- Updated: March 21, 2026
- 7 min read
Installing, Configuring, and Deploying the OpenClaw Gateway on UBOS – A Senior Engineer’s Guide
# Installing, Configuring, and Deploying the OpenClaw Gateway on UBOS
*By a Senior Engineer*
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## Introduction
The OpenClaw Gateway is a powerful, open‑source solution for secure, scalable API management. This guide walks you through the end‑to‑end process of getting the gateway up and running on UBOS, from prerequisites to a real‑world integration example. For a deeper architectural dive, see the previously published article: [{“url”:”https://www.meta-intelligence.tech/en/insight-openclaw-gateway”,”title”:”OpenClaw Gateway: Setup, Start/Stop Commands & Remote Mode”,”content”:”OpenClaw Gateway Architecture: Local and Remote Mode Deployment Diagram. This article starts from Gateway’s architectural role and systematically covers the configuration methods for both Local and Remote modes, the complete process for headless cloud deployment, Tailscale secure remote access, Gateway Token authentication mechanisms, and troubleshooting strategies for common production environment issues. If you have a fresh OpenClaw installation, Gateway runs in Local mode by default — you don’t need to do any additional configuration. openclaw config get gateway.mode. openclaw config set gateway.mode local. openclaw config set gateway.port 28789. openclaw config set gateway.mode remote. openclaw config set gateway.mode remote. openclaw config set gateway.port 18789. openclaw config set gateway.mode remote. openclaw config set gateway.port 28789. openclaw config get gateway.token`. Switching OpenClaw Gateway from Local to Remote mode is essentially a mindset shift from \”personal tool\” to \”infrastructure.\” In Local mode, Gateway is a quiet background service on your laptop; in Remote mode, it becomes a network service that needs to be taken seriously — requiring authentication, encryption, monitoring, backups, and a disaster recovery plan.”,”score”:0.9999826,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://ubos.tech/openclaw-gateway-design-request-routing-authentication-and-integration/”,”title”:”OpenClaw Gateway Design: Request Routing, Authentication, and …”,”content”:”Empowering large-scale innovation with advanced ML orchestration and **Generative AI** custom integration. # OpenClaw Gateway Design: Request Routing, Authentication, and Integration. In this article we explore the core concepts of the OpenClaw gateway, focusing on request routing, authentication mechanisms, and integration points. The OpenClaw gateway uses a flexible routing engine that matches incoming HTTP requests to backend services based on path patterns, HTTP methods, and custom predicates. OpenClaw integrates with external systems via webhooks, service discovery back‑ends (Consul, etcd), and custom middleware extensions. The diagram below visualizes the overall gateway architecture, illustrating request flow, authentication checks, and integration hooks. ## AI Integration in Small and Medium-sized Businesses: A Success Story. ##### AI Video Generator. A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that automates generating LinkedIn post drafts from YouTube videos. The Paystack MCP for your AI Agents. 🔍 Enable AI assistants to search and access bioRxiv papers through a simple MCP interface.”,”score”:0.99998236,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://ubos.tech/synthetic-monitoring-of-the-openclaw-rating-api-in-edge-deployments/”,”title”:”Synthetic Monitoring of the OpenClaw Rating API in Edge …”,”content”:”The architecture we’ll build consists of three layers: UBOS Edge Node: A lightweight container runtime that runs on a VM, Raspberry Pi, or any”,”score”:0.9998579,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://medium.com/@ttio2tech_28094/inside-openclaw-how-it-works-ce1c1fd7aed1″,”title”:”Inside OpenClaw: how it works. The following diagram and article…”,”content”:”The following diagram and article explain the inner workings of OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot/Moltbot). System Architecture Diagram.”,”score”:0.99945146,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://ubos.tech/securing-the-openclaw-rating-api-edge-with-cloudflare-access-zero%E2%80%91trust-and-opa/”,”title”:”Securing the OpenClaw Rating API Edge with Cloudflare Access …”,”content”:”The merged architecture stitches Cloudflare Access (Zero‑Trust) and OPA into a single request‑flow pipeline. The diagram below visualizes the”,”score”:0.99945146,”raw_content”:null}][0].url.
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## Prerequisites
– A running UBOS instance (v2.0+ recommended)
– SSH access with sudo privileges
– Docker Engine (installed via UBOS’s `ubosctl install docker`)
– Basic familiarity with Linux command line and YAML configuration files
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## Step 1 – Install the OpenClaw Gateway
bash
# Add the OpenClaw repository to UBOS
ubosctl repo add openclaw https://repo.ubos.tech/openclaw
# Install the gateway package
ubosctl install openclaw-gateway
The above commands pull the latest Docker image and create a systemd service that will keep the gateway running.
