Migrate from Hetzner Cloud servers to Quake AI compute

This guide covers migrating compute workloads from Hetzner Cloud to Quake AI (OpenStack Nova). Hetzner does not support image export, so the recommended approach is rebuild and rsync. Hetzner users typically provision from standard images with configuration management tooling, making rebuild the natural migration path.

Service mapping#

Prerequisites#

• A Quake AI account with application credentials
• The OpenStack CLI installed and configured
• SSH access to your Hetzner Cloud Servers
• An SSH key pair imported to Quake AI (openstack keypair create --public-key)

Image portability#

Hetzner Cloud does not provide an API or UI for downloading server snapshots or images. A dd-based workaround exists using rescue mode, but it produces full-disk images regardless of data usage and requires server downtime.

Recommendation: Do not attempt image export. Hetzner servers are typically provisioned from standard images with config management: rebuild is the right approach.

Flavor mapping#

Hetzner uses three CPU families: CX/CPX (shared, ~2:1 ratio), and CCX (dedicated AMD, 4:1 ratio). Shared Hetzner servers map to Quake AI s1a at smaller sizes, but step up to m2a for larger configurations since s1a caps at 8 vCPU / 8 GiB. Dedicated CCX maps cleanly to m2a.

Hetzner relaunched its shared plans in June 2024 under new names such as CX22 and CPX22. The CPX rows above reference the pre-2024 series (CPX21 at 3 vCPU, CPX31 at 4 vCPU); the current CPX22 has 2 vCPU. Confirm the vCPU count for your server in the Hetzner Cloud Console before you map it.

Migration approach#

Option 1: Containerized workloads (recommended)#

If your Hetzner servers run Docker containers, migrate images and redeploy.

1. Push images to a portable registry:

docker push registry.example.com/MY_APP:latest

1. Provision a Nova instance on Quake AI:

openstack server create \
  --image "Ubuntu-22.04" \
  --flavor m2a.xlarge \
  --network MY_NETWORK \
  --key-name MY_KEY \
  --security-group MY_SECURITY_GROUP \
  MY_INSTANCE_NAME

1. Install Docker and deploy:

ssh ubuntu@FLOATING_IP
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y docker.io
sudo docker pull registry.example.com/MY_APP:latest
sudo docker run -d -p 80:8080 registry.example.com/MY_APP:latest

Option 2: Rebuild and rsync (non-containerized)#

1. Provision a Nova instance with the same base OS:

openstack server create \
  --image "Ubuntu-22.04" \
  --flavor m2a.xlarge \
  --network MY_NETWORK \
  --key-name MY_KEY \
  --security-group MY_SECURITY_GROUP \
  MY_INSTANCE_NAME

1. Assign a floating IP:

openstack floating ip create PublicStatic
openstack server add floating ip MY_INSTANCE_NAME FLOATING_IP

1. Install your application stack. Replay Ansible playbooks, cloud-init configs, or provisioning scripts.

2. Transfer application data:

rsync -avz --progress -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/MY_KEY" \
  root@HETZNER_IP:/path/to/app/data \
  ubuntu@FLOATING_IP:/path/to/app/data

1. Migrate databases:

pg_dump -h HETZNER_IP -U MY_USER MY_DATABASE | \
  psql -h FLOATING_IP -U MY_USER MY_DATABASE

Key pair and security setup#

Import your SSH key#

openstack keypair create --public-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub my-key

Translate Hetzner Firewalls to security groups#

Hetzner Firewalls apply at the network level or via label selectors. Neutron security groups apply per instance (per port). Translate your rules:

openstack security group create web-tier
openstack security group rule create web-tier \
  --protocol tcp --dst-port 22 --remote-ip 0.0.0.0/0
openstack security group rule create web-tier \
  --protocol tcp --dst-port 80 --remote-ip 0.0.0.0/0
openstack security group rule create web-tier \
  --protocol tcp --dst-port 443 --remote-ip 0.0.0.0/0

Validation checklist#

After migrating each workload, verify:

• Application responds correctly on the Quake AI instance
• All expected ports are accessible through the security group
• Data integrity: compare file checksums or row counts between source and destination
• Database connectivity from the application to any migrated databases
• DNS records updated to point to the new Quake AI floating IP
• Monitoring in place (self-managed Prometheus + Grafana)
• cloud-init or configuration management runs cleanly on the new instance
• SSL/TLS certificates installed and renewed

Provider-specific gotchas#

See also#

• Migrating from Hetzner Cloud to Quake AI: full cross-service migration hub
• Coming from Hetzner Cloud: concept translation reference
• Create an instance: full instance provisioning workflow
• Compute migration guides: all provider guides