OpenClaw on Ubuntu VPS: Complete Linux Setup Guide

Setting up OpenClaw on an Ubuntu VPS is the traditional self-hosting path — a cloud VM gives you full control, 24/7 uptime, and complete access to the underlying Linux system. This guide covers a production-grade Ubuntu 24.04 LTS setup with systemd service management, nginx reverse proxy, and automated TLS certificates.

VPS Requirements

For a single OpenClaw instance with cloud LLM (no local model):

• 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM minimum
• 20GB SSD storage
• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Good options: DigitalOcean ($18/mo), Hetzner CX22 ($4.99/mo, excellent value), Vultr ($12/mo), or Linode.

Initial Server Setup

# SSH in as root, then create a dedicated user
adduser openclaw
usermod -aG sudo openclaw
su - openclaw

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

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install python3.12 python3.12-venv python3-pip git nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Install OpenClaw

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git ~/openclaw
cd ~/openclaw
python3.12 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python -m openclaw onboard

Create a systemd Service

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/openclaw.service

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

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

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

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

Configure Nginx and TLS

Point your domain's DNS A record to your VPS IP. Then:

sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Certbot automatically configures nginx and schedules automatic renewal.

Edit /etc/nginx/sites-available/openclaw:

server {
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
    }
}

Firewall Configuration

sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

Monitoring and Logs

# View live logs
journalctl -u openclaw -f

# Check service status
systemctl status openclaw

# Restart after config changes
sudo systemctl restart openclaw

Automated Backups

Add a cron job to back up OpenClaw data daily:

crontab -e
# Add:
0 3 * * * tar czf ~/backups/openclaw-$(date +%%Y%%m%%d).tar.gz ~/.openclaw/ && find ~/backups -name "openclaw-*.tar.gz" -mtime +30 -delete

Frequently Asked Questions

Which VPS provider offers the best value for OpenClaw?

Hetzner's CX22 (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, €4.35/month) is widely regarded as the best value in 2026, particularly for European and Asian users. DigitalOcean offers excellent support documentation.

How do I update OpenClaw on a VPS?

cd ~/openclaw && git pull && source venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt && sudo systemctl restart openclaw

What's the difference between running OpenClaw on VPS vs nacre.sh?

On a VPS you own everything — setup, maintenance, backups, patches, monitoring. nacre.sh handles all of that automatically for $12/month, often cheaper than the true total cost of VPS self-hosting.