Provisioning Compute Nodes

Provision cloud compute resources on-demand through natural conversation with your AI assistant. No need to log into cloud consoles, manage SSH keys, or remember API commands.

Access Required

Node provisioning requires account approval. If you don't have provisioning access yet, you can still connect existing infrastructure using the agent installation guide.

To request provisioning access, contact support@nobgp.com.

What is Provisioning?

Provisioning in noBGP means creating new compute resources (VMs, instances, etc.) on cloud providers through your AI assistant. The entire process - from requesting a machine to having it ready for use - happens through conversation.

What Happens When You Provision

1. You describe what you need in natural language
2. Your AI assistant uses the provision_node MCP tool
3. noBGP creates the instance on a cloud provider (AWS, etc.)
4. The noBGP agent is automatically installed and configured
5. The node joins your specified network
6. You receive confirmation when it's ready to use

All of this typically takes 1-2 minutes.

Supported Providers

noBGP currently supports:

• AWS (Amazon Web Services) - Variable instance types and configurations
• More providers coming soon

How to Provision a Node

Basic Provisioning

The simplest way to provision a node:

Provision a new Ubuntu node in my default network

Your AI assistant will:

• Choose sensible defaults (OS, resources, region)
• Create the instance
• Configure it automatically
• Report when it's ready

Specifying Requirements

You can be more specific about what you need:

Provision a new node with:
- Ubuntu 22.04
- 4GB RAM
- In my production network

Or:

Create a Debian server with 2 vCPUs in us-west-2

The AI understands natural language and will translate your requirements into the appropriate cloud provider settings.

Example Conversation

You: I need a development server for testing Docker containers

AI: I'll provision a new Ubuntu node for you with Docker pre-installed.

    Creating instance...
    - Provider: AWS
    - Instance type: t3.medium (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM)
    - OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
    - Region: us-east-1
    - Network: default

    Installing noBGP agent and Docker...

    ✓ Node "dev-server-1" is now online!

    Docker is installed and ready. Would you like me to run any containers?

You: Yes, run nginx

AI: Starting nginx container...
    ✓ nginx is now running on port 80

Configuration Options

While you can provision with natural language, here are the options you can specify:

Operating System

Supported distributions:

• Ubuntu (20.04, 22.04, 24.04) - Recommended
• Debian (11, 12)
• Amazon Linux (2023)
• Alpine Linux (3.16+)

Example:

Provision an Ubuntu 24.04 node

Resources

You can specify:

• vCPUs: Number of virtual CPU cores (e.g., "2 vCPU", "4 cores")
• Memory: RAM allocation (e.g., "4GB RAM", "8 GiB memory")
• Disk: Storage size (e.g., "50GB disk", "100 GiB storage")

Example:

Provision a node with 8GB RAM and 100GB disk

note

Some cloud providers have fixed instance types. Your AI assistant will choose the closest match to your requirements.

Region / Location

Specify where the instance should be created:

Provision a node in eu-west-1

Or more generally:

Create a server in Europe

The AI will pick an appropriate region based on your description.

Network

Specify which noBGP network the node should join:

Provision a node in my production network

If not specified, the default network is used.

Node Name

You can suggest a name:

Provision a node called "api-server-3"

Or let the AI choose a sensible default.

Advanced Provisioning

Provisioning with Post-Install Commands

You can request software installation during provisioning:

Provision an Ubuntu node with Docker and PostgreSQL installed

The AI will provision the node and then run the necessary installation commands.

Multiple Nodes

Need more than one?

Provision 3 Ubuntu nodes for a Kubernetes cluster

The AI will create multiple nodes in sequence or parallel.

Custom Images

For specific requirements:

Provision a node using the Ubuntu 22.04 minimal image

Monitoring Provisioning Status

During Provisioning

Your AI assistant will provide real-time updates:

Creating instance... ⏳
Installing agent... ⏳
Configuring network... ⏳
Node online! ✓

After Provisioning

Check your nodes anytime:

Show me all my provisioned nodes

or

What's the status of dev-server-1?

Managing Provisioned Nodes

Running Commands

Once provisioned, you can immediately use the node:

Run "df -h" on dev-server-1

Installing Software

Install nginx on dev-server-1

Creating Services

Publish a browser terminal for dev-server-1

Deprovisioning Nodes

When you no longer need a node, you can deprovision it to stop incurring costs.

How to Deprovision

Deprovision dev-server-1

or more explicitly:

Delete the node called dev-server-1 and remove it from my network

What Happens

1. The AI confirms you want to delete the node
2. The node is gracefully shut down
3. The instance is terminated on the cloud provider
4. The node is removed from your noBGP network
5. All associated data is deleted

Data Loss

Deprovisioning permanently deletes the instance and all data on it. Make sure to back up any important data first.

