Ansible

Ansible Installation

Deploy OpenClaw to production servers with openclaw-ansible — an automated installer with security-first architecture.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Details
OS	Debian 11+ or Ubuntu 20.04+
Access	Root or sudo privileges
Network	Internet connection for package installation
Ansible	2.14+ (installed automatically by the quick-start script)

What You Get

Firewall-first security — UFW + Docker isolation (only SSH + Tailscale accessible)
Tailscale VPN — secure remote access without exposing services publicly
Docker — isolated sandbox containers, localhost-only bindings
Defense in depth — 4-layer security architecture
Systemd integration — auto-start on boot with hardening
One-command setup — complete deployment in minutes

Quick Start

One-command install:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openclaw/openclaw-ansible/main/install.sh | bash

What Gets Installed

The Ansible playbook installs and configures:

Tailscale — mesh VPN for secure remote access
UFW firewall — SSH + Tailscale ports only
Docker CE + Compose V2 — for agent sandboxes
Node.js 24 + pnpm — runtime dependencies (Node 22 LTS, currently 22.14+, remains supported)
OpenClaw — host-based, not containerized
Systemd service — auto-start with security hardening

Post-Install Setup

Switch to the openclaw user
Terminal window
```
sudo -i -u openclaw
```
Run the onboarding wizard
The post-install script guides you through configuring OpenClaw settings.
Connect messaging providers
Log in to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, or Signal:
Terminal window
```
openclaw channels login
```

Verify the installation

sudo systemctl status openclaw
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -f

Connect to Tailscale
Join your VPN mesh for secure remote access.

Quick Commands

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status openclaw

# View live logs
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -f

# Restart gateway
sudo systemctl restart openclaw

# Provider login (run as openclaw user)
sudo -i -u openclaw
openclaw channels login

Security Architecture

The deployment uses a 4-layer defense model:

Firewall (UFW) — only SSH (22) + Tailscale (41641/udp) exposed publicly
VPN (Tailscale) — gateway accessible only via VPN mesh
Docker isolation — DOCKER-USER iptables chain prevents external port exposure
Systemd hardening — NoNewPrivileges, PrivateTmp, unprivileged user

To verify your external attack surface:

nmap -p- YOUR_SERVER_IP

Only port 22 (SSH) should be open. All other services (gateway, Docker) are locked down.

Docker is installed for agent sandboxes (isolated tool execution), not for running the gateway itself. See Multi-Agent Sandbox and Tools for sandbox configuration.

Manual Installation

If you prefer manual control over the automation:

Install prerequisites

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ansible git

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw-ansible.git
cd openclaw-ansible

Install Ansible collections

ansible-galaxy collection install -r requirements.yml

Run the playbook
Terminal window
```
./run-playbook.sh
```
Alternatively, run directly and then manually execute the setup script afterward:
/tmp/openclaw-setup.sh
```
ansible-playbook playbook.yml --ask-become-pass
```

Updating

The Ansible installer sets up OpenClaw for manual updates. See Updating for the standard update flow.

To re-run the Ansible playbook (for example, for configuration changes):

cd openclaw-ansible
./run-playbook.sh

This is idempotent and safe to run multiple times.

Troubleshooting

Firewall blocks my connection

Ensure you can access via Tailscale VPN first
SSH access (port 22) is always allowed
The gateway is only accessible via Tailscale by design

Service will not start

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -n 100

# Verify permissions
sudo ls -la /opt/openclaw

# Test manual start
sudo -i -u openclaw
cd ~/openclaw
openclaw gateway run

Docker sandbox issues

# Verify Docker is running
sudo systemctl status docker

# Check sandbox image
sudo docker images | grep openclaw-sandbox

# Build sandbox image if missing
cd /opt/openclaw/openclaw
sudo -u openclaw ./scripts/sandbox-setup.sh

Provider login fails

Make sure you are running as the openclaw user:

sudo -i -u openclaw
openclaw channels login

Advanced Configuration

For detailed security architecture and troubleshooting, see the openclaw-ansible repo:

openclaw-ansible — full deployment guide
Docker — containerized gateway setup
Sandboxing — agent sandbox configuration
Multi-Agent Sandbox and Tools — per-agent isolation