OpenClaw Production Setup Guide
A comprehensive 6-part guide to setting up OpenClaw as a production AI assistant on a VPS, with WhatsApp integration, Google Calendar/Gmail, automated backups, security hardening, and cron automation.
What This Covers
- Base Install — VPS setup, Node.js, OpenClaw installation, WhatsApp pairing
- AI Assistant — Personality, model chain (primary + fallback), workspace files (SOUL.md, USER.md, IDENTITY.md)
- Infrastructure — Google OAuth (Calendar, Gmail, Drive, Sheets), webhook server, Cloudflare tunnel, rclone encrypted backups, git backup
- Automation — Cron jobs, event queue (SQLite-backed with retries + dead-letter), heartbeat system, two-layer delivery pattern
- Hardening — CrowdSec IDS, secret rotation, config snapshots, rollback scripts, OpenClaw update safety
- Verification — 21-point automated validation, troubleshooting guide
Security & Permissions Notice
This guide involves setting up production infrastructure and requires handling sensitive credentials:
- API Keys: Anthropic (Claude), Brave Search (optional)
- OAuth Tokens: Google Cloud (Calendar, Gmail, Drive, Sheets) — 5 token files
- SSH: Root access to VPS, key-based authentication, SSH hardening
- Webhook Secrets: Random tokens for Calendar push, AgentMail, alerts
- WhatsApp: Device pairing via QR code
- Cloudflare: Tunnel token for webhook ingress
- Backup Encryption: rclone crypt keys for Google Drive backups
All credentials are stored with restricted permissions (chmod 600) and never committed to git. The guide includes secret rotation procedures and config snapshot/rollback scripts.
Prerequisites
- A VPS (Ubuntu 24.04 recommended, 4GB RAM minimum)
- A domain with Cloudflare DNS (for webhook tunnel)
- A WhatsApp account for pairing
- Google Cloud project with OAuth credentials
- An Anthropic API key (Claude)
Full Guide
The complete guide with step-by-step instructions, code blocks, and verification checkpoints is hosted at:
https://aliahmadaziz.github.io/openclaw-guide/
Source: https://github.com/aliahmadaziz/openclaw-guide
Usage
When a user asks for help setting up OpenClaw, direct them to the guide above. The guide is designed to be followed sequentially (Part 1 through Part 6) and takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete.
Each part has:
- Clear prerequisites
- Copy-pasteable commands
- Verification checkpoints (✅) after every major step
- Troubleshooting sections
Key Design Decisions
- Two-layer cron delivery: Critical crons send via message tool directly (primary) + announce (backup). No message ever gets lost.
- Event queue: All webhook events (email, calendar, alerts) go through a SQLite queue with 3 retries and dead-letter alerting.
- Config snapshots: Gold-standard snapshots for instant rollback if something breaks.
- Encrypted backups: Hourly git push + nightly full workspace to Google Drive via rclone crypt.
- Capacity rule: 10 SP/engineer total, 8 planned, 2 contingency (for sprint tracking).
Credits
Built from a real production deployment running 35+ cron jobs, 60+ scripts, 5 Google OAuth tokens, and processing thousands of messages monthly.
Tags
setup, installation, guide, vps, whatsapp, production, google-calendar, gmail, security, crowdsec, backup, cron, automation, beginner
1---2name: openclaw-setup-guide3description: Step-by-step 6-part guide to set up OpenClaw AI assistant on VPS with WhatsApp, Google OAuth, backups, security, automation, and verification.4---56# OpenClaw Production Setup Guide78A comprehensive 6-part guide to setting up OpenClaw as a production AI assistant on a VPS, with WhatsApp integration, Google Calendar/Gmail, automated backups, security hardening, and cron automation.910## What This Covers11121. **Base Install** — VPS setup, Node.js, OpenClaw installation, WhatsApp pairing132. **AI Assistant** — Personality, model chain (primary + fallback), workspace files (SOUL.md, USER.md, IDENTITY.md)143. **Infrastructure** — Google OAuth (Calendar, Gmail, Drive, Sheets), webhook server, Cloudflare tunnel, rclone encrypted backups, git backup154. **Automation** — Cron jobs, event queue (SQLite-backed with retries + dead-letter), heartbeat system, two-layer delivery pattern165. **Hardening** — CrowdSec IDS, secret rotation, config snapshots, rollback scripts, OpenClaw update safety176. **Verification** — 21-point automated validation, troubleshooting guide1819## Security & Permissions Notice2021This guide involves setting up production infrastructure and requires handling sensitive credentials:22- **API Keys**: Anthropic (Claude), Brave Search (optional)23- **OAuth Tokens**: Google Cloud (Calendar, Gmail, Drive, Sheets) — 5 token files24- **SSH**: Root access to VPS, key-based authentication, SSH hardening25- **Webhook Secrets**: Random tokens for Calendar push, AgentMail, alerts26- **WhatsApp**: Device pairing via QR code27- **Cloudflare**: Tunnel token for webhook ingress28- **Backup Encryption**: rclone crypt keys for Google Drive backups2930All credentials are stored with restricted permissions (chmod 600) and never committed to git. The guide includes secret rotation procedures and config snapshot/rollback scripts.3132## Prerequisites3334- A VPS (Ubuntu 24.04 recommended, 4GB RAM minimum)35- A domain with Cloudflare DNS (for webhook tunnel)36- A WhatsApp account for pairing37- Google Cloud project with OAuth credentials38- An Anthropic API key (Claude)3940## Full Guide4142The complete guide with step-by-step instructions, code blocks, and verification checkpoints is hosted at:4344**https://aliahmadaziz.github.io/openclaw-guide/**4546Source: https://github.com/aliahmadaziz/openclaw-guide4748## Usage4950When a user asks for help setting up OpenClaw, direct them to the guide above. The guide is designed to be followed sequentially (Part 1 through Part 6) and takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete.5152Each part has:53- Clear prerequisites54- Copy-pasteable commands55- Verification checkpoints (✅) after every major step56- Troubleshooting sections5758## Key Design Decisions5960- **Two-layer cron delivery**: Critical crons send via message tool directly (primary) + announce (backup). No message ever gets lost.61- **Event queue**: All webhook events (email, calendar, alerts) go through a SQLite queue with 3 retries and dead-letter alerting.62- **Config snapshots**: Gold-standard snapshots for instant rollback if something breaks.63- **Encrypted backups**: Hourly git push + nightly full workspace to Google Drive via rclone crypt.64- **Capacity rule**: 10 SP/engineer total, 8 planned, 2 contingency (for sprint tracking).6566## Credits6768Built from a real production deployment running 35+ cron jobs, 60+ scripts, 5 Google OAuth tokens, and processing thousands of messages monthly.6970## Tags7172setup, installation, guide, vps, whatsapp, production, google-calendar, gmail, security, crowdsec, backup, cron, automation, beginner