Step‑by‑Step Guide: Deploying a Self‑Hosted OpenClaw Agent Network with UBOS

1. Introduction

Why self‑hosted OpenClaw agents?

OpenClaw provides a lightweight, plug‑and‑play framework for building autonomous AI agents that can execute tasks, retrieve data, and maintain context. Hosting these agents yourself gives you:

• Full data sovereignty – no third‑party logs.
• Customizable scaling – spin up additional containers on demand.
• Fine‑grained security – control network policies, secrets, and access tokens.

Benefits of using UBOS

UBOS is an UBOS homepage AI platform that abstracts away the boilerplate of container orchestration, secret management, and API gateway configuration. With built‑in UBOS platform overview, you get:

• One‑click deployment of micro‑services via the Web app editor on UBOS.
• Integrated Workflow automation studio for chaining agent actions.
• Native support for vector databases like Chroma DB integration.

2. Prerequisites

Hardware & OS requirements

To run a production‑grade OpenClaw network you need at least:

• 4 vCPU cores
• 8 GB RAM (16 GB recommended for heavy workloads)
• 50 GB SSD storage
• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Debian 12 (other Linux distros work with minor tweaks)

Required software

Make sure the following tools are installed on your host machine:

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install Docker Engine
sudo apt install -y docker.io

# Verify Docker
docker --version

# Install UBOS CLI (Node.js required)
curl -fsSL https://ubos.tech/install.sh | bash
ubos --version

The UBOS CLI will handle authentication, project scaffolding, and deployment to your chosen cloud or on‑prem environment.

3. Component Overview

OpenClaw agent

Each OpenClaw container runs a single autonomous agent built on top of OpenAI’s GPT‑4 (or any compatible LLM). The agent exposes a REST endpoint /run that accepts a JSON payload describing the task.

UBOS gateway

The gateway acts as a reverse proxy, API key validator, and request router. It aggregates traffic from multiple agents and forwards it to the appropriate memory store.

Memory store (Redis / Vector DB)

Persistent context is stored in either a fast key‑value store like Redis or a semantic vector database such as Chroma DB integration. Choose Redis for simple session caching, or Chroma for similarity search on embeddings.

4. Step‑by‑Step Deployment

a. Install UBOS CLI

If you haven’t already, run the installer script. The CLI will add ubos to your $PATH and configure a default profile.

curl -fsSL https://ubos.tech/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
ubos login

b. Set up a UBOS instance

Create a new project and provision a sandbox instance. UBOS automatically provisions Docker, a private network, and a TLS‑enabled gateway.

# Create a project named openclaw-demo
ubos project create openclaw-demo

# Spin up a development instance
ubos instance create dev --size medium

Visit the About UBOS page to learn more about the team behind the platform.

c. Deploy the OpenClaw agent network

UBOS provides a ready‑made UBOS templates for quick start. Choose the “OpenClaw Agent” template, which includes Dockerfile, environment variables, and health‑check scripts.

# Pull the template
ubos template apply openclaw-agent --project openclaw-demo

# Deploy the stack
ubos deploy --project openclaw-demo --env prod

After deployment, UBOS will expose the agents under https://<instance-id>.ubos.tech/agents.

d. Configure the gateway

Open the UBOS dashboard, navigate to Gateway Settings, and add an API key for your internal services. Enable request throttling to protect against runaway loops.

e. Connect memory store

Deploy Redis or Chroma as a sidecar service using UBOS’s Enterprise AI platform by UBOS. Then bind the service to the agents via environment variables.

# Example: Using Redis
ubos service create redis --port 6379
export MEMORY_URL=redis://redis:6379

# Example: Using Chroma
ubos service create chroma --port 8000
export MEMORY_URL=http://chroma:8000

Agents will now persist conversation embeddings, enabling context‑aware responses across sessions.

5. Integration Details

Understanding how the pieces talk to each other is crucial for troubleshooting and future extensions.

Agent ↔ Gateway communication

Each OpenClaw container registers its health endpoint with the UBOS gateway. The gateway forwards inbound /api/v1/agent calls to the appropriate container based on a round‑robin algorithm.

Persisting context with memory

When an agent processes a request, it first checks MEMORY_URL. If a matching session ID exists, the agent retrieves the stored embeddings and appends them to the prompt. After generating a response, the new embedding is written back, ensuring continuity.

“The real power of OpenClaw lies in its ability to remember past interactions. By coupling it with a vector store, you turn a stateless LLM into a stateful assistant.” – UBOS Architecture Guide

For richer voice interactions, you can layer ElevenLabs AI voice integration on top of the text pipeline, turning the agent into a spoken assistant.

6. Testing the Deployment

Verify agent health

Run the following curl command against the gateway health endpoint. A 200 OK response with a JSON payload confirms that all agents are alive.

curl -s https://<instance-id>.ubos.tech/health | jq .
{
  "status": "ok",
  "agents": 3
}

Run a sample query

Send a simple task to the first agent and observe context persistence across two calls.

# First request – no prior context
curl -X POST https://<instance-id>.ubos.tech/api/v1/agent/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"session_id":"demo123","prompt":"Summarize the latest AI trends."}'

# Second request – same session_id, should remember the first request
curl -X POST https://<instance-id>.ubos.tech/api/v1/agent/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"session_id":"demo123","prompt":"What are the implications for startups?"}'

If the second response references the first summary, your memory store is correctly wired.

7. Troubleshooting & Best Practices

Common issues

• Agent fails to start: Check Docker logs (`docker logs `). Missing environment variables are the usual culprit.
• Gateway returns 401: Verify that the API key is attached to the Authorization header and that the key has the “agent:read/write” scope.
• Memory store timeouts: Increase the Redis maxmemory setting or allocate more CPU to the Chroma sidecar.

Performance tips

1. Enable UBOS pricing plans that include auto‑scaling for high‑throughput workloads.
2. Use the AI SEO Analyzer template to benchmark latency of your agents against real‑world queries.
3. Leverage AI Article Copywriter as a load‑generator; it simulates multi‑turn conversations.

8. Conclusion & Next Steps

You now have a fully functional, self‑hosted OpenClaw agent network powered by UBOS. The platform’s modularity means you can extend the stack with additional AI services, such as:

• OpenAI ChatGPT integration for higher‑quality LLM responses.
• ChatGPT and Telegram integration to expose agents on messaging platforms.
• Telegram integration on UBOS for real‑time alerts.
• Voice output via ElevenLabs AI voice integration.

For a deeper dive into hosting specifics, consult our detailed hosting guide. When you’re ready to scale, explore the UBOS partner program for co‑selling and technical support.