Purchase a Virtual Dedicated Server with Sim Installation

Sim is an open-source AI workspace designed to make building, deploying, and managing AI agents and automated workflows seamless. With its visual workflow builder, Sim enables you to connect AI models, tools, data sources, and integrations effortlessly without starting from scratch. You can build agents conversationally through chat or take full programmatic control using its robust API and SDK.

Why Choose Sim?

Bringing together multiple AI models, data sources, and automation tools can quickly become complex. Sim unifies these capabilities in a single, intuitive workspace, allowing you to build and manage powerful AI workflows with ease.

• Visual Workflow Builder: Design AI workflows by connecting blocks, agents, tools, and integrations through an interactive visual interface.
• AI Agent Development: Create intelligent agents capable of interacting with tools, accessing data, and executing tasks reliably.
• Flexible AI Model Support: Connect with leading AI providers or run local models through platforms such as Ollama and vLLM.
• Extensive Integrations: Connect your workflows to more than 1,000 services across communication, productivity, development, search, and database platforms.
• Versatile Development Options: Build visually, describe your requirements in natural language, or leverage code for advanced control.
• Built-In Monitoring: Gain complete visibility into your workflows with detailed execution logs and traces, helping you verify results at every step.
• Complete Infrastructure Control: Self-host Sim on your own servers using Docker or Kubernetes, keeping your deployment and data entirely under your control.

What Can You Do with Sim?

Sim empowers you to automate tasks and build intelligent workflows tailored to personal, development, and business environments.

• Customer Support Automation: Build responsive agents that handle customer inquiries and integrate directly with your preferred support platforms.
• Business Process Automation: Streamline repetitive tasks such as data entry, report generation, and customer communications.
• Data Processing and Analysis: Process documents, analyze datasets, and synchronize information across multiple platforms.
• AI Assistants and Chatbots: Launch conversational agents capable of searching for information and interacting with business systems.
• API Integration Workflows: Coordinate data and automate actions by connecting multiple external services.
• Development Workflows: Enhance engineering pipelines by integrating tools such as GitHub, Jira, and Linear.
• Scheduled Automation: Configure workflows to run automatically on a reliable schedule without manual intervention.
• Knowledge-Based AI: Empower AI agents with custom files, tables, and knowledge bases to deliver accurate, context-aware responses.

System Requirements

Before deploying, ensure your server meets the following minimum hardware requirements. For a stable production deployment, we recommend using higher specifications than the minimum requirements.

How to Purchase a Virtual Dedicated Server with Sim Installation

Sim can be installed on a Bluehost Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS). You can choose to have Sim installed during the initial VDS purchase or install it manually at a later time.

1. In your browser, go to https://www.bluehost.com.
2. Click Hosting in the top menu, then select Virtual Dedicated Server.

   

   You can also go to this link directly: https://www.bluehost.com/vds-hosting.

3. On the Virtual Dedicated Server Hosting page, click Explore Plans. You can also scroll down to the hosting plans section.
   
    
4. Choose a plan from either tab — Standard or High Performance — by clicking Choose Plan.

   

   Pricing is subject to change. Please visit https://www.bluehost.com/vds-hosting for the current introductory/sign-up offer for the Bluehost Virtual Dedicated Server hosting. For the most up-to-date renewal pricing, visit your Bluehost Portal's Renewal Center.
5. On the next page, configure your VDS hosting to meet your requirements. The configuration options are divided into the following sections:
   • Location: Select your data center in this section.

     
      

   • Hardware: This section shows your pre-selected plan. You can also switch to another Virtual Dedicated Server plan in this section

     
      

   • Software:
     If the selected plan does not meet the app's minimum requirements, the app will be grayed out.
     1. Under the Application tab, click on Sim.

        

        You can install only one application per purchase; the system will automatically select the best operating system for it.
     2. In the pop-up, click Confirm.

        

   • Support & Security: You can add Premium Support - Recurring, which provides priority access to expert assistance and faster response times.

     
      

   • Advanced Options:
     • Extra IP's: You can add IP addresses for an additional fee. Pricing changes based on how many IPs you add.
     • Hostname: Assign a custom hostname to identify your server. This is optional.

       

6. Select your billing term and review your selected items on the right pane, along with the summarized total cost.

   
    

7. Click Continue to checkout.
8. Do the following on the Checkout page:

   
   If you're new to Bluehost:

   1. Create your Bluehost account by using your email address or by connecting with your Google, Apple, or GitHub account — whichever you prefer!

