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Bare Metal

This guide walks you through creating, connecting to, and managing a Targon Bare Metal server from targon.com.

Automating Bare Metal? See the Workloads API for BM request bodies, deploy flow, and error responses. Use the Inventory API for region-scoped availability.

What is Bare Metal?​

A Bare Metal server on Targon is an entire physical machine dedicated to your organization with no hypervisor, no container runtime, and no noisy neighbors. You choose a region and hardware class, Targon images the server with a managed OS, injects your SSH keys, and gives you direct SSH access to the whole machine.

Bare Metal is ideal when you need:

  • Full control of the host: kernel, drivers, firmware-level GPU settings
  • Maximum, uncontended GPU and CPU performance
  • Long-lived capacity in a specific region, optionally backed by a reservation

When to choose Bare Metal​

Choose Bare Metal when you need the entire physical server and direct control over the host. For confidential GPU compute on a managed VM with attestation, use Virtual Machines. For fast, disposable environments, use Sandboxes.

Before you begin​

To get the most out of Bare Metal, you should be familiar with:

  • The command-line terminal: Basic shell commands and navigation.
  • SSH: At least one SSH key is required before you can create a server. Add keys under your account or organization settings on targon.com.
  • Regions: Bare Metal capacity is tied to a region. Check what is in stock before you pick a hardware class.

Choosing a region and hardware class​

Bare Metal inventory is listed per region. Each entry shows the hardware class, hourly price for that region, and how many machines are available.

  1. Open the Inventory page.
  2. Filter for Bare Metal (or browse GPU bare-metal tiers).
  3. Note the region and hardware class you want. Both are required at creation.

Pricing can differ by region; the rate shown in inventory is already region-specific.

Creating a Bare Metal server​

  1. Open Bare Metal:

    • Go to the Dashboard, select your organization, and open Bare Metal.

  2. Start creation:

    • Click Create (or Create Bare Metal server).

  3. Choose a region:

    • Pick an active region where the hardware class you want is in stock. If nothing is available, try another region or check back later.

  4. Choose a hardware class:

    • Select the tier that matches your workload (GPU or CPU). Options depend on current inventory in that region.

  5. Choose an image:

    • Pick a Targon-managed OS image. The login user depends on the image family (for example ubuntu on Ubuntu images).

  6. Add SSH keys:

    • Attach at least one organization SSH key. Creation fails without at least one key.

  7. Name and hostname (optional):

    • Give the server a descriptive workload name (lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens).
    • Set an optional hostname for the machine itself (RFC 1123: lowercase letters, digits, hyphens, dots; max 63 characters). If you omit it, Targon uses the workload name.

  8. Reservation (optional):

    • If your organization has an active reserved machine in this region and hardware class, select it in the create flow. Otherwise deploy from pooled inventory. See Reservations below.

  9. Deploy:

    • Confirm and start provisioning. Targon checks credits and claims a physical server in the selected region. Imaging takes longer than starting a container. Expect several minutes.

If deploy fails because nothing matched your region and hardware class, no server is claimed. Adjust region or tier and try again.

Bare Metal statuses​

Watch status on the server detail page:

  • Registered: Created but not yet deployed
  • Provisioning: Targon is imaging hardware and applying your configuration
  • Running: Ready for SSH
  • Error: Provisioning failed. Check Events for details
  • Deleted: Removed from your organization

Status updates may take a few minutes while a physical machine is prepared.

Connecting to your Bare Metal server​

Once the server is running, connect over SSH.

  1. Copy the SSH command: On the server detail page, find the SSH command in the status or connection section (same pattern as Virtual Machines).

  2. Open your terminal on your local machine.

  3. Paste and run the command. It looks like:

    ssh -p <SSH_PORT> <USER>@<PUBLIC_IP>
    • <SSH_PORT>: The port assigned to your server (not the default port 22).
    • <PUBLIC_IP>: The server's public IP address.
    • <USER>: Depends on the OS image (often ubuntu on Ubuntu images).

    If your private key is not the default, add -i /path/to/your/key:

    ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -p <SSH_PORT> <USER>@<PUBLIC_IP>

The hostname on the machine is the value you set at creation, or the workload name if you left hostname blank.

Managing your Bare Metal server​

From the server detail page you can:

  • View state and events: Follow provisioning progress and hardware status on Events (and related status views).
  • Manage SSH keys: Attach or remove organization SSH keys after creation.
  • Delete: Release the server back to the pool and remove the workload. Data on local disks is not preserved. Copy anything you need off first. This action cannot be undone.

Suspend, reboot, shell exec, and port editing are not available for Bare Metal.

Reservations​

Reserved Bare Metal capacity guarantees a specific machine for your organization over a contracted window. Contact Targon to set up or extend a reservation.

When you create a server:

  • Deploy onto a reservation by choosing it during creation (same region and hardware class as the reservation).
  • Only one running workload may use a reservation at a time. Delete the existing server before deploying another onto the same reservation.

Reserved capacity also appears in organization inventory under reserved counts. For API fields and validation rules, see Workloads API (Bare Metal).

Programmatic access​

Create and manage Bare Metal servers with the Workloads API. Set type to BM, supply region, resource_name, image, and at least one ssh_keys entry, then call deploy. List OS images with the BM images endpoint and regions with the Inventory API.