Connect a cloud provider

Each cloud account stores one credential binding — an IAM role for AWS, a service principal for Azure, a service account for GCP, a client certificate for LXD, or a configuration-only entry for on-premises. Add as many accounts as you need, one per project, region, or team.

This guide covers every provider type. Pick your provider below for the full step-by-step process.

TimeAbout 10 minutes per provider

You will needVantage admin permissions and provider admin access

OutcomeA cloud account linked to Vantage

AWS
Azure
GCP
LXD
On-Premises

Prerequisites

An AWS account with permission to create CloudFormation stacks (assisted setup) or an existing IAM role ARN configured for Vantage

Option A: Assisted setup (recommended)

Open Cloud Accounts

Click the Settings gear icon in the bottom-left sidebar and select Cloud Accounts.

Create a new AWS account

Click + Create Cloud Account and select AWS. Enter an Account Name (required, max 45 characters) and an optional Description.

Launch the AWS Stack Creation page

Under Assisted Setup, click Access the AWS Stack Creation page. A new tab opens to AWS CloudFormation.

Create the CloudFormation stack

In AWS: provide a Stack Name, check the acknowledgement box for CloudFormation resource creation, then click Create Stack.

Wait for stack creation

Wait for the stack status to change from blue IN PROGRESS to green CREATE_COMPLETE (typically 2-3 minutes).

Complete the connection

Close the AWS tab, return to Vantage, and click Next.

Verify the account

Vantage validates the connection. If successful, the account appears in the Cloud Accounts list.

For multi-region deployments, create one cloud account per AWS region. Each account can target a different region when creating clusters.

Option B: Existing ARN configuration

If you already have an IAM role configured for Vantage:

Open Cloud Accounts

Follow steps 1-2 from Option A above.

Select Existing ARN Configuration

Select Existing ARN Configuration.

Enter the IAM Role ARN

Paste your IAM Role ARN in the field provided.

Create the account

Click Create Cloud Account.

Required IAM permissions

The Vantage IAM role needs the following permission categories:

EC2 — launch instances, manage security groups, describe VPCs and subnets
CloudFormation — create and describe stacks
EKS — create and manage Kubernetes clusters (if using Kubernetes)
S3 — read/write to storage buckets for job data
IAM — pass-role permissions for the Vantage service role

The assisted setup CloudFormation template configures these permissions automatically.

Prerequisites

An Azure subscription with permission to create service principals

Create a service principal in Azure

Open App registrations

Open the Azure Portal and navigate to Azure Active Directory > App registrations.

Register a new application

Click New registration. Enter a name (for example, vantage-connector) and click Register.

Copy the application identifiers

On the app overview page, copy the Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID.

Create a client secret

Navigate to Certificates & secrets > New client secret. Add a description, choose an expiry period, and click Add. Copy the secret value immediately.

Client secrets expire based on the period you choose (6 months, 12 months, or 24 months). Set a reminder to rotate the secret before it expires, or cluster operations will fail silently.

Open subscription IAM

Navigate to Subscriptions > [your subscription] > Access control (IAM).

Assign the Contributor role

Click Add role assignment and grant the service principal the Contributor role on the subscription.

Connect to Vantage

Open Cloud Accounts

Click the Settings gear icon in the bottom-left sidebar and select Cloud Accounts.

Create a new Azure account

Click + Create Cloud Account and select Azure. Enter an Account Name and optional Description.

Enter Azure credentials

Expand the Advanced section. Under Additional Settings, add key-value pairs for client_id, tenant_id, and client_secret using the values from the previous steps.

Create the account

Click Create Cloud Account.

Success looks like this: the new account appears in uvx v8x cloud account list with provider azure and is ready to back a cluster.

Prerequisites

A GCP project with permission to create service accounts and assign IAM roles

Create a service account in GCP

Open Service Accounts

Open the GCP Console and navigate to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.

Create the service account

Click Create Service Account. Enter a name (for example, vantage-connector) and click Create and Continue.

Grant IAM roles

Grant the service account the following roles:

Compute Admin — manage VMs and networking
Kubernetes Engine Admin — create and manage GKE clusters (if using Kubernetes)
Storage Admin — read/write to Cloud Storage buckets
Service Account User — allow the account to act as other service accounts

Finish role assignment

Click Done.

Download the key file

Click the new service account, navigate to Keys > Add Key > Create new key, select JSON, and click Create. A key file downloads to your machine.