      
       

   2. Select your preferred payment method: credit card, Google Pay, or PayPal. Enter your billing information.

      

   If you have an account with us, you will see your Bluehost login details when you are logged into your Bluehost Portal. If you are not logged in, please click the Log In link.

   
    

9. In the Shopping Cart, choose your billing term if you did not choose one on the previous page.

   
    

10. Add a Promo code if you have one and then click Submit Payment to complete your purchase.

After completing the purchase, your VDS hosting will begin provisioning. You can access and manage your new VDS hosting in the Hosting tab of your Bluehost Portal.

How to Test and Verify Your Sim Setup

Here is your step-by-step walkthrough to get this up, running, and completely secured.

1. Log in to your Bluehost Portal.
2. In the left-hand menu, click the Hosting tab.

   
    

3. Look for the server you want to manage then click the View Details to see more options.

   
    

4. Click the Reset Password.

   
    

5. In the pop-up window, type your new root password, then click Reset Password again to confirm and save the changes.

   
    

6. Log in to your server via SSH.

   When you log in to your server for the first time via SSH, you're greeted with a welcome message that includes all the essential commands and instructions for verifying Sim. The content looks like this:

   Replace your_server_ip with your actual server IP address.

   ssh root@your-server-ip

   Example Output

   Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.8.0-124-generic x86_64)
   ********************************************************************************
     Sim
     Web UI:    https://12.6.123.166/
     Initialized: 2026-06-16 20:27:28
     UFW firewall is enabled.
     Open ports: 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP->HTTPS redirect), 443 (HTTPS/Sim UI).
     Ollama:    active (model: llama3.2:3b)
     IMPORTANT - Copilot API Key required:
       Sim Copilot requires an API key to function.
       1. Go to https://sim.ai -> Settings -> Copilot
       2. Generate a Copilot API key
       3. Edit /opt/sim/.env and set:
            COPILOT_API_KEY=your-key
       4. Restart Sim:  systemctl restart sim
       Note: SIM_AGENT_API_URL=https://www.copilot.sim.ai is already pre-configured.
     Helpful commands:
       Check status:   docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml ps
       View logs:      docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f
       Restart Sim:    systemctl restart sim
       First-boot log: cat /var/log/sim-onboot.log
     For more details please see /root/README.md
     To remove this message: rm -f /etc/update-motd.d/99_sim

7. Check the setup logs:
   Copy

   cat /var/log/sim-onboot.log

   Example Output

   
   Last login: Tue Jun 16 21:28:14 2026 from 115.110.127.198
   root@server-123456:~# cat /var/log/sim-onboot.log
   2026-06-16 20:27:28 - Starting Sim first-boot setup
   2026-06-16 20:27:28 - Instance IP: 12.6.123.166 (confirmed on interface) — real server, SSL will be configured
   2026-06-16 20:27:28 - Secrets generated
   2026-06-16 20:27:28 - /opt/sim/.env written
   2026-06-16 20:27:28 - Ensuring Ollama is running
   2026-06-16 20:27:28 - Ensuring Docker is running
   Rule added
   2026-06-16 20:27:34 - Ollama URL set to http://172.18.0.1:11434
   2026-06-16 20:27:34 - Starting Sim via docker compose
   2026-06-16 20:27:34 - nginx started
   2026-06-16 20:27:34 - SSL setup started for IP: 12.6.123.166
   2026-06-16 20:27:34 - rDNS found (server.anothertestfornvme2.com) but forward lookup returned  — treating as no domain
   2026-06-16 20:27:34 - No domain detected — attempting Let's Encrypt certificate on IP 12.6.123.166...
   Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
   Account registered.
   Requesting a certificate for 12.6.123.166
   Successfully received certificate.
   Certificate is saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/12.6.123.166/fullchain.pem
   Key is saved at:         /etc/letsencrypt/live/12.6.123.166/privkey.pem
   This certificate expires on 2026-06-23.
   These files will be updated when the certificate renews.
   NEXT STEPS:
   - The certificate will need to be renewed before it expires. Certbot can automatically renew the certificate in the background, but you may need to take steps to enable that functionality. See https://certbot.org/renewal-setup for instructions.
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
   If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by:
    * Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt:   https://letsencrypt.org/donate
    * Donating to EFF:                    https://eff.org/donate-le
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
   2026-06-16 20:27:38 - Let's Encrypt certificate issued for IP 12.6.123.166.
   nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
   nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
   2026-06-16 20:27:38 - HTTPS nginx configuration applied.
   2026-06-16 20:27:38 - .env and instance.conf updated with URL: https://512.6.123.166
   2026-06-16 20:27:38 - simstudio container restarted.
   2026-06-16 20:27:38 - SSL setup complete. URL: https://12.6.123.166
   2026-06-16 20:27:55 - Waiting for Sim to be healthy...
     Waiting for Sim... attempt 1/60 (HTTP 000000)
     Sim is up! (HTTP 307 after ~10s)
   ============================================================
     Sim AI Platform — First Boot Complete
   ============================================================
     URL:      https://12.6.123.166
     Logs:     journalctl -u sim -f
               docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f
     Status:   docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml ps
   ============================================================
   2026-06-16 20:28:00 - First-boot setup complete
   root@server-123456:~#

