# Connect your Contabo account

Connect Contabo with its four API credentials, choose a contract term, and order your first Cloud VPS or Cloud VDS from Nuvlo.

## Before you start

- A Contabo customer account.
- Access to the Contabo Customer Control Panel.
- A Nuvlo account where you are the owner, an admin or a developer. Viewers can’t connect providers. See [roles and permissions](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/roles-and-permissions).

## How Contabo is different

Contabo servers run on contracts, not hourly billing. When you create a server, Contabo charges the whole contract term upfront to your Contabo account. Nuvlo never handles the payment.

Contabo also needs four values to connect instead of one token: a client ID, a client secret, an API user and an API password.

## Step 1: Find your API credentials

Sign in to the Contabo Customer Control Panel and open **API**. The page shows your **Client ID** and **Client Secret**. Your **API User** is the email address you sign in to Contabo with.

## Step 2: Set an API password

On the same page, set an **API Password**. It is a separate password for the API only, not your Customer Control Panel password. If you set one before and don’t remember it, set a new one.

A new API password stops anything that still uses the old one, including a Contabo account already connected to Nuvlo. Update it there with **Manage**.

## Step 3: Open Server providers in Nuvlo

In Nuvlo, open **Integrations** → **Server providers** ([go there](https://app.nuvlo.dev/dashboard/integrations/server-providers)). Choose **Add provider**, then **Contabo**.

![The Add provider dialog with Contabo among the providers](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/connect-aws--add-provider.webp)

## Step 4: Enter the four credentials

Optionally enter an **Account label**, then fill in all four fields: **Client ID**, **Client secret**, **API user** and **API password**. **Connect account** stays disabled until every field has a value.

Choose **Connect account**. Nuvlo signs in to the Contabo API and lists your servers to prove the credentials work before it saves them.

![The Connect Contabo dialog with the Client ID, Client secret, API user and API password fields](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/connect-contabo--connect-dialog.webp)

## Step 5: Check that the account is connected

The account appears under **Connected accounts** with the status **Not in use** until your first server is linked to it.

![The Connected accounts table with the new Contabo account](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/connect-contabo--connected.webp)

## Step 6: Choose a region, plan and contract term

Open **Servers** and create a server ([start here](https://app.nuvlo.dev/dashboard/servers/create)). Choose **Contabo**, your account and **New server**, then choose what you will host.

On **Region & plan**, pick a region and a plan family. Under **Shared resources**, **Core** is Cloud VPS with SSD storage and **Performance** is Cloud VPS Plus with AMD EPYC vCPUs and NVMe storage. Under **Dedicated resources**, **Max Performance** is Cloud VDS with dedicated cores and NVMe storage.

Under **Contract term**, pick how long you commit. Longer terms lower the monthly rate, the same for every plan family:

| Contract term | Monthly rate |
| --- | --- |
| **Monthly** | Base price |
| **12 Months** | 15% off |
| **24 Months** | 20% off |

The plan prices change to the monthly rate of the term you pick. Below the terms, Nuvlo shows the **Upfront total** you pay Contabo for the whole term, excluding VAT. Hover or tap the info icon next to it for **How Contabo billing works**.

![The Contract term selector with 12 Months selected, the Save badges and the upfront total](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/connect-contabo--contract-term.webp)

- The whole term is charged at once, at the start.
- At the end of the term, the contract renews automatically for the same length and at the same price.

## Step 7: Set the root password

On **Configure server**, name the server and choose SSH keys as usual. Contabo servers also get a **Root password**. It only works in Contabo’s VNC console, as a way in if SSH ever stops working. Password login over SSH stays turned off.

- **Auto-generate**: Nuvlo creates a strong password and shows it to you once the server is created. You can show it again later on the server page.
- **Set my own**: you type the password. It is sent to Contabo and never stored by Nuvlo. It needs 8–72 characters, upper and lower case letters, and either 1 digit and 2 special characters or 3 digits and 1 special character.

![The Root password section of the Configure server step with Auto-generate selected](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/connect-contabo--root-password.webp)

Only the account owner or an admin can set or see a root password.

## Step 8: Review and order the server

On **Review**, check the **Contract term**, **Monthly cost** and **Upfront total**. Then choose **Create server**. This places the order at Contabo.

![The Review step for a Contabo server showing the contract term, monthly cost and upfront total](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/connect-contabo--review.webp)

> **Warning:** The whole term is charged when you order, even if you cancel during setup. A cancelled server runs until the paid period ends, then Contabo removes it.

## Use a Contabo server you already have

If you already pay for a Contabo VPS, you can set it up with Nuvlo instead of ordering a new one. On the provider step, choose **Erase an existing server**, pick the server from your Contabo account, name it and confirm the wipe. Then choose **Erase … and install Nuvlo**. See [Erase an existing server](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/erase-an-existing-server).

![The Server source choice for Contabo with New server and Erase an existing server](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/connect-contabo--erase-source.webp)

> **Warning:** Everything on that server is deleted, and Ubuntu is reinstalled with the Nuvlo stack. Copy anything you need off the server first.

## Good to know

| Topic | On Contabo |
| --- | --- |
| Regions | Nuremberg, Portsmouth, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. |
| Resize | Upgrade the server in the Contabo Customer Control Panel, then choose **Reload plan from provider** on the server page in Nuvlo. Contabo doesn’t offer downgrades. See [Resize a server](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/resize-a-server). |
| Snapshots | Included in the price, restored over the server. Contabo deletes snapshots after 30 days. See [Server snapshots](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/server-snapshots). |
| Delete | Deleting cancels the contract at the end of the paid term. The server runs until then. Contabo’s API can’t undo a cancellation, so undo it in the Contabo Customer Control Panel. |

## Troubleshooting

| You see | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| **The provider rejected this key** and a message about invalid credentials | One of the four values is wrong. The most common cause is the API password: set a new one in the Customer Control Panel and enter it again. |
| The password field shows a red hint | Your own root password doesn’t meet Contabo’s rules. Follow the hint under the field, or switch to **Auto-generate**. |

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Source: https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/connect-contabo