OpenClaw Setup on Ubuntu#

This guide covers the simplest supported way to install OpenClaw on Ubuntu.

  • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

A clean Ubuntu LTS install is preferred.

Requirements#

  • Internet access
  • A user account with sudo access
  • curl installed

OpenClaw requires Node 24 (recommended) or Node 22.14+, but the installer handles Node automatically.

Run:

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

What this does:

  • Detects your OS
  • Installs Node if needed
  • Installs OpenClaw
  • Launches onboarding

If you want to install without starting onboarding immediately:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --no-onboard

Option 2: Install with npm#

Use this if you already manage Node yourself.

1. Check Node#

node -v
npm -v

If Node is missing, install Node 24 first.

2. Install OpenClaw globally#

npm install -g openclaw@latest

3. Run onboarding and install the daemon#

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Verify the install#

Run these commands:

openclaw --version
openclaw doctor
openclaw gateway status

Expected result:

  • openclaw --version prints a version
  • openclaw doctor helps identify config issues
  • openclaw gateway status confirms whether the Gateway is running

Linux service behavior#

On Ubuntu, openclaw onboard --install-daemon installs a systemd user service so OpenClaw can start more reliably in the background.

Useful command:

openclaw gateway status

If openclaw is not found#

Check:

node -v
npm prefix -g
echo "$PATH"

If the global npm bin directory is missing from your PATH, add this to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"

Then restart the terminal or run:

source ~/.bashrc

Troubleshooting npm install issues#

If sharp fails during install because of a global libvips, try:

SHARP_IGNORE_GLOBAL_LIBVIPS=1 npm install -g openclaw@latest

Useful next steps#

After installation, you may want to run:

openclaw help
openclaw status
openclaw configure

Official references#

Backward Security Considerations