OpenClaw Docker & VPS Deployment: Run Your AI Agent in the Cloud

February 08, 2026

OpenClaw Docker & VPS Deployment: Run Your AI Agent in the Cloud

By Marcus Johnson | February 7, 2026

OpenClaw Docker & VPS Deployment: Run Your AI Agent in the Cloud

Running OpenClaw on your local machine is great for development, but cloud deployment offers 24/7 availability, better security isolation, and remote access from anywhere.

---

Why Deploy to the Cloud?

Benefits of Cloud Deployment

Feature	Local	Cloud/VPS
Uptime	Depends on your computer	24/7
Internet access	Must be on same network	From anywhere
Security	Your machine at risk	Isolated container
Performance	Limited by hardware	Scalable resources

When to Use Cloud Deployment

Always-on requirement — Your agent needs to respond anytime

Remote access — You want to message from work/phone

Security isolation — Protect your main machine

Team use — Multiple people accessing one agent

---

Docker Deployment

Prerequisites

Docker installed: Get Docker

Docker Compose installed

At least 2GB RAM available

Quick Start with Docker

# Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git cd openclaw
Run Docker setup
 ./docker-setup.sh

Docker Compose Configuration

Create docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8' services: openclaw: image: openclaw/openclaw:latest container_name: openclaw restart: unless-stopped ports: - "18789:18789" # Gateway port volumes: - ./data:/home/openclaw/.openclaw - ./workspace:/home/openclaw/workspace environment: - TZ=America/New_York stdin_open: true tty: true

# Optional: Nginx reverse proxy nginx: image: nginx:alpine ports: - "80:80" - "443:443" volumes: - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf depends_on: - openclaw

Run Docker

# Start OpenClaw docker-compose up -d
View logs
 docker-compose logs -f openclaw
Stop OpenClaw
 docker-compose down

Accessing the Gateway

By default, Docker exposes the gateway to your local network:

# Find your container's IP docker inspect openclaw | grep IPAddress
Or use localhost forwarding
 docker port openclaw 18789

---

VPS Deployment

Choosing a VPS Provider

Provider	Starting Price	Recommended For
DigitalOcean	$4/mo	Easy setup, good docs
Linode	$5/mo	Reliable, straightforward
Hostinger	$4/mo	One-click Docker templates
Hetzner	€3/mo	Best value, EU-based

Recommended VPS Specs

Workload	CPU	RAM	Storage
Basic	1 core	1GB	20GB SSD
Moderate	2 cores	2GB	40GB SSD
Heavy use	4 cores	4GB	60GB SSD

Step-by-Step VPS Setup

#### 1. Connect to Your VPS

ssh root@your_vps_ip

#### 2. Install Docker

# Update system apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y
Install Docker
 curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
Install Docker Compose
 curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/latest/download/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

#### 3. Deploy OpenClaw

# Create directory mkdir -p /opt/openclaw cd /opt/openclaw
Clone and deploy
 git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git . ./docker-setup.sh

#### 4. Configure Firewall

# Allow SSH ufw allow 22
Allow HTTP/HTTPS (if using nginx)
 ufw allow 80 ufw allow 443
Enable firewall
 ufw enable

---

Remote Access Security

The Problem

By default, Docker/VPS deployments expose your gateway to the public internet. This is dangerous.

Secure Solutions

#### Option 1: VPN Access (Recommended)

Use Tailscale or WireGuard to access your VPS privately:

# Install Tailscale on VPS curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
Connect to your tailnet
 tailscale up --auth-key YOUR_AUTH_KEY

Access via your Tailscale IP: http://100.x.x.x:18789

#### Option 2: SSH Tunnel

Create an SSH tunnel from your local machine:

ssh -L 18789:localhost:18789 root@vps_ip

Then access OpenClaw at http://localhost:18789

#### Option 3: Cloudflare Tunnel (Advanced)

# Install cloudflared curl -L https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-amd64 -o /usr/local/bin/cloudflared chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cloudflared
Create tunnel
 cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:18789

---

Production Checklist

Before going live, verify:

[ ] Docker container restarts automatically

[ ] Firewall blocks unauthorized access

[ ] VPN or secure access configured

[ ] API keys stored securely

[ ] Backups scheduled

[ ] Logs monitoring enabled

[ ] Domain configured (optional)

Auto-Start Docker

# Enable Docker auto-start systemctl enable docker systemctl enable openclaw

Backups

Create a backup script:

#!/bin/bash backup-openclaw.sh
Stop container
 docker-compose down
Backup data directory
 tar -czf /backups/openclaw-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /opt/openclaw/data
Restart container
 docker-compose up -d
Keep only last 7 backups
 ls -t /backups/openclaw-*.tar.gz | tail -n +8 | xargs rm

Add to cron:

# Daily backup at 3 AM 0 3   * /opt/openclaw/backup-openclaw.sh

---

Troubleshooting Cloud Deployment

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Container won't start	Check logs: `docker-compose logs`
Can't access gateway	Verify firewall: `ufw status`
Out of memory	Add swap space or upgrade VPS
Slow responses	Check CPU usage: `htop`

Check Gateway Status

# SSH into VPS ssh root@vps_ip
Check container
 docker ps | grep openclaw
View logs
 docker logs openclaw --tail 100
Check resource usage
 docker stats

---