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Linux App

The Gateway is fully supported on Linux. Node is the recommended runtime. Bun is not recommended for the Gateway (WhatsApp/Telegram bugs). Native Linux companion apps are planned. Contributions are welcome if you want to help build one.

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Beginner quick path (VPS)

  1. Install Node 24 (recommended; Node 22 LTS, currently 22.14+, still works for compatibility)
  2. npm i -g openclaw@latest
  3. openclaw onboard --install-daemon
  4. From your laptop: ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 <user>@<host>
  5. Open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ and paste your token
Full Linux server guide: Linux Server. Step-by-step VPS example: exe.dev

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Install

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Gateway

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Gateway service install (CLI)

Use one of these: 
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
Or: 
openclaw gateway install
Or: 
openclaw configure
Select Gateway service when prompted. Repair/migrate: 
openclaw doctor

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System control (systemd user unit)

OpenClaw installs a systemd user service by default. Use a system service for shared or always-on servers. openclaw gateway install and openclaw onboard --install-daemon already render the current canonical unit for you; write one by hand only when you need a custom system/service-manager setup. The full service guidance lives in the Gateway runbook. Minimal setup: Create ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway[-<profile>].service: 
[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw Gateway (profile: <profile>, v<version>)
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/openclaw gateway --port 18789
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
TimeoutStopSec=30
TimeoutStartSec=30
SuccessExitStatus=0 143
KillMode=control-group

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
Enable it: 
systemctl --user enable --now openclaw-gateway[-<profile>].service