read/Write access for Linodes, Firewalls, NodeBalancers, etc.

3. linode-cli Configured

linode-cli account view

If it shows an error, configure with:

# Interactive setup
linode-cli configure

# Or via environment variable
export LINODE_CLI_TOKEN="your_token_here"
linode-cli account view

4. SSH Key Pair

ls ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

If missing, generate with:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa -N ""

5. SSH Key Uploaded to Linode

linode-cli sshkeys list

If empty, upload with:

linode-cli sshkeys create --label "my-key" --ssh_key "$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)"

6. Test Authentication

linode-cli regions list

If this fails: Token may be invalid or expired. Create a new one.

Server Profiles

Coolify/Kasm Deployments

Profile	Linode Type	vCPU	RAM	Disk	Monthly Cost
`coolify`	g6-standard-2	2	4GB	80GB	$36
`kasm`	g6-standard-4	4	8GB	160GB	$72
`both`	g6-standard-8	8	16GB	320GB	$144

Dedicated CPU (Best Performance)

Profile	Linode Type	vCPU	RAM	Disk	Monthly Cost
`dedicated-small`	g6-dedicated-2	2	4GB	80GB	$36
`dedicated-medium`	g6-dedicated-4	4	8GB	160GB	$72
`dedicated-large`	g6-dedicated-8	8	16GB	320GB	$144

<details> <summary><strong>Premium Plans (Higher Performance)</strong></summary>

Linode Type	vCPU	RAM	Disk	Monthly Cost
g7-premium-2	2	4GB	100GB	$43
g7-premium-4	4	8GB	200GB	$86
g7-premium-8	8	16GB	400GB	$172

</details>

Deployment Steps

Step 1: Set Environment Variables

export LINODE_REGION="us-east"             # See regions below
export LINODE_TYPE="g6-standard-2"         # See profiles above
export LINODE_IMAGE="linode/ubuntu22.04"
export SERVER_NAME="my-server"
export SSH_KEY_LABEL="my-key"

<details> <summary><strong>Region options</strong></summary>

Code	Location	Region
`us-east`	Newark, NJ	US East
`us-central`	Dallas, TX	US Central
`us-west`	Fremont, CA	US West
`us-southeast`	Atlanta, GA	US Southeast
`us-ord`	Chicago, IL	US Central
`us-lax`	Los Angeles, CA	US West
`us-mia`	Miami, FL	US Southeast
`us-sea`	Seattle, WA	US Northwest
`ca-central`	Toronto, Canada	Canada
`eu-west`	London, UK	UK
`eu-central`	Frankfurt, Germany	Germany
`ap-south`	Singapore	Asia
`ap-northeast`	Tokyo, Japan	Japan
`ap-west`	Mumbai, India	India
`ap-southeast`	Sydney, Australia	Australia

Run linode-cli regions list for full list.

</details>

Step 2: Get SSH Key ID

SSH_KEY_ID=$(linode-cli sshkeys list --label "$SSH_KEY_LABEL" --format id --text --no-headers)
echo "SSH Key ID: $SSH_KEY_ID"

# Verify
if [ -z "$SSH_KEY_ID" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: SSH key '$SSH_KEY_LABEL' not found. Upload it first."
  exit 1
fi

Step 3: Create Firewall

# Create firewall
FIREWALL_ID=$(linode-cli firewalls create \
  --label "my-firewall" \
  --rules.inbound_policy DROP \
  --rules.outbound_policy ACCEPT \
  --format id --text --no-headers)

echo "Firewall ID: $FIREWALL_ID"

# Allow SSH
linode-cli firewalls rules-update "$FIREWALL_ID" \
  --inbound '[
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"22","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"},
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"80","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"},
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"443","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"},
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"8000","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"},
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"6001-6002","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"},
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"8443","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"},
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"3389","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"},
    {"protocol":"TCP","ports":"3000-4000","addresses":{"ipv4":["0.0.0.0/0"],"ipv6":["::/0"]},"action":"ACCEPT"}
  ]' \
  --inbound_policy DROP \
  --outbound_policy ACCEPT