8. Verify the services are running:
   Copy

   systemctl status sim

   Example Output

   2026-06-16 20:28:00 - First-boot setup complete
   root@server-123456:~# systemctl status sim
   docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml ps
   ● sim.service - Sim AI Agent Platform (simstudioai/sim)
        Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/sim.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
        Active: active (exited) since Tue 2026-06-16 20:27:55 UTC; 1h 41min ago
          Docs: https://github.com/simstudioai/sim
       Process: 3350 ExecStart=/usr/bin/docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml up -d --remove-orphans (code=ex>
      Main PID: 3350 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
           CPU: 124ms
   Jun 16 20:27:49 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-realtime-1 Started
   Jun 16 20:27:49 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-migrations-1 Waiting
   Jun 16 20:27:49 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-realtime-1 Waiting
   Jun 16 20:27:49 server-123456anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-db-1 Waiting
   Jun 16 20:27:50 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-db-1 Healthy
   Jun 16 20:27:50 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-migrations-1 Exited
   Jun 16 20:27:55 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-realtime-1 Healthy
   Jun 16 20:27:55 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-simstudio-1 Starting
   Jun 16 20:27:55 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com sim[3370]:  Container sim-simstudio-1 Started
   Jun 16 20:27:55 server-123456.anothertestfornvme2.com systemd[1]: Finished sim.service - Sim AI Agent Platform (simstud>
   lines 1-18/18 (END)

Access the Sim UI dashboard and Create an Account

1. Open your web browser and navigate to your domain or server IP:
   • If you set up a domain: Go to https://sim.domain.com
   • If using raw IP: Go to https://your-server-ip.

     (Note: You will have to click "Advanced -> Proceed anyway" if you get a self-signed certificate warning).

2. You will see a sign-up screen. Click Sign up to proceed.

   
    

3. Create your admin account here.

   Please fill out the details below to set up your new account.

   • Full name: Enter your first and last name as you would like them to appear on your profile.
   • Email: Use a valid, active email address.
   • Password: Choose a strong, secure password. Tip: Mix uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols to keep your account safe.

   
    

4. Go to https://sim.ai, choose Settings > Copilot, and create your API key.
5. Open your environment file with a text editor (such as Nano).
   Note:

   • If you see a "command not found" error, it means the text editor (Nano) isn't installed yet.

     Run this command to install it:

     Copy

     sudo apt update && sudo apt install nano -y
   • If you see a "Permission denied" or "File not found" error, it means you need administrator privileges or you are in the wrong folder.

     Fix this by adding sudo to the front of your command to run it as an administrator:

     Copy

     sudo nano /opt/sim/.env
   Copy

   nano /opt/sim/.env

   Example Output

   GNU nano 7.2                        /opt/sim/.env                                 
   # ==============================================================================
   # SIM ENVIRONMENT CONFIGURATION
   # ==============================================================================
   
   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://sim_user:aB7x9_mK29LpQ@localhost:5432/sim_db?schema=public"
   REDIS_URL="redis://localhost:6379/0"
   
   # Security Secrets (Generated automatically on first boot)
   BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="abc1235f6e3d2c1b0a9f8e7d6c5b4a3_sample_secret_xyz"
   ENCRYPTION_KEY="a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2abcs234563d4e5
   