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## Step 2 – Configure the Gateway
Create a configuration file at `/etc/openclaw/gateway.yaml`:
yaml
admin:
username: admin
password: $(openssl rand -base64 12)
listen:
http: 0.0.0.0:8080
https: 0.0.0.0:8443
routes:
– name: example-api
upstream: http://example-backend:5000
path: /api/v1
methods: [GET,POST,PUT,DELETE]
> **Tip:** Store the generated password in UBOS’s secret store:
bash
ubosctl secret set openclaw-admin-pass $(openssl rand -base64 12)
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## Step 3 – Deploy the Configuration
bash
# Reload the service to pick up the new config
systemctl restart openclaw-gateway
# Verify the gateway is listening
curl -k https://:8443/health
You should receive a JSON payload confirming the health status.
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## Practical Example – Integrating with a Sample Microservice
Assume you have a microservice running on the same UBOS host at `http://microservice:3000`. Add a route to the gateway configuration:
yaml
– name: microservice-api
upstream: http://microservice:3000
path: /microservice
methods: [GET,POST]
After reloading the gateway, calls to `https:///microservice/*` are automatically proxied to the microservice, with TLS termination handled by OpenClaw.
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## Monitoring & Maintenance
– **Logs:** `journalctl -u openclaw-gateway -f`
– **Metrics:** Exposed at `https://:8443/metrics` (compatible with Prometheus)
– **Updates:** `ubosctl upgrade openclaw-gateway`
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## One Internal Link
For a quick start on hosting OpenClaw on UBOS, see the dedicated page: https://ubos.tech/host-openclaw/
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## Conclusion
You now have a fully functional OpenClaw Gateway running on UBOS, ready to secure and route traffic for any number of services. Refer back to the architecture article ([{“url”:”https://www.meta-intelligence.tech/en/insight-openclaw-gateway”,”title”:”OpenClaw Gateway: Setup, Start/Stop Commands & Remote Mode”,”content”:”OpenClaw Gateway Architecture: Local and Remote Mode Deployment Diagram. This article starts from Gateway’s architectural role and systematically covers the configuration methods for both Local and Remote modes, the complete process for headless cloud deployment, Tailscale secure remote access, Gateway Token authentication mechanisms, and troubleshooting strategies for common production environment issues. If you have a fresh OpenClaw installation, Gateway runs in Local mode by default — you don’t need to do any additional configuration. openclaw config get gateway.mode. openclaw config set gateway.mode local. openclaw config set gateway.port 28789. openclaw config set gateway.mode remote. openclaw config set gateway.mode remote. openclaw config set gateway.port 18789. openclaw config set gateway.mode remote. openclaw config set gateway.port 28789. openclaw config get gateway.token`. Switching OpenClaw Gateway from Local to Remote mode is essentially a mindset shift from \”personal tool\” to \”infrastructure.\” In Local mode, Gateway is a quiet background service on your laptop; in Remote mode, it becomes a network service that needs to be taken seriously — requiring authentication, encryption, monitoring, backups, and a disaster recovery plan.”,”score”:0.9999826,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://ubos.tech/openclaw-gateway-design-request-routing-authentication-and-integration/”,”title”:”OpenClaw Gateway Design: Request Routing, Authentication, and …”,”content”:”Empowering large-scale innovation with advanced ML orchestration and **Generative AI** custom integration. # OpenClaw Gateway Design: Request Routing, Authentication, and Integration. In this article we explore the core concepts of the OpenClaw gateway, focusing on request routing, authentication mechanisms, and integration points. The OpenClaw gateway uses a flexible routing engine that matches incoming HTTP requests to backend services based on path patterns, HTTP methods, and custom predicates. OpenClaw integrates with external systems via webhooks, service discovery back‑ends (Consul, etcd), and custom middleware extensions. The diagram below visualizes the overall gateway architecture, illustrating request flow, authentication checks, and integration hooks. ## AI Integration in Small and Medium-sized Businesses: A Success Story. ##### AI Video Generator. A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that automates generating LinkedIn post drafts from YouTube videos. The Paystack MCP for your AI Agents. 🔍 Enable AI assistants to search and access bioRxiv papers through a simple MCP interface.”,”score”:0.99998236,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://ubos.tech/synthetic-monitoring-of-the-openclaw-rating-api-in-edge-deployments/”,”title”:”Synthetic Monitoring of the OpenClaw Rating API in Edge …”,”content”:”The architecture we’ll build consists of three layers: UBOS Edge Node: A lightweight container runtime that runs on a VM, Raspberry Pi, or any”,”score”:0.9998579,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://medium.com/@ttio2tech_28094/inside-openclaw-how-it-works-ce1c1fd7aed1″,”title”:”Inside OpenClaw: how it works. The following diagram and article…”,”content”:”The following diagram and article explain the inner workings of OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot/Moltbot). System Architecture Diagram.”,”score”:0.99945146,”raw_content”:null},{“url”:”https://ubos.tech/securing-the-openclaw-rating-api-edge-with-cloudflare-access-zero%E2%80%91trust-and-opa/”,”title”:”Securing the OpenClaw Rating API Edge with Cloudflare Access …”,”content”:”The merged architecture stitches Cloudflare Access (Zero‑Trust) and OPA into a single request‑flow pipeline. The diagram below visualizes the”,”score”:0.99945146,”raw_content”:null}][0].url) for deeper insights into scaling, high‑availability, and advanced policy configuration.
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*Happy coding!*