mac-remote-access

name	mac-remote-access
description	Set up persistent remote access to a Mac Mini for Telnyx CS team. Use when onboarding a new team member who needs WireGuard VPN, SSH access from phone, and OpenClaw running as a background service. Covers installation, LaunchDaemon auto-start, Termius setup, and troubleshooting.

Mac Remote Access Setup

Full onboarding for Telnyx CS team Mac Minis — WireGuard + LaunchDaemon + SSH + OpenClaw.

Overview

1. Install prerequisites (Homebrew, WireGuard, enable SSH)
2. Get WireGuard config from network admin, test manually
3. Deploy LaunchDaemon so WireGuard auto-starts on every reboot
4. Set up Termius on phone for SSH access
5. Install and start OpenClaw

Key Files (in this skill's assets/)

• assets/wg-start.sh — wrapper script (update CONF_PATH to user's .conf file)
• assets/com.telnyx.wireguard.plist — LaunchDaemon plist (update script path)

macOS Gotchas

• Use /opt/homebrew/bin/bash explicitly — macOS ships bash 3; wg-quick requires bash 4+
• No sleep infinity — macOS doesn't support it; use while true; do sleep 3600; done
• LaunchDaemon vs LaunchAgent — must use LaunchDaemon (/Library/LaunchDaemons/) for pre-login startup; LaunchAgents only run after login and won't work with FileVault

Install Steps

1. Prerequisites

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
brew install wireguard-tools
sudo systemsetup -setremotelogin on

2. Get WireGuard config

Contact Telnyx network admin for a peer config. Save to: ~/clawd/skills/telnyx-network/wg-yourname-mac.conf

Test manually:

sudo /opt/homebrew/bin/wg-quick up ~/clawd/skills/telnyx-network/wg-yourname-mac.conf
ifconfig | grep 172.27   # verify IP shows
sudo /opt/homebrew/bin/wg-quick down ~/clawd/skills/telnyx-network/wg-yourname-mac.conf

3. Deploy LaunchDaemon

Copy assets, update paths, install:

# Copy and edit wg-start.sh — update CONF_PATH
cp assets/wg-start.sh ~/clawd/skills/telnyx-network/wg-start.sh
chmod +x ~/clawd/skills/telnyx-network/wg-start.sh

# Copy plist to /tmp, update script path inside it
cp assets/com.telnyx.wireguard.plist /tmp/com.telnyx.wireguard.plist

# Install
sudo cp /tmp/com.telnyx.wireguard.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.telnyx.wireguard.plist

# Verify
ifconfig | grep 172.27

4. Termius (phone SSH)

Install Termius on iPhone/Android. Add host:

• Hostname: WireGuard IP (e.g. 172.27.0.2)
• Port: 22
• Username: Mac username (whoami)
• Auth: password or SSH key

Test from cellular to confirm remote access works.

5. OpenClaw

npm install -g openclaw
mkdir -p ~/clawd && openclaw init
openclaw gateway start

Troubleshooting

WireGuard not up after reboot:

cat /var/log/wireguard.log
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.telnyx.wireguard.plist
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.telnyx.wireguard.plist

FileVault note: Full power cycle requires keyboard entry of FileVault password. Regular OS update reboots resume the logged-in session automatically — no action needed.