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Deploy OpenClaw on Atlas

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aliasesDeploying OpenClaw on Atlas, Tutorials/Deploying OpenClaw on Atlas

3 min read

OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent for operations work (think Claude Code / Aider for ops). This guide installs the agent on an Atlas VM so you can run it as a long-lived service rather than from your laptop.

Prerequisites

  • An Atlas Cloud account
  • A local terminal with ssh installed
  • An SSH public key

Part 1: Provisioning the VM

1. Create a VM Instance

Follow the general guide for Creating your first cloud service to set up a new instance.

Important settings for OpenClaw:

  • Template: Choose Ubuntu 24.04.
  • SSH Key: Ensure you attach your SSH key during creation. If you haven’t set one up, follow the SSH Key Pairs guide first.
  • Resources: A plan with at least 2GB RAM is recommended for stable agent performance.

2. Connect via SSH

Once the instance is running, locate its Public IP Address in the Atlas console.

Connect from your terminal:

ssh ubuntu@<YOUR_VM_IP>
# If 'root' fails, try 'ubuntu' (for Ubuntu) or the default user for your template.

(If you are setting this up for a team member, check out Create a new user to manage access.)

Part 2: Installing OpenClaw

1. Install Dependencies

Update the system and install basic tools:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y curl git build-essential python3

2. Install Node.js

OpenClaw requires Node.js (v22+). We recommend Volta for hassle-free version management.

# Install Volta
curl https://get.volta.sh | bash
 
# Reload your shell configuration (or close/reopen terminal)
source ~/.bashrc
 
# Install Node.js
volta install node

3. Install OpenClaw

You can install OpenClaw using the official install script or via npm.

Option A: Install Script (Recommended) This script automatically detects your OS and installs the latest version.

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

Option B: via npm If you prefer to use npm directly:

npm install -g openclaw@latest

4. Initialize the Agent

Run the onboarding wizard to create your config and start the background service:

Interactive Mode (Recommended for first-time users):

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Follow the prompts to select your AI provider (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic), enter your API key, and configure basic settings.

Non-Interactive Mode (For scripts/automation): You can bypass prompts by passing flags. Replace the API key variable with your actual key or environment variable.

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --install-daemon \
  --auth-choice openai-api-key \
  --openai-api-key "$OPENAI_API_KEY"

(See openclaw onboard --help for other providers like Anthropic or Gemini.)

5. Verify and Use

Check that the gateway service is running:

openclaw gateway status

How to Interact:

  • CLI: Run commands directly on the VM (e.g., openclaw message send ...).
  • Dashboard: To access the web UI securely without exposing ports, use an SSH tunnel from your local machine: 
    ssh -L 18789:localhost:18789 root@<YOUR_VM_IP>
    Then open http://localhost:18789 in your local browser.

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