Nemoclaw User Manage Sandboxes

Manage Sandbox Lifecycle

Use this guide after you finish the OpenClaw quickstart (use the nemoclaw-user-get-started skill). It covers day-two sandbox operations such as listing sandboxes, checking health, managing ports, rebuilding safely, upgrading, and uninstalling. When a workflow uses the lower-level OpenShell CLI, see CLI Selection Guide (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill) for the boundary between nemoclaw and openshell.

Step 1: List Sandboxes

List every sandbox registered on this host:

$ nemoclaw list

The list shows each sandbox's model, provider, policy presets, active SSH session indicator, and dashboard URL when a dashboard port is recorded. Use JSON output for scripts:

$ nemoclaw list --json

Step 2: Check Sandbox Health

Check a specific sandbox's health, inference route, active connections, live policy, update status, and messaging-channel overlap warnings:

$ nemoclaw my-assistant status

Use the host-level status command when you want the sandbox inventory plus host auxiliary service state, such as cloudflared:

$ nemoclaw status

Step 3: Inspect Logs

View recent sandbox logs:

$ nemoclaw my-assistant logs

Stream logs while you reproduce a problem:

$ nemoclaw my-assistant logs --follow

The log command reads both OpenClaw gateway output and OpenShell audit events, so policy denials appear beside gateway logs.

Step 4: Collect Diagnostics

Collect diagnostics for bug reports or support handoff:

$ nemoclaw debug --sandbox my-assistant --output nemoclaw-debug.tar.gz

Use --quick for a smaller local summary:

$ nemoclaw debug --quick --sandbox my-assistant

The debug command gathers system information, Docker state, gateway logs, and sandbox status.

Step 5: Manage Dashboard Ports

If the forward stopped, or the installer reported that no active forward was found and the URL does not load, restart it manually with the port from the install summary.

$ openshell forward start --background <dashboard-port> my-gpt-claw

To list active forwards across all sandboxes, run the following command.

$ openshell forward list

Step 6: Run Multiple Sandboxes

Each sandbox needs its own dashboard port, since openshell forward refuses to bind a port that another sandbox is already using. When the default port is already held by another sandbox, nemoclaw onboard scans ports 18789 through 18799 and uses the next free port.

$ nemoclaw onboard                                      # first sandbox uses 18789
$ nemoclaw onboard                                      # second sandbox uses the next free port, such as 18790

To choose a specific port, pass --control-ui-port:

$ nemoclaw onboard --control-ui-port 19000

You can also set CHAT_UI_URL or NEMOCLAW_DASHBOARD_PORT before onboarding:

$ CHAT_UI_URL=http://127.0.0.1:19000 nemoclaw onboard
$ NEMOCLAW_DASHBOARD_PORT=19000 nemoclaw onboard

For full details on port conflicts and overrides, refer to Port already in use (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill).

Step 7: Reconfigure or Recover

Recover from a misconfigured sandbox without re-running the full onboard wizard or destroying workspace state.

Change Inference Model or API

Change the active model or provider at runtime without rebuilding the sandbox:

$ openshell inference set -g nemoclaw --model <model> --provider <provider>

Refer to Switch Inference Providers (use the nemoclaw-user-configure-inference skill) for provider-specific model IDs and API compatibility notes.

Restart the Gateway and Port Forward

If nemoclaw <name> status reports the sandbox is alive but the gateway is not running, run the recover command instead of opening a shell.

$ nemoclaw <sandbox-name> recover

The command restarts the in-sandbox gateway and re-establishes the dashboard port-forward in one step. It is idempotent and safe to script. Refer to nemoclaw <name> recover (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill) for details.

Reset a Stored Credential

If a provider credential was entered incorrectly during onboarding, clear the gateway-registered value and re-enter it on the next onboard run:

$ nemoclaw credentials list                # see which providers are registered
$ nemoclaw credentials reset <PROVIDER>    # clear a single provider, for example nvidia-prod
$ nemoclaw onboard                         # re-run to re-enter the cleared provider

The credentials command is documented in full at nemoclaw credentials reset <PROVIDER> (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill).

Rebuild a Sandbox While Preserving Workspace State

If you changed the underlying Dockerfile, upgraded OpenClaw, or want to pick up a new base image without losing your sandbox's workspace files, use rebuild instead of destroying and recreating:

$ nemoclaw <sandbox-name> rebuild

Rebuild preserves the mounted workspace and registered policies while recreating the container. If NemoClaw cannot archive any requested state path, it reports the backup failure and stops before deleting the original sandbox. Refer to nemoclaw <name> rebuild (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill) for flag details.

Add a Network Preset After Onboarding

Apply an additional preset, such as Telegram or GitHub, to a running sandbox without re-onboarding:

$ nemoclaw <sandbox-name> policy-add

Refer to nemoclaw <name> policy-add (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill) for usage details and flags.

Non-interactive re-onboards in the default suggested policy mode preserve presets added this way. To make a re-onboard authoritative, set NEMOCLAW_POLICY_MODE=custom and provide NEMOCLAW_POLICY_PRESETS with the exact list to apply; onboarding removes anything else. See NEMOCLAW_POLICY_MODE (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill) for the full table.