Connect to Vantage

Open Cloud Accounts

Click the Settings gear icon in the bottom-left sidebar and select Cloud Accounts.

Create a new GCP account

Click + Create Cloud Account and select GCP. Enter an Account Name and optional Description.

Upload the key file

Expand the Advanced section. Under Additional Settings, upload the service account key JSON file or paste its contents as the value for the credentials key.

Create the account

Click Create Cloud Account.

Success looks like this: the new account appears in uvx v8x cloud-account list with provider gcp and is ready to back a cluster.

Prerequisites

A running LXD server with HTTPS enabled and a client certificate

Connect an LXD account

LXD runs system containers like lightweight VMs. It is ideal for multi-tenant dev/test, CI, and smaller batch workloads.

Open Cloud Accounts

Click the Settings gear icon in the bottom-left sidebar and select Cloud Accounts.

Select LXD

Click + Create Cloud Account and select LXD.

Fill in the form

Account Name (required) — a display name for this account
Description (optional)
Server URL (required) — for example, https://your-lxd-server:8443
Client Certificate (required) — paste your LXD client certificate
Client Key (required) — paste your LXD client key

Create the account

Click Create Cloud Account.

Success looks like this: the new account appears in uvx v8x cloud-account list with provider lxd and is ready to back a cluster.

Prerequisites

Outbound HTTPS (port 443) from your infrastructure to Vantage servers

Connect an on-premises account

On-premises accounts are configuration-only entries that tell Vantage about your self-managed hardware. No external credentials are required.

Open Cloud Accounts

Click the Settings gear icon in the bottom-left sidebar and select Cloud Accounts.

Select On-Premises

Click + Create Cloud Account and select On-Premises.

Enter account details

Enter an Account Name and optional Description.

Create the account

Click Create Cloud Account.

After creating the account, use one of the on-premises cluster setup methods (Ansible, Terraform, Kubernetes, Juju, or Multipass) to connect your infrastructure. See On-premises clusters for setup guides.

Success looks like this: the new account appears in uvx v8x cloud-account list with provider on-premises and is ready to back a cluster.

Prerequisites​

Option A: Assisted setup (recommended)​

Open Cloud Accounts​

Create a new AWS account​

Launch the AWS Stack Creation page​

Create the CloudFormation stack​

Wait for stack creation​

Complete the connection​

Verify the account​

Option B: Existing ARN configuration​

Open Cloud Accounts​

Select Existing ARN Configuration​

Enter the IAM Role ARN​

Create the account​

Required IAM permissions​

Prerequisites​

Create a service principal in Azure​

Open App registrations​

Register a new application​

Copy the application identifiers​

Create a client secret​

Open subscription IAM​

Assign the Contributor role​

Connect to Vantage​

Open Cloud Accounts​

Create a new Azure account​

Enter Azure credentials​

Create the account​

Prerequisites​

Create a service account in GCP​

Open Service Accounts​

Create the service account​

Grant IAM roles​

Finish role assignment​

Download the key file​

Connect to Vantage​

Open Cloud Accounts​

Create a new GCP account​

Upload the key file​

Create the account​

Prerequisites​

Connect an LXD account​

Open Cloud Accounts​

Select LXD​

Fill in the form​

Create the account​

Prerequisites​

Connect an on-premises account​

Open Cloud Accounts​

Select On-Premises​

Enter account details​

Create the account​

What to do next​

Prerequisites

Option A: Assisted setup (recommended)

Open Cloud Accounts

Create a new AWS account

Launch the AWS Stack Creation page

Create the CloudFormation stack

Wait for stack creation

Complete the connection

Verify the account

Option B: Existing ARN configuration

Open Cloud Accounts

Select Existing ARN Configuration

Enter the IAM Role ARN

Create the account

Required IAM permissions

Prerequisites

Create a service principal in Azure

Open App registrations

Register a new application

Copy the application identifiers

Create a client secret

Open subscription IAM

Assign the Contributor role

Connect to Vantage

Open Cloud Accounts

Create a new Azure account

Enter Azure credentials

Create the account

Prerequisites

Create a service account in GCP

Open Service Accounts

Create the service account

Grant IAM roles

Finish role assignment

Download the key file

Connect to Vantage

Open Cloud Accounts

Create a new GCP account

Upload the key file

Create the account

Prerequisites

Connect an LXD account

Open Cloud Accounts

Select LXD

Fill in the form

Create the account

Prerequisites

Connect an on-premises account

Open Cloud Accounts

Select On-Premises

Enter account details

Create the account

What to do next