Safety Confirmations

The AI will ask for confirmation before deprovisioning:

You: Deprovision dev-server-1

AI: Are you sure you want to deprovision dev-server-1? This will:
    - Terminate the AWS instance
    - Remove it from your network
    - Delete all data on the node

    This action cannot be undone. Should I proceed?

You: Yes, proceed

AI: Deprovisioning dev-server-1...
    ✓ Instance terminated
    ✓ Node removed from network

Cost Management

Understanding Costs

Provisioned nodes incur costs from the cloud provider (AWS, etc.). Costs vary by:

• Instance type (vCPU, RAM)
• Running time (hourly billing)
• Region
• Storage size
• Data transfer

tip

Deprovision nodes when not in use to minimize costs. You can always provision new ones when needed.

Checking Costs

Ask your AI assistant:

How many nodes do I have running?

This helps you keep track of your infrastructure and associated costs.

Best Practices

1. Deprovision dev/test nodes when not actively using them
2. Use smaller instances for development and testing
3. Monitor your fleet regularly with "show me all my nodes"
4. Tag nodes with descriptive names to track purposes

Common Provisioning Workflows

Development Workflow

You: I need a dev environment for Python work

AI: I'll provision an Ubuntu node with Python 3.11 for you...
    ✓ Node "python-dev-1" is ready

You: Install poetry and create a virtual environment

AI: [Installs poetry and sets up venv]
    ✓ Ready for development

[Work on your project...]

You: I'm done for today, deprovision the node

AI: Deprovisioning python-dev-1...
    ✓ Node removed

Cost: Only paid for the hours used.

Testing Workflow

You: Provision 2 nodes for load testing my web app

AI: [Provisions 2 nodes]
    ✓ load-test-1 ready
    ✓ load-test-2 ready

You: Run apache bench on both nodes targeting my app

AI: [Runs load tests simultaneously]
    [Reports results]

You: Deprovision both load test nodes

AI: [Deprovisions both]
    ✓ Both nodes removed

Staging Environment

You: Provision a staging server matching my production specs

AI: [Provisions node with same instance type as production]
    ✓ staging-server-1 ready

You: Deploy my app from the GitHub main branch

AI: [Clones repo, installs dependencies, starts app]
    ✓ App running on port 3000

You: Publish it as a web service with auth required

AI: [Creates public HTTPS URL]
    🔗 https://abc123.nobgp.com (auth required)

Troubleshooting

Provisioning Fails

Error: "You don't have provisioning access"

Solution: Contact support to request access to provisioning features.

Error: "Quota exceeded"

Solution: Deprovision unused nodes or contact support to increase your quota.

Error: "Region not available"

Solution: Try a different region or let the AI choose automatically.

Node Doesn't Come Online

If a provisioned node doesn't show as "online" after 2-3 minutes:

1. Ask the AI: "What's the status of [node-name]?"
2. Check if the provisioning task completed successfully
3. Try reprovisioning the node
4. Contact support if the issue persists

Can't Connect to Provisioned Node

If the node is online but commands fail:

1. Verify the node is in the correct network
2. Check the node status: "Show me details for [node-name]"
3. Try restarting the agent: "Restart the noBGP agent on [node-name]"

Unexpected Costs

If you see unexpected cloud provider charges:

1. List all running nodes: "Show me all my nodes"
2. Deprovision any you don't recognize
3. Check your cloud provider's billing dashboard
4. Review your provisioning history

Limits and Quotas

Different account types have different limits:

Limit Type	Default	Notes
Active nodes	10	Contact support to increase
Concurrent provisions	3	Prevents runaway provisioning
Disk size per node	500GB	Larger sizes available on request

To check your limits:

What are my provisioning limits?

Next Steps

Now that you understand provisioning:

• Publishing Services - Expose your provisioned nodes to the internet
• Interactive Terminals - Access your nodes through a web browser
• Use Cases & Examples - See real-world provisioning scenarios

FAQ

Q: How long does provisioning take? A: Typically 1-2 minutes from request to ready-to-use.

Q: Can I provision nodes in my own AWS account? A: Not currently. noBGP provisions nodes in managed cloud accounts. Self-hosted provisioning is on the roadmap.

Q: What happens to my data when I deprovision? A: All data is permanently deleted. Use the file sharing feature or external storage for persistent data.

Q: Can I SSH into provisioned nodes? A: While technically possible, it's not necessary. Use interactive sessions through your AI assistant instead.

Q: Do provisioned nodes persist after I log out? A: Yes! Provisioned nodes continue running until you deprovision them. This is why it's important to clean up unused nodes.

Q: Can I change the size of a provisioned node? A: Not directly. You'll need to provision a new node with the desired size and migrate your workload.