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Install OpenClaw on Multipass VM

This guide shows you how to create an Ubuntu 24.04 virtual machine with Multipass (Canonical’s lightweight VM tool) and deploy OpenClaw inside it. Great for running OpenClaw in an isolated Linux environment without touching your host OS.

Why Multipass

Section titled “Why Multipass”
  • Lightweight: native virtualization with second-fast VM creation
  • Simple: one command to create, enter, and delete a VM
  • Cross-platform: Windows / macOS / Linux

Step 1: Install Multipass

Section titled “Step 1: Install Multipass”

Windows

Section titled “Windows”

In an Administrator PowerShell:

Terminal window
winget install Canonical.Multipass

macOS

Section titled “macOS”
Terminal window
brew install --cask multipass

Linux

Section titled “Linux”
Terminal window
sudo snap install multipass

Verify:

Terminal window
multipass version

Step 2: Create an Ubuntu 24.04 VM

Section titled “Step 2: Create an Ubuntu 24.04 VM”

Create a VM with 4 CPUs, 8 GB RAM, and 40 GB disk:

Terminal window
multipass launch 24.04 --name openclaw --cpus 4 --memory 8G --disk 40G

Wait for creation, then enter the VM:

Terminal window
multipass shell openclaw

Step 3: Update the system

Section titled “Step 3: Update the system”
Terminal window
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 4: Install OpenClaw

Section titled “Step 4: Install OpenClaw”
Terminal window
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

Re-login (or run source ~/.bashrc) and verify:

Terminal window
openclaw --version

Step 5: Initialize and start

Section titled “Step 5: Initialize and start”
Terminal window
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Pick your model provider and paste your API key. --install-daemon registers the Gateway as a systemd service with auto-start.

Check the status:

Terminal window
openclaw status

Step 6: Access the Gateway from your host (optional)

Section titled “Step 6: Access the Gateway from your host (optional)”

Multipass VMs use NAT networking by default. Forward the Gateway port (18789) to your host:

Terminal window
multipass port-forward openclaw 18789:18789

Then open in your host browser:

http://localhost:18789

To reach the VM from your LAN (e.g. to connect a DLinkClaw relay), use a bridged network: multipass set local.openclaw.network=bridged and create the VM with --network bridged.

Common commands

Section titled “Common commands”
Command Description
multipass list List all VMs
multipass start openclaw Start the VM
multipass stop openclaw Stop the VM
multipass delete openclaw && multipass purge Delete the VM
multipass info openclaw Show resources & IP

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”