Docker provides container isolation, consistent environments, easy updates, and better security through sandboxing. It's the recommended approach for production deployments, especially on VPS servers.
Create a docker-compose.yml with the openclaw/openclaw:latest image, map port 127.0.0.1:18789:18789 (localhost only), mount a volume for data persistence, and set your API key as an environment variable. Run docker compose up -d to start.
Run docker compose pull to get the latest image, then docker compose up -d to restart with the new version. Your data persists in the mounted volume.
Port conflicts (something else using 18789), volume permission errors, missing environment variables, and forgetting to bind to localhost instead of 0.0.0.0 (which exposes the gateway publicly).
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Related: VPS setup guide · Security guide · Common errors