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EasyRunner hosts the OpenClaw Gateway as a small containerized app behind its Caddy proxy. This guide assumes an EasyRunner host that runs Podman-compatible Compose apps and terminates HTTPS through Caddy.

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Before you begin

  • An EasyRunner server with a domain routed to it.
  • The official OpenClaw image (ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw) or your own build.
  • A persistent config volume for /home/node/.openclaw.
  • A persistent workspace volume for /home/node/.openclaw/workspace.
  • A strong Gateway token or password.
Keep device auth enabled when possible. If your reverse proxy cannot carry device identity correctly, fix trusted-proxy settings first (see Trusted proxy auth); use dangerous auth bypasses only on a fully private, operator-controlled network.

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Compose app

Create an EasyRunner app with a Compose file shaped like this: 
services:
  openclaw:
    image: ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN: ${OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN}
      OPENCLAW_HOME: /home/node
      OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR: /home/node/.openclaw
      OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH: /home/node/.openclaw/openclaw.json
      OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR: /home/node/.openclaw/workspace
    volumes:
      - openclaw-config:/home/node/.openclaw
      - openclaw-workspace:/home/node/.openclaw/workspace
    labels:
      caddy: openclaw.example.com
      caddy.reverse_proxy: "{{upstreams 1455}}"
    command: ["node", "openclaw.mjs", "gateway", "--bind", "lan", "--port", "1455"]

volumes:
  openclaw-config:
  openclaw-workspace:
Replace openclaw.example.com with your Gateway hostname. Store OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN in EasyRunner’s secret/environment manager instead of committing it to the app definition. The image binds to loopback by default, so the explicit --bind lan --port 1455 in command is required for Caddy to reach the container.

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Configure OpenClaw

Inside the persistent config volume, keep the Gateway reachable only through the proxy and require auth: 
{
  gateway: {
    bind: "lan",
    port: 1455,
    auth: {
      token: "${OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN}",
    },
  },
}
If Caddy terminates TLS for the Gateway, configure trusted-proxy settings for the exact proxy path rather than disabling auth checks globally. See Trusted proxy auth.

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Verify

From your workstation: 
openclaw gateway probe --url https://openclaw.example.com --token <token>
openclaw gateway status --url https://openclaw.example.com --token <token>
From the EasyRunner host, GET /healthz (liveness) and GET /readyz (readiness) need no auth and back the image’s built-in container health check. Also check the app logs for a listening Gateway and no startup SecretRef, plugin, or channel auth failures.

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Updates and backups

  • Pull or build the new OpenClaw image, then redeploy the EasyRunner app.
  • Back up the openclaw-config volume before updates. It holds openclaw.json, agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json, and installed plugin package state.
  • Back up openclaw-workspace if agents write durable project data there.
  • Run openclaw doctor after major updates to catch config migrations and service warnings.

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Troubleshooting

  • gateway probe cannot connect: confirm the Caddy hostname points at the app and that the container listens on 0.0.0.0:1455.
  • Auth fails: rotate the token in EasyRunner secrets and the local client command together.
  • Files are root-owned after restore: the image runs as node (uid 1000); repair the mounted volumes so that user can write /home/node/.openclaw and /home/node/.openclaw/workspace.
  • Browser or channel plugins fail: check whether the required external binaries, network egress, and mounted credentials are available inside the container.