Hosting OpenClaw on a VPS — Complete Guide

## VPS Requirements & Recommendations Minimum specs: - 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 500MB disk Recommended: - 2GB RAM (for logs, media processing, multiple channels) - Ubuntu LTS (most tested platform) Best practices: - Run Gateway 24/7 — cron jobs won't fire if it sleeps - Back up workspace (~/clawd) to a private git repo - Keep state separate: ~/.clawdbot for config, ~/clawd for workspace

## Initial VPS Setup ``bash # 1. Install Node.js 22+ (recommended method) curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt-get install -y nodejs # 2. Install OpenClaw curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash # 3. Run initial configuration clawdbot configure # 4. Start the gateway clawdbot gateway start

## Fixing Interrupted Setup (RPi / VPS) If setup was cancelled or interrupted and you get 'command not found':

# Create config directory if missingmkdir -p ~/.config/clawdbot# Re-run configuration wizardclawdbot configure# If clawdbot command not found, reinstallcurl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash

For Raspberry Pi specifically: - Ensure you're using arm64-compatible models if running local LLMs - Cloud API models (OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter) work on all architectures

## Fixing WebSocket Disconnect (1006) on Hetzner/Cloud VPS

# 1. Check if gateway is runningclawdbot gateway status# 2. If not running, start itclawdbot gateway start# 3. Check logs for detailsclawdbot gateway logs

Common causes on cloud VPS: - Gateway process not running - Token mismatch between config and environment - Discord rate-limiting cloud IPs (try VPN temporarily) - Resource exhaustion

# Check resourcesfree -hdf -h# Restart gatewayclawdbot gateway restart

## Gateway Token Configuration Important: The dashboard uses gateway.auth.token, NOT gateway.token.

# Check current tokenclawdbot config get gateway.auth.token# Set a token if emptyclawdbot config set gateway.auth.token "your-secure-random-token"# Or use environment variableexport CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN="your-token-here"# Restart after changesclawdbot gateway restart

Token location summary: - ❌ gateway.token — ignored - ✅ gateway.auth.token — used by dashboard - ✅ CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN env var — also works

## Connecting Local OpenClaw to Remote VPS via SSH To have OpenClaw on your local machine control a remote VPS:

# 1. Generate SSH key if you don't have onessh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "openclaw-vps"# 2. Copy public key to VPSssh-copy-id user@your-vps-ip# 3. Test connection manually firstssh user@your-vps-ip# 4. Configure OpenClaw to use SSH# Add to your TOOLS.md or workspace config:# SSH: user@your-vps-ip for web server management

For Contabo/DigitalOcean/Hetzner: - Ensure SSH is enabled in your VPS control panel - Check firewall allows port 22 - Use key-based auth (more reliable than passwords)

## Installing Skills on Linux VPS ClawdHub UI isn't available on headless Linux. Use CLI:

# Install ClawdHub CLInpm i -g clawdhub# orpnpm add -g clawdhub# Search for skillsclawdhub search "web search"# Install a skillclawdhub install skill-slug# Update all skillsclawdhub update --all

If ClawdHub isn't working, install manually:

# Create skills foldermkdir -p ~/clawd/skills# Clone skills repositorygit clone https://github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot.git ~/clawd-skillscp -r ~/clawd-skills/skills/* ~/clawd/skills/# Configure workspace skills directoryclawdbot config set skills.dir ~/clawd/skills# Restart to loadclawdbot gateway restart

## Accessing the Gateway Dashboard The web dashboard shows gateway status and connected clients.

# Get dashboard URLclawdbot gateway status# Default: http://localhost:3333 (or configured port)# For remote access, use SSH tunnel:ssh -L 3333:localhost:3333 user@your-vps-ip# Then access http://localhost:3333 in your browser

For public access (not recommended without auth): - Set up nginx/caddy reverse proxy - Add SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt) - Configure gateway.auth.token for protection

## Uninstalling OpenClaw on Linux The docs may be missing this command:

# For openclaw packagenpm uninstall -g openclaw# For clawdbot packagenpm uninstall -g clawdbot# orpnpm remove -g clawdbot# Remove config and datarm -rf ~/.clawdbotrm -rf ~/.config/clawdbot

## Running Gateway as a Service (Systemd) For production VPS, run as a systemd service:

# Create service filesudo nano /etc/systemd/system/clawdbot.service

[Unit]Description=Clawdbot GatewayAfter=network.target[Service]Type=simpleUser=your-usernameWorkingDirectory=/home/your-usernameExecStart=/usr/bin/clawdbot gateway start --foregroundRestart=alwaysRestartSec=10Environment=NODE_ENV=production[Install]WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Enable and start servicesudo systemctl daemon-reloadsudo systemctl enable clawdbotsudo systemctl start clawdbot# Check statussudo systemctl status clawdbot# View logsjournalctl -u clawdbot -f

## Discord Moderation on VPS OpenClaw has basic moderation capabilities: Supported: - ✅ React to messages, pin/unpin - ✅ Search message history, create threads - ✅ Manage channels, roles, categories - ✅ Kick/ban users via API Not built-in: - ❌ Auto-moderation (spam detection) - ❌ Automated warnings/mutes - ❌ Anti-raid protection - ❌ Custom mod logs For full moderation, integrate dedicated bots alongside OpenClaw.