openclaw/docs/install/oracle.md

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Host OpenClaw on Oracle Cloud's Always Free ARM tier	Setting up OpenClaw on Oracle Cloud Looking for free VPS hosting for OpenClaw Want 24/7 OpenClaw on a small server	Oracle Cloud

Oracle Cloud

Run a persistent OpenClaw Gateway on Oracle Cloud's Always Free ARM tier (up to 4 OCPU, 24 GB RAM, 200 GB storage) at no cost.

Prerequisites

• Oracle Cloud account (signup) -- see community signup guide if you hit issues
• Tailscale account (free at tailscale.com)
• An SSH key pair
• About 30 minutes

Setup

1. Log into [Oracle Cloud Console](https://cloud.oracle.com/). 2. Navigate to **Compute > Instances > Create Instance**. 3. Configure: - **Name:** `openclaw` - **Image:** Ubuntu 24.04 (aarch64) - **Shape:** `VM.Standard.A1.Flex` (Ampere ARM) - **OCPUs:** 2 (or up to 4) - **Memory:** 12 GB (or up to 24 GB) - **Boot volume:** 50 GB (up to 200 GB free) - **SSH key:** Add your public key 4. Click **Create** and note the public IP address.

<Tip>
If instance creation fails with "Out of capacity", try a different availability domain or retry later. Free tier capacity is limited.
</Tip>

```bash ssh ubuntu@YOUR_PUBLIC_IP

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y build-essential
```

`build-essential` is required for ARM compilation of some dependencies.

```bash sudo hostnamectl set-hostname openclaw sudo passwd ubuntu sudo loginctl enable-linger ubuntu ```

Enabling linger keeps user services running after logout.

```bash curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh sudo tailscale up --ssh --hostname=openclaw ```

From now on, connect via Tailscale: `ssh ubuntu@openclaw`.

```bash curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash source ~/.bashrc ```

When prompted "How do you want to hatch your bot?", select **Do this later**.

Use token auth with Tailscale Serve for secure remote access.

```bash
openclaw config set gateway.bind loopback
openclaw config set gateway.auth.mode token
openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token
openclaw config set gateway.tailscale.mode serve
openclaw config set gateway.trustedProxies '["127.0.0.1"]'

systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway
```

Block all traffic except Tailscale at the network edge:

1. Go to **Networking > Virtual Cloud Networks** in the OCI Console.
2. Click your VCN, then **Security Lists > Default Security List**.
3. **Remove** all ingress rules except `0.0.0.0/0 UDP 41641` (Tailscale).
4. Keep default egress rules (allow all outbound).

This blocks SSH on port 22, HTTP, HTTPS, and everything else at the network edge. You can only connect via Tailscale from this point on.

```bash openclaw --version systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway tailscale serve status curl http://localhost:18789 ```

Access the Control UI from any device on your tailnet:

```
https://openclaw.<tailnet-name>.ts.net/
```

Replace `<tailnet-name>` with your tailnet name (visible in `tailscale status`).

Fallback: SSH tunnel

If Tailscale Serve is not working, use an SSH tunnel from your local machine:

ssh -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 ubuntu@openclaw

Then open http://localhost:18789.

Troubleshooting

Instance creation fails ("Out of capacity") -- Free tier ARM instances are popular. Try a different availability domain or retry during off-peak hours.

Tailscale will not connect -- Run sudo tailscale up --ssh --hostname=openclaw --reset to re-authenticate.

Gateway will not start -- Run openclaw doctor --non-interactive and check logs with journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway -n 50.

ARM binary issues -- Most npm packages work on ARM64. For native binaries, look for linux-arm64 or aarch64 releases. Verify architecture with uname -m.

Next steps

• Channels -- connect Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, and more
• Gateway configuration -- all config options
• Updating -- keep OpenClaw up to date