Self-hosted installation

Install Your Bundle

Get your OpenClaw agents running on a $6/month DigitalOcean server in under 15 minutes. No DevOps experience required.

What you need before starting

  • A DigitalOcean account (or any Ubuntu 22.04 VPS)
  • Your bundle ZIP file from ClawStore dashboard
  • A Telegram account (for agent communication)
  • Terminal / command line access on your computer
01

Create a DigitalOcean Droplet

Create a new Ubuntu 22.04 droplet. The $6/month Basic plan (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM) is enough for most bundles.

  • · Choose Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  • · $6/month plan works for 1-2 agents
  • · Add your SSH key during setup
  • · Region closest to you for lowest latency
02

SSH into Your Server

Connect to your new droplet using SSH. Replace YOUR_IP with your droplet's IP address.

$ssh root@YOUR_IP
03

Install OpenClaw

Run the one-line OpenClaw installer. This sets up the runtime, agent framework, and Telegram/WhatsApp bridge.

$curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install | bash
04

Upload Your Bundle ZIP

From your local machine, upload the bundle ZIP you downloaded from ClawStore. Run this command on your local terminal.

$scp bundle.zip root@YOUR_IP:/root/
05

Extract the Bundle

On your server, extract the bundle into the OpenClaw workspace directory.

$unzip bundle.zip -d ~/.openclaw/workspace/
06

Restart OpenClaw

Restart the OpenClaw runtime to load your new agents. The startup takes about 30 seconds.

$openclaw restart
07

Connect via Telegram

OpenClaw will print a Telegram bot link on startup. Click it to open the chat. Your agents are live!

  • · Type /start to initialize the bot
  • · Type /help to see all available agents
  • · Each bundle includes a SOUL.md — read it to customize agent behavior
  • · WhatsApp integration: run openclaw connect whatsapp
🚀

Your agents are live!

Open Telegram, find your bot, and start chatting. Each bundle comes with a SOUL.md that explains how to customize your agents' behavior.

Browse More Bundles

Troubleshooting

OpenClaw won't start after unzipping
Check your SOUL.md for required environment variables. Run openclaw doctor to diagnose issues.
Telegram bot isn't responding
Make sure OpenClaw is running: ps aux | grep openclaw. Restart with: openclaw restart
Permission denied on SSH
Add your SSH public key to DigitalOcean before creating the droplet, or use the DigitalOcean console.
Bundle needs API keys
Check the bundle's SOUL.md file — it lists every required API key and where to get them.