How to Deploy OpenClaw on AvaHost VPS in One Click

March 17, 2026 17:36 3 min

Most AI assistants store your data on their servers, charge per message, and go offline the moment you close the tab. OpenClaw works differently — it runs on your own VPS, connects to Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, and Discord, and stays online 24/7.

AvaHost now offers OpenClaw as a one-click template on Ubuntu 22.04.

What Is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an open-source, self-hosted AI assistant. You connect it to your preferred AI provider — Claude (Anthropic) or ChatGPT (OpenAI) — and it becomes your personal assistant across all your messaging apps.

What it supports:

Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord and 10+ platforms
Claude, ChatGPT, and local models via Ollama
Google Workspace — Calendar, Gmail, Drive
Web browsing, file management, terminal commands

Why self-host:

Your conversations never leave your server
No per-message fees — flat VPS cost only
Runs 24/7 without your computer being on
You control which AI model it uses

What You’ll Need

An active AvaHost account — ava.hosting
A VPS plan (minimum 2 GB RAM recommended)
An API key from Anthropic or OpenAI

Step 1 — Log Into Your AvaHost Dashboard

Find your VPS under Your Active Products/Services and click Manage.

Step 2 — Open Reinstallation

Inside your VPS panel, look at the Service Management section in the left sidebar. Click Reinstallation.

Heads up: Reinstallation wipes all existing data on the VPS. For a fresh VPS this step is completely safe.

Step 3 — Select the OpenClaw Template

You’ll see a grid of operating systems. Scroll to the Ubuntu section and click Ubuntu-22-04-OpenClaw-WebGateway.

This template installs on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and includes everything pre-configured:

OpenClaw (latest stable version)
Docker and Docker Compose
WebGateway for browser access
Firewall rules set up automatically

Confirm the selection. Installation takes 2–5 minutes.

Step 4 — Complete the Onboarding Wizard

Once your VPS is ready, open your browser and go to:

http://YOUR_VPS_IP:18789

You’ll see the OpenClaw onboarding wizard. Follow these steps:

Choose your AI provider — Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI (ChatGPT)
Enter your API key — paste it from your provider’s dashboard
Create your admin account — set email and password
Connect your first platform — Telegram is the quickest to start

The whole setup takes about 3 minutes.

Step 5 — Connect Telegram

Open Telegram → search @BotFather
Send /newbot and follow the prompts to create a bot
Copy the bot token you receive
In OpenClaw dashboard → Integrations → Telegram → paste the token
Start chatting with your bot

→ Get started with AvaHost VPS

How to Deploy OpenClaw on AvaHost VPS in One Click | Ubuntu 22.04