   # Public URL Routing
   NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL="https://192.168.1.50"
   
   # External AI Service Layer
   COPILOT_API_KEY=sk_sim_co_abc1234ce5e93c8402f0a1d49e
   SIM_AGENT_API_URL="https://www.copilot.sim.ai"
   
   # Local AI Configuration
   OLLAMA_URL="http://172.17.0.1:11434"
   
   
   ^G Help      ^O Write Out ^W Where Is  ^K Cut       ^T Execute   ^C Location
   ^X Exit      ^R Read File ^\ Replace  ^U Paste     ^J Justify   ^_ Go To Line

6. Find the line that says COPILOT_API_KEY= and paste your key right after the equals sign.

   Example Output

   # External AI Service Layer
   COPILOT_API_KEY=sk_sim_co_abc1234bce5e93c8402f0a1d49e
   SIM_AGENT_API_URL="https://www.copilot.sim.ai"

7. Restart the system to apply your new key.
   Copy

   systemctl restart sim

Supporting Information and Sample Output

You can run cat /root/README.md to see more information and useful commands:

Example Output

root@server-123456:~# cat /root/README.md
# Sim

## Description

Sim is an open-source AI workspace where you can build, deploy, and manage agents using a visual workflow builder and 1,000+ integrations. It connects every major LLM - including OpenAI, Claude, and Gemini - and includes pre-built templates for tasks like email triage, code review, and data enrichment, letting teams automate real work.

## Image contents

This template installs and configures:

- Sim AI Agent Platform (simstudioai/sim) via Docker Compose
- PostgreSQL 17 with pgvector extension for embeddings and vector search
- Redis for real-time pub/sub and session management
- Docker CE with Compose plugin and NVIDIA Container Toolkit
- nginx reverse proxy with HTTPS termination
- UFW firewall rules for SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS
- Sim application files at /opt/sim
- docker-compose.prod.yml at /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml
- Runtime environment at /opt/sim/.env
- Logrotate configuration at /etc/logrotate.d/sim

## Services

| Service      | Ports    | Purpose                                                 |
|--------------|----------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Sim (UI+API) | 3000     | Next.js application server (internal, proxied by nginx) |
| Sim Realtime | 3002     | WebSocket server for live workflow updates (internal)   |
| Redis        | internal | Session store and pub/sub for realtime service          |
| PostgreSQL   | internal | pgvector database (Docker Compose internal network)     |
| nginx        | 80, 443  | Reverse proxy, HTTP redirects to HTTPS                  |
| OpenSSH      | 22       | Remote access                                           |
| Ollama       | 11434    | Local LLM API (llama3.2:3b)   |

Ports are protected using UFW. Internal services are not exposed externally.

## Sim configuration

The runtime environment is stored at /opt/sim/.env.

Key settings include:

- DATABASE_URL - PostgreSQL connection string pointing to the db Compose service
- BETTER_AUTH_SECRET - session signing secret, generated on first boot
- ENCRYPTION_KEY - key for encrypting stored API credentials, generated on first boot
- INTERNAL_API_SECRET - internal API authentication between Sim services
- NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL - public URL used in emails and OAuth callbacks
- REDIS_URL - Redis connection string for the realtime service
- COPILOT_API_KEY - effectively required for Sim to function. Generate at https://sim.ai -> Settings -> Copilot
- SIM_AGENT_API_URL - pre-configured to https://www.copilot.sim.ai

The systemd service unit is sim and starts Sim via docker compose as root.

## First boot behavior

On the first boot, the cloud-init per-instance script /var/lib/cloud/scripts/per-instance/001_onboot:

- Detects the public IP address of the server via external lookup with hostname fallback
- Generates random secrets: POSTGRES_PASSWORD, BETTER_AUTH_SECRET, ENCRYPTION_KEY, and INTERNAL_API_SECRET
- Writes /opt/sim/.env with all real values replacing build-time placeholders
- Tears down any build-time Docker volumes so PostgreSQL initializes with the new password
- Starts all Docker Compose services: PostgreSQL, Redis, migrations, realtime, and simstudio
- Detects whether a domain name resolves to the server IP and requests a Let's Encrypt certificate for it
- Falls back to a self-signed certificate if no domain is detected
- Rewrites the nginx config with HTTP to HTTPS redirect and full HTTPS proxy block
- Waits up to 5 minutes for Sim to become healthy and logs the result

This guarantees that no credentials are baked into the image. Every instance gets unique credentials.

