About Openclaw
OpenClaw is an open source personal AI assistant that you host yourself. It relies on the language model of your choice (through an API key) and connects to your messaging channels, so you can talk to it from the apps you already use. The project is released under the MIT licence.
An assistant like this has to be reachable at all times, which is hard on a laptop that goes to sleep. A VPS solves that: the process runs continuously, independently of your own machine. It is the typical setup for developers and small teams who want an always-available agent without handing the hosting to a third party.
On delivery, the server has OpenClaw installed with the official installer, which also takes care of Node.js. A system user named openclaw is created with sudo rights, your root SSH keys are copied to it, and persistence of user services is enabled. The interactive onboarding is deliberately not run: that is where you enter your API key and your channels.
What you can do with Openclaw
Official installer, no onboarding
OpenClaw is installed with the official script and the --no-onboard option. You get a clean installation and keep full control over the model and channel configuration.
Dedicated openclaw user
The application does not run as root. An openclaw account is created with passwordless sudo and no login password: access is by SSH key.
Direct SSH key login
The authorized keys of root are copied to the openclaw account. If you supplied a key when ordering, you can log in with that account right away.
Daemon that survives logout
The recipe enables linger mode for the openclaw user. User systemd services, including the gateway daemon, keep running after you close your SSH session.
Git, curl and sudo preinstalled
The base packages are present on Debian and Ubuntu. You can clone repositories and fetch scripts without any extra preparation.
Get started with Openclaw
From order to production in a few minutes.
- 1
Order the VPS with OpenClaw
Choose a Linux VPS in Paris or Frankfurt (Debian 12 or 13, Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04 or 24.04). In the "Applications" tab of the order form, tick OpenClaw and add your public SSH key.
- 2
Connect over SSH as the openclaw user
Once the server is delivered, log in with the openclaw account: it inherits the SSH keys of root. No password is set for this account.
Bashssh openclaw@SERVER_IP - 3
Run the OpenClaw onboarding
Start the interactive wizard: it asks for your model API key and the channels to connect, then installs the daemon. Have the API key from your model provider ready before you begin.
Bashopenclaw onboard --install-daemon - 4
Secure the server for production
Enable a firewall that only allows SSH, and do not expose the OpenClaw control interface to the internet: use an SSH tunnel instead. Also plan server backups, since the configuration holds your API keys.
Bashsudo apt install -y ufw sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw enable
Openclaw use cases
Always-on personal assistant
Your agent answers on your messaging apps at any hour, without depending on a computer left on at home or at the office.
Automation for a small team
One shared server hosts the team's assistant: summaries, lookups, reminders and repetitive tasks triggered from a chat channel.
Test bench for AI agents
Try out models, channels and configurations on a disposable server, separate from your work machine, then destroy it or keep it.
Self-hosted alternative to SaaS assistants
You choose the model provider and keep the configuration on a European server that you administer yourself.
Openclaw FAQ
Yes. The installation is done, but the onboarding is interactive and is not run by the recipe. Log in as openclaw and run openclaw onboard --install-daemon to enter your API key and your channels.
More about Openclaw
What is installed on delivery
The recipe updates the package index, installs ca-certificates, curl, git and sudo, then creates the openclaw user. A script (/opt/install-openclaw.sh) copies your SSH keys, enables linger mode and runs the official installer with --no-onboard. The final message reminds you of the command to run next: openclaw onboard --install-daemon.
If logging in as openclaw fails
Keys are only copied if root has some in /root/.ssh/authorized_keys at the time of installation. If no SSH key was supplied with the order, log in as root first, then add your public key to /home/openclaw/.ssh/authorized_keys. You can also switch to the account with su - openclaw from root.
Security best practices
An AI assistant connected to your messaging apps and to a language model handles secrets: API keys, channel tokens, conversations. Keep SSH access key-only, limit who is allowed to message it, and give it only the permissions it needs. The openclaw account has passwordless sudo, so treat its SSH key like an administrator's.
To expose a service under a domain name, put a reverse proxy with HTTPS in front of any web service and follow the project's documentation. Our tutorials cover setting up a firewall and certificates.