Step 8: Update to the Latest Version

When a new NemoClaw release becomes available, update the nemoclaw CLI on your host and check existing sandboxes for stale agent/runtime versions.

Update the NemoClaw CLI

Re-run the installer. Before it onboards anything, the installer calls nemoclaw backup-all (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill) automatically, storing a snapshot of each running sandbox in ~/.nemoclaw/rebuild-backups/ as a safety net.

$ curl -fsSL https://www.nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash

Upgrade Sandboxes with Stale Agent and Runtime Versions

The installer checks registered sandboxes after onboarding succeeds and runs nemoclaw upgrade-sandboxes --auto for stale running sandboxes. Use upgrade-sandboxes directly to verify the result, rebuild when you skipped the installer or onboarding step, or handle sandboxes that were stopped or could not be version-checked. The upgrade flow is non-destructive by default because NemoClaw preserves manifest-defined workspace state, but a manual snapshot before any major upgrade gives you a state restore point.

$ nemoclaw <sandbox-name> snapshot create --name pre-upgrade   # optional, recommended
$ curl -fsSL https://www.nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash          # updates CLI; auto-upgrades stale running sandboxes
$ nemoclaw upgrade-sandboxes --check                            # verify or list remaining stale/unknown sandboxes
$ nemoclaw upgrade-sandboxes                                    # manually rebuild remaining stale running sandboxes

For scripted manual rebuilds, use nemoclaw upgrade-sandboxes --auto to skip the confirmation prompt.

If the upgraded sandbox needs its workspace state reverted, restore the pre-upgrade snapshot into the running sandbox. This restores saved state directories only; it does not downgrade the sandbox image or agent/runtime:

$ nemoclaw <sandbox-name> snapshot restore pre-upgrade

What Changes During a Rebuild

Each rebuild destroys the existing container and creates a new one. NemoClaw protects your data through the same backup-and-restore flow as nemoclaw <name> rebuild (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill):

• NemoClaw preserves manifest-defined workspace state. Before deleting the old container, NemoClaw snapshots the state directories and durable state files defined in the agent manifest, typically /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/; for Hermes this also includes SOUL.md and the SQLite database behind .hermes/state.db. Stored credentials (~/.nemoclaw/credentials.json) and registered policy presets live on the host and are re-applied to the new sandbox automatically.
• NemoClaw does not preserve runtime changes outside the workspace state directories. This includes packages installed inside the running container with apt or pip, files in non-workspace paths, and in-memory or process state. If you have customized the running container at runtime, capture that as Dockerfile changes for nemoclaw onboard --from or a manual openshell sandbox download before the rebuild starts.

Aborts before the destroy step are non-destructive. The flow refuses to proceed past preflight if a credential is missing or past backup if any manifest-defined state path cannot be copied, so a failed run leaves the original sandbox intact and ready to retry.

See Backup and Restore (use the nemoclaw-user-manage-sandboxes skill) for the full list of state-preservation guarantees, snapshot retention, and instructions for manual backups when the auto-flow is not enough.

:::{note} If the rebuild aborts with Missing credential: <KEY> The rebuild preflight reads the provider credential recorded by your last nemoclaw onboard session. If you have switched providers since onboarding, for example from a remote API to a local Ollama setup, the preflight may still reference the old key and fail before any destroy step runs.

To recover, re-run nemoclaw onboard and select your current provider. This refreshes the session metadata. Your existing container keeps serving traffic until the new image is ready. :::

Step 9: Uninstall

To remove NemoClaw and all resources created during setup, run the CLI's built-in uninstall command:

nemoclaw uninstall

nemoclaw uninstall runs the version-pinned uninstall.sh that shipped with your installed CLI, so it does not fetch anything over the network at uninstall time.

If the nemoclaw CLI is missing or broken, fall back to the hosted script:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/NemoClaw/refs/heads/main/uninstall.sh | bash

For a full comparison of the two forms, including what they fetch, what they trust, and when to prefer each, see nemoclaw uninstall vs. the hosted uninstall.sh (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill).

References

• Load references/backup-restore.md when downloading workspace files from a sandbox, uploading restored files into a new sandbox, or preserving sandbox state across rebuilds. Backs up and restores OpenClaw workspace files before destructive operations such as sandbox rebuilds.
• Load references/messaging-channels.md when setting up messaging channels, chat interfaces, or integrations without relying on nemoclaw tunnel start for bridges. Explains how Telegram, Discord, and Slack reach the sandboxed OpenClaw agent through OpenShell-managed processes and NemoClaw channel commands.
• Load references/workspace-files.md when users ask about SOUL.md, USER.md, IDENTITY.md, AGENTS.md, or other workspace files, or when preparing to back up or restore workspace state. Explains what workspace personality and configuration files are, where they live, and how they persist across sandbox restarts.

Related Skills

• nemoclaw-user-monitor-sandbox — Monitor Sandbox Activity (use the nemoclaw-user-monitor-sandbox skill) for observability tools