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Linux Setup

Overview

Linux is ideal for running OpenClaw as a always-on service. This guide covers Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora, and Arch Linux.

Installation

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Python
sudo apt install python3.11 python3.11-venv python3-pip git -y

# Clone OpenClaw
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw

# Setup environment
python3.11 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Configure
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

# Install Python
sudo dnf install python3.11 python3-pip git -y

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw
python3.11 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Install Python
sudo pacman -S python python-pip git

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Running as Service

Using systemd

Create /etc/systemd/system/openclaw.service:

[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw AI Assistant
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=openclaw
WorkingDirectory=/home/openclaw/openclaw
Environment="PATH=/home/openclaw/openclaw/venv/bin"
ExecStart=/home/openclaw/openclaw/venv/bin/python -m openclaw
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable openclaw
sudo systemctl start openclaw

Managing the Service

# Check status
sudo systemctl status openclaw

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -f

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart openclaw

# Stop
sudo systemctl stop openclaw

VPS Deployment

Recommended Providers

Provider	Min Specs	Price
DigitalOcean	1GB RAM	~$6/mo
Vultr	1GB RAM	~$6/mo
Linode	1GB RAM	~$5/mo
Hetzner	2GB RAM	~$4/mo

Security Hardening

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow 443  # If using webhooks
sudo ufw enable

# Create dedicated user
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash openclaw
sudo su - openclaw

Troubleshooting

Service won’t start

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -n 50

# Verify permissions
ls -la /home/openclaw/openclaw/

High memory usage

Reduce context length
Use lighter model (Haiku)

Next Steps