BeginnerGetting StartedOpenClaw

OpenClaw on a VPS: Complete Setup Guide

Deploy OpenClaw on any VPS provider, including DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode, Vultr, and AWS Lightsail, with a complete setup walkthrough.

Sam OkaforUpdated February 25, 202635 minutes

#Why Run OpenClaw on a VPS?

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) gives you a dedicated, always-on machine in the cloud — perfect for running OpenClaw 24/7 without leaving your laptop open. It's the most popular way to host an OpenClaw agent.

A $5-10/month VPS with 1 vCPU and 1-2 GB RAM is plenty for a single OpenClaw agent. You don't need a powerful machine — OpenClaw is lightweight.

#Choosing a Provider

Provider	Cheapest Plan	Strengths	Best For
Hetzner	€3.79/mo (2 GB)	Best price-to-performance ratio	Budget-conscious users
DigitalOcean	$6/mo (1 GB)	Great docs, simple UI	Beginners
Linode (Akamai)	$5/mo (1 GB)	Solid performance, good support	Reliability
Vultr	$5/mo (1 GB)	Many locations, hourly billing	Flexibility
AWS Lightsail	$5/mo (1 GB)	AWS ecosystem integration	AWS users
Oracle Cloud	Free (24 GB ARM)	Always-free tier	See our Oracle Cloud guide

#Step 1: Create Your VPS

For this guide, we'll use a generic Ubuntu setup that works on any provider.

Sign up with your chosen provider
Create a new instance with:
- OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (or 22.04 LTS)
- Plan: Cheapest available (1 vCPU, 1-2 GB RAM)
- Region: Closest to you for lowest latency
- Authentication: SSH key (strongly recommended over password)

#Setting Up SSH Keys (If You Haven't Already)

On your local machine:

bash

# Generate an SSH key pair (if you don't have one)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-email@example.com"
# Copy the public key to your clipboard
# macOS:
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | pbcopy
# Linux:
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | xclip -selection clipboard

Paste this public key into your VPS provider's SSH key field during instance creation.

#Step 2: Connect to Your VPS

bash

# Connect via SSH (replace with your VPS IP)
ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP
# You should see a welcome message from Ubuntu

Running everything as root is fine for initial setup, but we'll create a dedicated user for OpenClaw in the next step.

#Create a Dedicated User

bash

# Create a new user for OpenClaw
adduser openclaw
# Add to sudo group
usermod -aG sudo openclaw
# Copy SSH keys to new user
mkdir -p /home/openclaw/.ssh
cp ~/.ssh/authorized_keys /home/openclaw/.ssh/
chown -R openclaw:openclaw /home/openclaw/.ssh
chmod 700 /home/openclaw/.ssh
chmod 600 /home/openclaw/.ssh/authorized_keys
# Test login in a new terminal (don't close the root session yet!)
ssh openclaw@YOUR_VPS_IP

#Step 3: Secure Your VPS

bash

# Update system packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
# Install UFW firewall
sudo apt install ufw -y
# Allow SSH (important — don't lock yourself out!)
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable
# Verify status
sudo ufw status

bash

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find and change:

PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no

bash

sudo systemctl restart sshd

#Step 4: Install Node.js

OpenClaw requires Node.js 20 or later.

bash

# Install Node.js 22 LTS via NodeSource
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
# Verify installation
node --version   # Should show v22.x.x
npm --version    # Should show 10.x.x

If you prefer nvm (Node Version Manager), that works too:

bash

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.0/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
nvm install 22

#Step 5: Install OpenClaw

bash

# Install OpenClaw globally
npm install -g openclaw
# Verify installation
openclaw --version
# Run the setup wizard
openclaw setup

The setup wizard will walk you through:

Creating your workspace directory
Setting up your first API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.)
Configuring your messaging channel (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
Creating your SOUL.md

#Step 6: Configure as a systemd Service

This is the key step — systemd will keep OpenClaw running 24/7 and restart it automatically if it crashes.

bash

# Create a systemd service file
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/openclaw.service

Paste this configuration:

ini

[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw AI Agent
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=openclaw
WorkingDirectory=/home/openclaw/.openclaw/workspace
ExecStart=/usr/bin/openclaw gateway start --foreground
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

bash

# Reload systemd and start
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable openclaw   # Start on boot
sudo systemctl start openclaw    # Start now
# Check status
sudo systemctl status openclaw

#Viewing Logs

bash

# Live logs
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -f
# Last 100 lines
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -n 100
# Logs since today
sudo journalctl -u openclaw --since today

#Step 7: Set Up Log Rotation

Prevent logs from filling your disk:

bash

sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/openclaw

/var/log/openclaw/*.log {
    daily
    missingok
    rotate 7
    compress
    delaycompress
    notifempty
}

#Step 8: Basic Monitoring

#Check If OpenClaw Is Running

bash

# Quick status check
openclaw status
# Or via systemd
systemctl is-active openclaw

#Set Up a Simple Health Check

Add a cron job to alert you if OpenClaw goes down:

bash

crontab -e

Add:

*/5 * * * * systemctl is-active openclaw || echo "OpenClaw is down!" | mail -s "Alert: OpenClaw Down" your@email.com

#Updating OpenClaw

bash

# Stop the service
sudo systemctl stop openclaw
# Update
npm update -g openclaw
# Restart
sudo systemctl start openclaw
# Verify
openclaw --version

#Troubleshooting

#OpenClaw Won't Start

bash

# Check logs for errors
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -n 50 --no-pager
# Common issues:
# - Missing API key → run openclaw setup
# - Port conflict → check with: ss -tlnp | grep 3000
# - Permission error → check file ownership

#SSH Connection Refused

bash

# Check if SSH is running
sudo systemctl status sshd
# Check firewall
sudo ufw status
# Make sure port 22 is allowed
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

#High Memory Usage

bash

# Check memory
free -h
# If needed, add swap
sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

#Next Steps

Your First 24 Hours with OpenClaw — Set up SOUL.md, connect Telegram, install your first skill
Security Hardening Guide — Lock down your VPS and agent
Process Management Guide — Advanced systemd, pm2, and monitoring
Cost Optimization — Keep API bills under control

#Why Run OpenClaw on a VPS?

#Choosing a Provider

#Step 1: Create Your VPS

#Setting Up SSH Keys (If You Haven't Already)

#Step 2: Connect to Your VPS

#Create a Dedicated User

#Step 3: Secure Your VPS

#Disable Root SSH Login

#Step 4: Install Node.js

#Step 5: Install OpenClaw

#Step 6: Configure as a systemd Service

#Viewing Logs

#Step 7: Set Up Log Rotation

#Step 8: Basic Monitoring

#Check If OpenClaw Is Running

#Set Up a Simple Health Check

#Updating OpenClaw

#Troubleshooting

#OpenClaw Won't Start

#SSH Connection Refused

#High Memory Usage

#Next Steps

Skip the trial and error