Running a crypto trading bot on your local desktop or laptop works for testing and development, but presents serious reliability concerns for live trading: the computer can be turned off, lose power, lose internet connectivity, sleep or hibernate, or be interrupted by OS updates. Any of these events causes the bot to stop executing — potentially leaving open positions unmanaged, missing exit signals, or accumulating unexpected losses. A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a cloud-hosted server that runs continuously with guaranteed uptime (typically 99.9%+), stable internet, and remote access — solving all of these reliability issues. For serious automated trading, VPS deployment is considered the standard best practice. This guide covers VPS selection, DennTech installation on a Linux VPS, systemd service configuration for automatic restart after reboots, and monitoring best practices.
Related guides: API key security, cloud vs desktop bot, bot monitoring.
VPS Provider Selection Criteria
For crypto bot trading, prioritize these VPS characteristics:
- Uptime SLA: 99.9%+ (equivalent to under 9 hours downtime per year)
- Location: Choose a data center geographically close to your exchange's matching engine — reduced network latency marginally improves order fill timing. Binance matching engine: Tokyo/Singapore region. Coinbase: US East Coast. Kraken: US West Coast.
- RAM: 1–2 GB minimum for DennTech; 2–4 GB for running multiple simultaneous strategies
- Storage: 20–40 GB SSD — ample for bot software and log files
- OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (most widely supported, excellent Python compatibility)
- Recommended providers: DigitalOcean (Droplet), Vultr, Linode (Akamai), Hetzner (EU, lowest cost/GB), AWS Lightsail (US)
- Monthly cost: $6–$12/month for entry-level VPS sufficient for DennTech
Initial VPS Setup (Ubuntu 22.04)
## After provisioning, SSH in: ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP ## Update system apt update && apt upgrade -y ## Install Python and dependencies apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv git -y ## Create a dedicated user (security best practice — avoid running as root) adduser denntech usermod -aG sudo denntech ## Switch to the new user su - denntech
SSH Security Hardening
Before running any live bot, harden SSH access on your VPS:
## On your LOCAL machine: generate SSH key pair (if not already done) ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "denntech-vps" ## Copy public key to VPS ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub denntech@YOUR_VPS_IP ## On VPS: disable password authentication (SSH keys only) sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config # Change: PasswordAuthentication no # Change: PermitRootLogin no sudo systemctl restart sshd
See our full API security guide for additional hardening steps.
Installing DennTech on VPS
## On VPS, as denntech user: cd ~ ## Download DennTech installer from your license download link ## (provided in DennTech order confirmation email) # wget "YOUR_DOWNLOAD_URL" -O denntech_installer.sh # chmod +x denntech_installer.sh # ./denntech_installer.sh ## Or via git clone if applicable: # git clone https://github.com/denntech/denntech-bot.git /opt/denntech-bot ## Install Python dependencies cd /opt/denntech-bot pip3 install -r requirements.txt
Full installation documentation at DennTech docs. Compare editions at pricing page.
Setting Up 24/7 Auto-Restart with systemd
systemd is the Linux init system that manages services — it can automatically start your bot when the VPS boots and restart it if it crashes:
## Create a systemd service file sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/denntech-bot.service ## Paste this content: [Unit] Description=DennTech Crypto Trading Bot After=network.target [Service] Type=simple User=denntech WorkingDirectory=/opt/denntech-bot ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/denntech-bot/main.py Restart=always RestartSec=10 StandardOutput=append:/opt/denntech-bot/logs/stdout.log StandardError=append:/opt/denntech-bot/logs/stderr.log [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ## Enable and start: sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable denntech-bot sudo systemctl start denntech-bot ## Check status: sudo systemctl status denntech-bot
Monitoring Your VPS Bot
- Live logs:
tail -f /opt/denntech-bot/logs/stdout.log - Service status:
systemctl status denntech-bot - Uptime check:
uptime - Disk usage:
df -h - Memory usage:
free -m
For automated alerting: configure DennTech's Telegram or email alert integration to notify you of disconnections, errors, or trade executions. See our bot monitoring guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What happens to open bot positions if the VPS goes offline temporarily?
- If the VPS loses connectivity or the bot process stops, open positions remain on the exchange at whatever state they were last set — exchange orders do not disappear when the bot goes offline. Stop-loss orders placed directly on the exchange (exchange-native stop orders) will continue to protect positions even while the bot is offline. DennTech recommends always placing exchange-native stop orders as a safety layer independent of bot operation — bot-managed stops are only active while the bot is running. If the bot restarts after a brief outage, it re-syncs open positions from the exchange API and resumes monitoring. For this reason, set stop-loss orders on the exchange itself, not just as bot-managed virtual stops. See our stop-loss guide. Start at the pricing page.
- How much does a VPS cost per month for running DennTech, and is it worth the cost?
- A suitable VPS for DennTech (1–2 GB RAM, Ubuntu 22.04, 20 GB SSD) costs $6–$12/month from providers like DigitalOcean, Vultr, or Hetzner. Annually: $72–$144. The value proposition: the VPS provides 24/7 uptime, catches trading signals during hours your computer is off, prevents missed exits that could cost multiples of the VPS annual cost, and enables remote monitoring from any device. For strategies that generate even modest monthly returns, the VPS cost is a small fraction of protected potential. Compare this to cloud-based bot platforms that charge $20–$100/month for the same uptime but host API keys externally. DennTech on your own VPS is the lowest-cost path to 24/7 operation. See our cost comparison guide. Compare editions at the pricing page.
- Is it safe to store exchange API keys on a VPS?
- A properly secured VPS is significantly safer than a local desktop for API key storage — desktops run browsers, email clients, and general software that create multiple attack vectors for credential theft. A hardened VPS running only the bot software with SSH key authentication (password login disabled), firewall rules (only port 22 accessible), and no web-facing services has a minimal attack surface. Key security practices: use IP-restricted API keys (only your VPS IP can use the keys), never enable withdrawal permissions on bot API keys, and rotate API keys periodically. With these protections, VPS API key storage is the recommended approach for live automated trading. See our complete API security guide. Explore the live demo.
Infrastructure guides: VPS setup (this guide), API Security, Bot Monitoring. Start at the pricing page.
Before committing to a VPS setup, read the Windows vs VPS comparison guide to understand the trade-offs.