Deploy OpenClaw on Hetzner VPS

Create Your Hetzner Account & Server

Sign up at hetzner.com and create a new project. Then create a server:

• Location: Falkenstein (EU) or Ashburn (US) — pick closest to you
• Image: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• Type: CX22 (2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, 40GB NVMe) — €3.99/mo
• SSH Key: Add your public key (or use password — less secure)
• Name: Something memorable like openclaw-prod

Connect to Your Server

Once the server is created (takes ~30 seconds), connect via SSH:

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

First time? You'll be asked to confirm the server fingerprint. Type yes.

Create a Non-Root User

Never run OpenClaw as root. Create a dedicated user:

# Create user and add to sudo group
adduser openclaw
usermod -aG sudo openclaw

# Copy SSH key to new user
mkdir -p /home/openclaw/.ssh
cp /root/.ssh/authorized_keys /home/openclaw/.ssh/
chown -R openclaw:openclaw /home/openclaw/.ssh

# Switch to new user
su - openclaw

Install Node.js 22 LTS

# Install Node.js via NodeSource
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Verify installation
node --version   # Should show v22.x.x
npm --version    # Should show 10.x.x

Install OpenClaw

# Install globally
sudo npm install -g openclaw

# Verify
openclaw --version

Configure OpenClaw

# Run the setup wizard
openclaw init

# This will ask you for:
# - Your LLM provider (Anthropic, OpenRouter, etc.)
# - API key
# - Channel (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
# - Other preferences

Set Up Auto-Start with systemd

Make OpenClaw start automatically on boot and restart on crashes:

# Create systemd service
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/openclaw.service > /dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw AI Agent
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=openclaw
WorkingDirectory=/home/openclaw
ExecStart=/usr/bin/openclaw gateway start --foreground
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
Environment=NODE_ENV=production

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

# Enable and start
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable openclaw
sudo systemctl start openclaw

# Check status
sudo systemctl status openclaw

Basic Security Hardening

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Set up firewall
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw enable

# Disable root SSH login
sudo sed -i 's/PermitRootLogin yes/PermitRootLogin no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
sudo systemctl restart sshd