| name | setup |
| description | VPS reinstall SOP for this OpenClaw deployment. Use for fresh installs or full rebuilds after data loss. For routine container updates only, stop here — use the update skill instead. |
| metadata | {"version":"1.0.0","category":"operations","dangerous":true} |
Setup — OpenClaw VPS Reinstall
When to use
Fresh install on a new Hetzner VPS, or full rebuild after catastrophic failure. Check memory/state.md for current deployment state before starting.
Prerequisites
- SSH alias
openclaw configured — see references/ssh.md
- Backups pulled to local machine:
_local/, identity/, gogcli/, Discord credentials
- API keys on hand: OpenAI, Tavily, Discord bot tokens (default / public / roleplay)
Steps
1 — Install Docker on VPS
ssh root@<VPS_IP>
apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl ca-certificates
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
2 — Create persistent directories
mkdir -p /root/.openclaw/workspace /root/.openclaw/workspace-public /root/.openclaw/workspace-roleplay01
chown -R 1000:1000 /root/.openclaw
Ownership must be 1000 (node) — OpenClaw silently fails to write if owned by root.
3 — Upload project files
scp Dockerfile.custom docker-compose.yml openclaw:~/openclaw/
scp _local/.env openclaw:~/openclaw/.env
scp config/openclaw.json openclaw:/root/.openclaw/openclaw.json
Fill real secrets in /root/.openclaw/openclaw.json — replace all <YOUR_...> placeholders. Add the roleplay01 agent entry (not in the redacted template — see memory/state.md for the full agent list).
4 — Build and launch
ssh openclaw "cd ~/openclaw && docker compose build && docker compose up -d"
ssh openclaw "docker compose logs openclaw-gateway --tail 20"
5 — Authenticate services
docker compose exec --user root openclaw-gateway gh auth login
docker compose exec --user root openclaw-gateway clawhub login --token <CLAWHUB_TOKEN>
6 — Push workspace templates
for f in AGENTS SOUL TOOLS USER; do
scp templates/$f.md openclaw:/root/.openclaw/workspace/$f.md
done
scp templates/AGENTS.public.md openclaw:/root/.openclaw/workspace-public/AGENTS.md
scp templates/SOUL.public.md openclaw:/root/.openclaw/workspace-public/SOUL.md
scp templates/TOOLS.public.md openclaw:/root/.openclaw/workspace-public/TOOLS.md
ssh openclaw "chown -R 1000:1000 /root/.openclaw/workspace*"
7 — Install global skills
docker compose exec --user root openclaw-gateway \
clawhub install <slug> --workdir /home/node/.openclaw --dir skills
Install each skill listed in memory/state.md → Installed Skills table.
8 — Install fish-audio TTS plugin
docker compose exec openclaw-gateway openclaw plugins install @conan-scott/openclaw-fish-audio
ssh openclaw "cd ~/openclaw && docker compose restart"
Add messages.tts config to openclaw.json — see references/plugins.md.
9 — Re-pair device
Approve in control UI at http://127.0.0.1:18789/ after SSH tunnel, or:
docker compose exec openclaw-gateway openclaw devices approve <requestId>
DO NOT
- Do not skip the
chown -R 1000:1000 step — workspace writes will fail silently.
- Do not restore
identity/ from a backup to a different machine without understanding re-pairing consequences.
Acceptance Criteria
ssh openclaw "docker ps | grep openclaw-gateway"
ssh openclaw "head -3 /root/.openclaw/workspace/AGENTS.md"
docker compose exec openclaw-gateway clawhub list
