Self‑Hosting OpenClaw on UBOS

To self‑host OpenClaw on UBOS, install the UBOS platform, pull the OpenClaw source, configure the environment, and deploy using UBOS’s one‑click workflow, then secure and tune the service for production.

1. Introduction

OpenClaw is a powerful, open‑source web‑crawler and data‑extraction engine that many SaaS founders use to build market‑intelligence tools. When paired with UBOS, you get a fully managed, container‑native platform that abstracts away server maintenance, scaling, and CI/CD pipelines. This UBOS hosting guide is a step‑by‑step tutorial designed for developers and startup founders who want to self‑host OpenClaw quickly, securely, and cost‑effectively.

By the end of this guide you will have a production‑ready OpenClaw instance running on UBOS, with best‑practice security settings, performance tweaks, and a roadmap for future enhancements.

2. Prerequisites

System requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (or any Debian‑based distro supported by UBOS)
• 4 CPU cores, 8 GB RAM (minimum for development); 8 CPU / 16 GB RAM recommended for production
• 50 GB SSD storage (OpenClaw’s index can grow quickly)
• Docker Engine 20.10+ and Docker Compose 2.x
• Outbound internet access for pulling images and dependencies

Required tools

• Git – version control
• VS Code or your preferred IDE
• cURL – API testing
• SSH client (OpenSSH) for remote server access

3. Installing UBOS

UBOS provides a single‑line installer that configures Docker, networking, and a secure runtime environment. Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your server as a user with sudo privileges.
2. Run the official installer script:

   curl -fsSL https://install.ubos.tech | sudo bash

3. After installation, verify the UBOS CLI:

   ubos version

   You should see the current version and a confirmation that the daemon is running.

4. Optionally, explore the UBOS platform overview to understand the dashboard and API endpoints.

4. Setting up OpenClaw

Downloading the source

OpenClaw’s source code is hosted on GitHub. Clone it into your UBOS workspace:

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git ~/openclaw

Navigate to the directory and checkout the latest stable tag:

cd ~/openclaw
git checkout $(git describe --tags `git rev-list --tags --max-count=1`)

Configuring the environment

Create a .env file at the root of the project. UBOS reads this file automatically when building the container.

# .env
DB_HOST=postgres
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=openclaw
DB_USER=claw_user
DB_PASSWORD=StrongP@ssw0rd!
REDIS_HOST=redis
REDIS_PORT=6379
# Optional: API key for external services
EXTERNAL_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

For production, store secrets in UBOS’s encrypted vault instead of plain text. Use the CLI:

ubos secret set DB_PASSWORD --value "StrongP@ssw0rd!"

5. Deploying OpenClaw on UBOS

UBOS leverages a declarative ubos.yml manifest. Below is a minimal example tailored for OpenClaw.

# ubos.yml
services:
  openclaw:
    image: openclaw/openclaw:latest
    env_file: .env
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis
    restart: always

  postgres:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: openclaw
      POSTGRES_USER: claw_user
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    volumes:
      - redisdata:/data

volumes:
  pgdata:
  redisdata:

Deploy with a single command:

ubos up -f ubos.yml

UBOS will pull the images, create the containers, and expose OpenClaw on http://your-server-ip:8080. Verify the deployment:

curl http://localhost:8080/health

You should receive a JSON payload with "status":"ok".

6. Post‑deployment configuration

Security settings

• HTTPS termination: Use UBOS’s built‑in partner program to obtain a free Let’s Encrypt certificate. Add the following to ubos.yml:

  tls:
    enabled: true
    domains:
      - yourdomain.com

• Firewall rules: Restrict inbound traffic to ports 80/443 and the internal API port (8080) only from trusted IPs.
• Database hardening: Disable remote connections for PostgreSQL and enforce role‑based access control.
• Secret rotation: Schedule a cron job with UBOS to rotate DB_PASSWORD every 90 days.

Performance tuning

After applying these settings, restart the services:

ubos restart openclaw postgres redis

7. Common issues and troubleshooting

Even with a smooth deployment, you may encounter hiccups. Below is a quick‑reference table of typical problems and fixes.

If you encounter an obscure error, consult the OpenClaw GitHub issues page or open a new ticket with logs from ubos logs openclaw.

Conclusion and next steps

Self‑hosting OpenClaw on UBOS transforms a complex, multi‑service stack into a single, manageable deployment. By following this guide you have:

1. Installed the UBOS platform on a clean Ubuntu server.
2. Cloned and configured the OpenClaw source with secure environment variables.
3. Deployed a production‑grade container stack using a declarative ubos.yml file.
4. Applied security hardening, HTTPS, and performance tuning.
5. Resolved common pitfalls and linked to further UBOS resources.

From here you can expand your setup:

• Integrate ChatGPT and Telegram integration to get AI‑driven crawl summaries directly in Slack or Teams.
• Leverage the Chroma DB integration for vector‑search over extracted content.
• Build a custom dashboard with the Web app editor on UBOS to visualize crawl metrics.

Ready to launch? Visit the UBOS homepage for the latest releases, or read the About UBOS page to learn more about the team behind the platform.

Happy crawling!