Step 4: Create Linode

LINODE_ID=$(linode-cli linodes create \
  --region "$LINODE_REGION" \
  --type "$LINODE_TYPE" \
  --image "$LINODE_IMAGE" \
  --label "$SERVER_NAME" \
  --authorized_keys "$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)" \
  --root_pass "$(openssl rand -base64 32)" \
  --format id --text --no-headers)

echo "Linode ID: $LINODE_ID"

Step 5: Apply Firewall to Linode

linode-cli firewalls device-create "$FIREWALL_ID" \
  --type linode \
  --id "$LINODE_ID"

Step 6: Wait and Get Linode IP

# Wait for Linode to be running
echo "Waiting for Linode to be running..."
while [ "$(linode-cli linodes view "$LINODE_ID" --format status --text --no-headers)" != "running" ]; do
  sleep 5
done

# Get IP address
SERVER_IP=$(linode-cli linodes view "$LINODE_ID" --format ipv4 --text --no-headers | head -1)
echo "SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP"

Step 7: Wait for Server Ready

# Wait for SSH to be available (typically 60-90 seconds)
echo "Waiting for server to be ready..."
until ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no root@$SERVER_IP "echo connected" 2>/dev/null; do
  sleep 5
done
echo "Server is ready!"

Step 8: Verify Connection

ssh root@$SERVER_IP "uname -a && free -h && df -h /"

Step 9: Output for Downstream Skills

# Linode only offers x86 architecture
SERVER_ARCH="amd64"

# Save to .env.local for downstream skills
echo "SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP" >> .env.local
echo "SSH_USER=root" >> .env.local
echo "SSH_KEY_PATH=~/.ssh/id_rsa" >> .env.local
echo "SERVER_ARCH=$SERVER_ARCH" >> .env.local
echo "COOLIFY_SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP" >> .env.local
echo "KASM_SERVER_IP=$SERVER_IP" >> .env.local

echo ""
echo "Linode deployed successfully!"
echo "  IP: $SERVER_IP"
echo "  Arch: $SERVER_ARCH"
echo "  SSH: ssh root@$SERVER_IP"

Verify Deployment

ssh root@$SERVER_IP "echo 'Linode connected successfully'"

Kubernetes Auto-Scaling

Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) supports Cluster Autoscaler for automatic node scaling.

Create LKE Cluster

# Create cluster (via API - CLI doesn't support all options)
linode-cli lke cluster-create \
  --label "my-lke" \
  --region "$LINODE_REGION" \
  --k8s_version "1.28"

Enable Cluster Autoscaler

The Cluster Autoscaler runs in the management cluster and scales based on workload:

Install Cluster Autoscaler add-on in your cluster
Configure with Linode API token
Set min/max nodes per pool

See: https://linode.github.io/cluster-api-provider-linode/topics/autoscaling.html

Cleanup

Warning: This is destructive and cannot be undone.

# Delete Linode
linode-cli linodes delete "$LINODE_ID"

# Delete firewall
linode-cli firewalls delete "$FIREWALL_ID"

# Optionally delete SSH key
# linode-cli sshkeys delete "$SSH_KEY_ID"

Operations

Troubleshooting, best practices, configuration variables, and cost snapshots are in references/OPERATIONS.md.

Logging Integration

When performing infrastructure operations, log to the centralized system:

# After provisioning
log_admin "SUCCESS" "operation" "Provisioned Linode" "id=$LINODE_ID provider=Linode"

# After destroying
log_admin "SUCCESS" "operation" "Deleted Linode" "id=$LINODE_ID"

# On error
log_admin "ERROR" "operation" "Linode deployment failed" "error=$ERROR_MSG"

See admin skill's references/logging.md for full logging documentation.

admin-infra-linode