I need a single DigitalOcean droplet running Ubuntu configured to host a head-less Interactive Brokers Gateway together with my existing Python trading bridge. The goal is rock-solid, unattended operation: if IB Gateway crashes or a network hiccup occurs, the service must come back online automatically and alert me by email. Core work • Install and configure the latest stable IB Gateway in headless mode. • Deploy my Python bridge (I will supply the repo) and link it to the gateway. • Create systemd units with automatic restart and a lightweight watchdog script that verifies both the IB process and the Python bridge are healthy; if either fails the script should restart the affected service. • Build periodic health-check probes (e.g., cron + curl or Python) that confirm connectivity to Interactive Brokers and send an email alert whenever a check fails. Security hardening (Ubuntu) – Enable UFW or an equivalent firewall and expose only the ports the bridge truly needs. – Configure SSH key authentication exclusively; disable password logins. – Set up unattended-upgrades so security patches are applied automatically. Operational polish – Provide a script or Ansible/Cloud-Init snippet so the entire environment can be reproduced on a fresh droplet. – Document every step (commands, config file locations, restart procedures) in a concise README. – Run a live test session with me: we’ll bounce IB Gateway, simulate a process crash, and verify the watchdog restart and email alert. Acceptance criteria 1. Droplet survives a manual kill ‑9 on either service without intervention. 2. Health-check email arrives within five minutes of a simulated outage. 3. All security measures above are verifiably active. 4. README lets me rebuild the server from scratch in under 30 minutes. If you’ve automated trading environments or handled IB before, that’s a plus, but solid Linux automation skills matter most.