How to Safely Run OpenClaw (ex Clawd and Moltbot) in Local Docker

Running OpenClaw directly on your host system is a bad idea. The service has full access to the filesystem and everything inside the environment where it runs. That’s powerful — and potentially destructive. Treat it like any other automation tool with shell-level capabilities.

The goal here is simple:

run OpenClaw in isolation
keep persistent data
add SSH for debugging and development
keep everything reproducible via docker-compose

This setup is intended for controlled local environments.

1. Directory Structure

$ tree -L 1 ./
./
|-- Dockerfile.ssh           <--- patch on top of default Dockerfile
|-- docker-compose.yml
|-- openclaw-01              <--- persistent container data
|-- openclaw-git             <--- git clone from https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
`-- openclaw-src             <--- default structure
    `-- openclaw
        |-- openclaw.json
        `-- workspace

2. Basic openclaw.json

A minimal configuration that starts a fresh gateway instance and waits for bootstrap (openclaw onboard):

$ cat openclaw-src/openclaw/openclaw.json
{
  "gateway": {
    "mode": "local",
    "controlUi": {
      "allowedOrigins": [
        "*"
      ],
      "allowInsecureAuth": true
    },
    "remote": {
      "token": "MyPassword"
    },
    "auth": {
      "mode": "token",
      "token": "MyPassword"
    }
  }
}

No external dependencies are required to start.

3. Dockerfile Extension (Dockerfile.ssh)

Instead of modifying the upstream image, we extend it. Key points:

additional npm packages (axios, cheerio)
SSH server
common utilities (cron, jq, mc, lynx, poppler-utils, etc.)
optional root execution for debugging

FROM openclaw-lc:0.0.3

USER node
WORKDIR /app

RUN pnpm add -w \
    axios \
    cheerio

USER root

RUN chown node:node /app

RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
      openssh-server \
      cron \
      ca-certificates \
      jq \
      mc \
      lynx \
      sudo \
      poppler-utils \
      mailutils \
    && mkdir -p /var/run/sshd \
    && apt-get clean \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Base SSH config (non-strict)
RUN sed -i 's/#PermitRootLogin prohibit-password/PermitRootLogin yes/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
    sed -i 's/#PasswordAuthentication yes/PasswordAuthentication yes/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
    sed -i 's/#MaxAuthTries.*/MaxAuthTries 20/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
    sed -i 's/#MaxSessions.*/MaxSessions 50/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Fix to run commands as root
RUN ln -s /home/node/.openclaw /root/.openclaw && \
    ln -s /app/openclaw.mjs /bin/openclaw

ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/bash","-c", "\
  if [ -n \"$SSH_ROOT_PASSWORD\" ]; then \
    echo \"root:$SSH_ROOT_PASSWORD\" | chpasswd; \
    echo '[entrypoint] Root SSH password set'; \
  fi; \
  \
  if case \"${SSH_SAFE,,}\" in 1|true|yes|on) true ;; *) false ;; esac; then \
    echo '[entrypoint] SSH safe mode enabled'; \
    echo 'ForceCommand /app/openclaw.mjs $SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
    echo 'PermitTTY yes' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
    echo 'AllowTcpForwarding no' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
    echo 'X11Forwarding no' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config; \
  fi; \
  \
  /usr/sbin/cron & \
  /usr/sbin/sshd & \
  exec \"$@\" \
"]

CMD ["node", "dist/index.js", "gateway", "--allow-unconfigured"]

Why SSH? In many cases OpenClaw runs locally, but it can also run on a separate machine — for example, on a dedicated host such as an Nvidia Spark box or a VM. Direct shell access simplifies inspection, debugging, and interaction with the runtime environment.

4. docker-compose.yml

Everything is centralized in one place:

services:

  openclaw-gateway-01:
#    image: openclaw-lc:0.0.3
#    build:
#      context: ./openclaw-git/
#      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    image: openclaw-lc-ssh:0.2.1
    build:
      context: ./
      dockerfile: Dockerfile.ssh
    container_name: openclaw-gateway-01
    environment:
      HOME: /home/node
      TERM: xterm-256color
      NODE_ENV: production
      SSH_ROOT_PASSWORD: MyPassword
      SSH_SAFE: no
      OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN: 1
    privileged: true
    volumes:
      - /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:ro
      - "./openclaw-01/openclaw:/home/node/.openclaw"
    ports:
      - "18100:18789"
      - "18122:22"
    init: true
    command:
      [
        "node",
        "dist/index.js",
        "gateway",
        "--bind",
        "lan",
        "--port",
        "18789",
        "--allow-unconfigured"
      ]
    restart: unless-stopped

  ollama:
    image: ollama/ollama:latest
    container_name: ollama
    ports:
      - "11434:11434"
    volumes:
      - "./openclaw-01/ollama-data:/root/.ollama/"
    environment:
      - OLLAMA_ALLOW_PULL=true
    restart: unless-stopped

  open-webui:
    image: ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main
    container_name: open-webui
    depends_on:
      - ollama
    environment:
      - 'OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://ollama:11434'
    ports:
      - "3000:8080"
    volumes:
      - "./openclaw-01/openwebui-data:/app"
    restart: unless-stopped

5. Local LLM Stack (Ollama + Open WebUI)

The compose file also includes an example setup for running Ollama together with Open WebUI. This allows you to run everything fully locally and experiment without external APIs. If required, you can restrict outbound traffic at the firewall level to further isolate the environment.

6. Running the Stack

For quick startup and to keep the session persistent, I often use screen.

$ screen -Rda moltbolt
$ docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up
[+] up 1/3
 ? Network moltbolt_default      Created               0.0s
[+] up 4/4
 ? Network moltbolt_default      Created               0.0s
 ? Container openclaw-gateway-01 Created               0.1s
 ? Container ollama              Created               0.0s
 ? Container open-webui          Created               0.0s
Attaching to ollama, open-webui, openclaw-gateway-01
...

This keeps the stack running even if you detach from the terminal.

7. Login and Initial Setup

$ ssh root@127.0.0.1 -t -p 18122
root@127.0.0.1's password:
root@daadbedd2383:~# openclaw onboard

🦞 OpenClaw 2026.3.2 (unknown) — Ah, the fruit tree company! 🍎

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
██░▄▄▄░██░▄▄░██░▄▄▄██░▀██░██░▄▄▀██░████░▄▄▀██░███░██
██░███░██░▀▀░██░▄▄▄██░█░█░██░█████░████░▀▀░██░█░█░██
██░▀▀▀░██░█████░▀▀▀██░██▄░██░▀▀▄██░▀▀░█░██░██▄▀▄▀▄██
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
                  🦞 OPENCLAW 🦞                    
 
┌  OpenClaw onboarding
...

8. Web UI Access

After onboarding, open your browser:

http://127.0.0.1:18100

Conclusion

This is not a production-ready setup; it is a controlled local playground for experimentation and development.

Useful. Powerful. Still a toy 😉

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