OpenClaw VPS (Docker) — Clean upstream + local overlay migration (Handoff)
Part 1/2 (wait for part 2 and my word saying done before responding)
* Goal Make upgrades boring by keeping /home/linuxuser/openclaw as a clean upstream checkout (tagged releases) and moving all local infra customizations into clearly-named local files + a wrapper script (no more relying on docker-compose.override.yml auto-merge or random backup files). Current known-good runtime (DO NOT BREAK)
* Gateway runs in Docker on VPS
* Container: openclaw-openclaw-gateway-1
* Service: openclaw-gateway
* Ports pinned to Tailscale IP: 100.124.167.103:18789-18790 -> 18789-18790
* Status: healthy
* What we completed (verified)
* 1) No-downtime refactor to local overlay + wrapper Repo
* Checkout dir: /home/linuxuser/openclaw
* Repo is now on tag: v2026.3.2 (clean checkout)
* Local infra files (kept untracked + ignored via .git/info/exclude)
* compose-local.sh
* Canonical way to run compose. Uses:
* docker-compose.base.local.yml (local base w/ pinned ports)
* docker-compose.local.json (local overlay: env/image/build)
* docker-compose.base.local.yml
* Generated from upstream docker-compose.yml, with ports pinned to 100.124.167.103 using sed
* docker-compose.local.json
* Sets gateway build/image/env (Gemini/OpenRouter keys, NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS, etc.)
* Uses dockerfile: Dockerfile.gateway-uv.local
* Dockerfile.gateway-uv.local
* Custom gateway UV Dockerfile
*
* Bun/QMD fix applied:
* ENV PATH="/home/node/.local/bin:/home/node/.bun/bin:${PATH}"
* RUN /home/node/.bun/bin/bun install -g @tobilu/qmd
* Removed footguns/clutter
* docker-compose.override.yml moved out to rollback/deprecated (no longer auto-applied)
* old backup files + import/ moved out to rollback/deprecated
* docker-compose.yml is restored clean (tracked upstream)
* 2) Controlled recreate (no-build) — verified
* Ran: ./compose-local.sh up -d --no-build --force-recreate openclaw-gateway
* Verified: ./compose-local.sh ps shows healthy + pinned ports
* 3) Build chain proven (and running on rebuilt images) — verified
* Rollback tags created before rebuilds (see below)
* Rebuilt base:
* docker build -t openclaw:local -f Dockerfile .
*
* Rebuilt UV gateway:
* ./compose-local.sh build openclaw-gateway → built openclaw:local-uv
* Recreated gateway onto rebuilt UV image:
* ./compose-local.sh up -d --no-build --force-recreate openclaw-gateway
* Verified: gateway is healthy + pinned ports afterwards
* Rollback assets (already created) Rollback image tags (immutable)
* openclaw:rollback-local-uv-20260308-191604 → ID prefix 68d7ba46c392
* openclaw:rollback-local-20260308-225942 → ID prefix d8c34baa49d7
* Rollback folder (config + artifacts)
* /home/linuxuser/openclaw-rollback/20260308-193214/
* contains:
* prior compose files/Dockerfiles snapshots
* openclaw.compose.current.yml (resolved compose snapshot)
* home-rapture.openclaw.tgz (tar backup of persisted state)
*
* Goal Make upgrades boring by keeping /home/linuxuser/openclaw as a clean upstream checkout (tagged releases) and moving all local infra customizations into clearly-named local files + a wrapper script (no more relying on docker-compose.override.yml auto-merge or random backup files). Current known-good runtime (DO NOT BREAK)
* Gateway runs in Docker on VPS
* Container: openclaw-openclaw-gateway-1
* Service: openclaw-gateway
* Ports pinned to Tailscale IP: 100.124.167.103:18789-18790 -> 18789-18790
* Status: healthy
* What we completed (verified)
* 1) No-downtime refactor to local overlay + wrapper Repo
* Checkout dir: /home/linuxuser/openclaw
* Repo is now on tag: v2026.3.2 (clean checkout)
* Local infra files (kept untracked + ignored via .git/info/exclude)
* compose-local.sh
* Canonical way to run compose. Uses:
* docker-compose.base.local.yml (local base w/ pinned ports)
* docker-compose.local.json (local overlay: env/image/build)
* docker-compose.base.local.yml
* Generated from upstream docker-compose.yml, with ports pinned to 100.124.167.103 using sed
* docker-compose.local.json
* Sets gateway build/image/env (Gemini/OpenRouter keys, NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS, etc.)
* Uses dockerfile: Dockerfile.gateway-uv.local
* Dockerfile.gateway-uv.local
* Custom gateway UV Dockerfile
*
* Bun/QMD fix applied:
* ENV PATH="/home/node/.local/bin:/home/node/.bun/bin:${PATH}"
* RUN /home/node/.bun/bin/bun install -g @tobilu/qmd
* Removed footguns/clutter
* docker-compose.override.yml moved out to rollback/deprecated (no longer auto-applied)
* old backup files + import/ moved out to rollback/deprecated
* docker-compose.yml is restored clean (tracked upstream)
* 2) Controlled recreate (no-build) — verified
* Ran: ./compose-local.sh up -d --no-build --force-recreate openclaw-gateway
* Verified: ./compose-local.sh ps shows healthy + pinned ports
* 3) Build chain proven (and running on rebuilt images) — verified
* Rollback tags created before rebuilds (see below)
* Rebuilt base:
* docker build -t openclaw:local -f Dockerfile .
*
* Rebuilt UV gateway:
* ./compose-local.sh build openclaw-gateway → built openclaw:local-uv
* Recreated gateway onto rebuilt UV image:
* ./compose-local.sh up -d --no-build --force-recreate openclaw-gateway
* Verified: gateway is healthy + pinned ports afterwards
* Rollback assets (already created) Rollback image tags (immutable)
* openclaw:rollback-local-uv-20260308-191604 → ID prefix 68d7ba46c392
* openclaw:rollback-local-20260308-225942 → ID prefix d8c34baa49d7
* Rollback folder (config + artifacts)
* /home/linuxuser/openclaw-rollback/20260308-193214/
* contains:
* prior compose files/Dockerfiles snapshots
* openclaw.compose.current.yml (resolved compose snapshot)
* home-rapture.openclaw.tgz (tar backup of persisted state)
*
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