## First-time access (How to use)

SSH into your server using your cloud provider credentials and the server public IP:
    ssh root@
After the VM boots, access Sim at:
    https:///

On the first visit, Sim will show a sign-up screen. Create your first account to get started. There is no default admin password - accounts are created through the Sim UI on first access.
To get a trusted HTTPS certificate with no browser warning, point a domain name A record to the server IP before booting. The image will detect the domain automatically and request a Let's Encrypt certificate.

View the first-boot log to confirm setup completed successfully:
    cat /var/log/sim-onboot.log
View the generated secrets:
    cat /opt/sim/.env

## Using Ollama (Local AI)

Sim is pre-configured with a local AI model (llama3.2:3b) powered by Ollama.
No API keys required.

### Workflow Setup Guide

- Login: Open `https://` and log in to Sim UI
- Create a New Workflow: In the left panel, click **"+"** to create a new workflow
- Add Agent Block: Click the new workflow -> right panel -> **Toolbar** -> **Blocks** -> click on **Agent**
- Connect Blocks: **Start** and **Agent** blocks are automatically connected on the canvas
- Configure the Agent: Click **Agent** block -> select **`llama3.2:3b`** by scrolling down under **Model**
- Enter a Prompt: In **Messages** box, type your prompt
- Run: Click green **Run** button on top right
- View Response: Output appears in the **Output** panel at the bottom

> **Note:** Response time may take 1-3 minutes depending on server hardware.

---

## Useful commands

Check Sim container status:
    docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml ps
View Sim logs:
    docker compose -f /opt/sim/docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f
Check Sim service:
    systemctl status sim
Check nginx service:
    systemctl status nginx
Restart Sim:
    systemctl restart sim
Pull latest Sim images and restart:
    cd /opt/sim && docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml pull && systemctl restart sim
View systemd journal for Sim:
    journalctl -u sim -n 100 --no-pager
Verify listening ports:
    ss -tulnp
Check Ollama status:
    systemctl status ollama
List available models:
    ollama list
Test Ollama responds:
    ollama run llama3.2:3b "hello"

## Minimum Resources

| Resource | Minimum  |
|----------|----------|
| CPU      | 4 vCPUs  |
| RAM      | 16 GB    |
| Disk     | 100 GB   |

Running Sim on an instance with less than 16 GB of RAM will likely result in out-of-memory errors during the first boot or under load.

## Notes

- All secrets are generated fresh on every new instance. The .env file in the image contains only placeholders.
- PostgreSQL and Redis are not exposed externally. They are only reachable within the Docker Compose network.
- Logs are written to /var/log/sim-onboot.log for first-boot events and to Docker container logs for runtime events.
- The Sim UI is served on port 443 (HTTPS). Port 80 redirects to HTTPS automatically.
- NVIDIA Container Toolkit is pre-installed to support GPU-accelerated model inference if the instance has a GPU.
- Ollama is pre-installed with llama3.2:3b. In Sim, select Ollama as the provider and pick llama3.2:3b to use the local model without any API keys.
- Ollama runs on the host and is accessible to Sim via the Docker bridge gateway. The OLLAMA_URL is set automatically on first boot.

## Links

**Sim**
* Manage: [https://{server_ip}](https://{server_ip})
* Documentation: [https://docs.sim.ai](https://docs.sim.ai)
* GitHub: [https://github.com/simstudioai/sim](https://github.com/simstudioai/sim)
* Website: [https://sim.ai](https://sim.ai)
* Docker CE: [https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/)
* pgvector: [https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector](https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector)
* Ollama: [https://ollama.com](https://ollama.com)
* Ollama Model Library: [https://ollama.com/library](https://ollama.com/library)
* Sim Self-Hosting Docs (Ollama): [https://docs.sim.ai/self-hosting/docker#ollama](https://docs.sim.ai/self-hosting/docker#ollama)
root@server-123456:~# cat /var/log/sim-onboot.log

Summary

Sim is a comprehensive open-source AI workspace built to help you design, deploy, and manage AI agents and automated workflows. Through its visual builder, natural language capabilities, extensive integration ecosystem, and flexible self-hosting options, Sim provides everything you need to bring AI-powered projects to life while maintaining complete control over your data and infrastructure.