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Hosting

Docker VM runtime

Shared runtime steps for VM-based Docker installs such as GCP, Hetzner, and similar VPS providers.

Bake required binaries into the image

Installing binaries inside a running container is a trap: anything installed at runtime is lost on restart. Bake every external binary a skill needs into the image at build time.

The examples below cover three binaries only, alphabetically:

  • gog (from gogcli) for Gmail access
  • goplaces for Google Places
  • wacli for WhatsApp

These are examples, not a complete list. Install as many binaries as your skills need using the same pattern. When you add a skill that needs a new binary later:

  1. Update the Dockerfile.
  2. Rebuild the image.
  3. Restart the containers.

Example Dockerfile

dockerfile
FROM node:24-bookworm RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y socat && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* # Example binary 1: Gmail CLI (gogcli — installs as `gog`)# Copy the current Linux asset URL from https://github.com/steipete/gogcli/releasesRUN curl -L https://github.com/steipete/gogcli/releases/latest/download/gogcli_linux_amd64.tar.gz \  | tar -xzO gog > /usr/local/bin/gog; \  chmod +x /usr/local/bin/gog # Example binary 2: Google Places CLI# Copy the current Linux asset URL from https://github.com/steipete/goplaces/releasesRUN curl -L https://github.com/steipete/goplaces/releases/latest/download/goplaces_linux_amd64.tar.gz \  | tar -xzO goplaces > /usr/local/bin/goplaces; \  chmod +x /usr/local/bin/goplaces # Example binary 3: WhatsApp CLI# Copy the current Linux asset URL from https://github.com/steipete/wacli/releasesRUN curl -L https://github.com/steipete/wacli/releases/latest/download/wacli-linux-amd64.tar.gz \  | tar -xzO wacli > /usr/local/bin/wacli; \  chmod +x /usr/local/bin/wacli # Add more binaries below using the same pattern WORKDIR /appCOPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml pnpm-workspace.yaml .npmrc ./COPY ui/package.json ./ui/package.jsonCOPY scripts ./scripts RUN corepack enableRUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile COPY . .RUN pnpm buildRUN pnpm ui:installRUN pnpm ui:build ENV NODE_ENV=production CMD ["node","dist/index.js"]

Build and launch

bash
docker compose builddocker compose up -d openclaw-gateway

If the build fails with Killed or exit code 137 during pnpm install --frozen-lockfile, the VM is out of memory. Use a larger machine class before retrying.

Verify binaries:

bash
docker compose exec openclaw-gateway which gogdocker compose exec openclaw-gateway which goplacesdocker compose exec openclaw-gateway which wacli

Expected output:

text
/usr/local/bin/gog/usr/local/bin/goplaces/usr/local/bin/wacli

Verify the gateway is up:

bash
docker compose logs -f openclaw-gatewaycurl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18789/healthz

/healthz returning a 200 response confirms the gateway process is listening and healthy; the built-in image HEALTHCHECK polls the same endpoint.

What persists where

OpenClaw runs in Docker, but Docker is not the source of truth. All long-lived state must survive restarts, rebuilds, and reboots.

Component Location Persistence mechanism Notes
Gateway config /home/node/.openclaw/ Host volume mount Includes openclaw.json
Channel/provider creds /home/node/.openclaw/credentials/ Host volume mount Channel and provider credential material
Model auth profiles /home/node/.openclaw/agents/ Host volume mount agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json (OAuth, API keys)
Legacy OAuth key file /home/node/.config/openclaw/ Host volume mount Read-only compat for pre-migration OAuth sidecars; openclaw doctor --fix migrates these into auth-profiles.json
Skill configs /home/node/.openclaw/skills/ Host volume mount Skill-level state
Agent workspace /home/node/.openclaw/workspace/ Host volume mount Code and agent artifacts
WhatsApp session /home/node/.openclaw/ Host volume mount Preserves QR login
Gmail keyring /home/node/.openclaw/ Host volume + password Requires GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD
Plugin packages /home/node/.openclaw/npm, /home/node/.openclaw/git Host volume mount Downloadable plugin package roots
External binaries /usr/local/bin/ Docker image Must be baked at build time
Node runtime Container filesystem Docker image Rebuilt every image build
OS packages Container filesystem Docker image Do not install at runtime
Docker container Ephemeral Restartable Safe to destroy

Updates

To update OpenClaw on the VM:

bash
git pulldocker compose builddocker compose up -d
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