Openclaw Full Deployment Guide (Discord Edition)

This guide is intended for Linux servers (e.g., CentOS, Ubuntu, OpenCloudOS).

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📋 Table of Contents

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1. Environment Setup: Create a User & Install Node.js
2. Discord Setup: Register a Bot & Obtain a Token
3. OpenClaw Configuration: Allowlist & IDs
4. Process Management: Keep It Running 24/7 in the Background
5. FAQ & Troubleshooting

Phase 1: Environment Setup

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1. Create a User and Grant Permissions

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Log in to your server terminal as root and run:

# 1. Create a user — pick a name, e.g. 'kyoyarn'
useradd -m kyoyarn

# 2. Set a password (passwd + username, you'll be prompted to enter it twice)
passwd kyoyarn

# 3. Grant admin privileges (replace 'kyoyarn' with your username)
# Note: CentOS/OpenCloudOS typically uses the 'wheel' group; Ubuntu uses 'sudo'
usermod -aG wheel kyoyarn
# If you get "group 'wheel' does not exist", try: usermod -aG sudo kyoyarn

2. Install Node.js (v18+)

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OpenClaw requires a Node.js environment. (If your server already has Node.js v18 or above, you can skip this step.)

# Switch to the new user (replace 'kyoyarn' with your username)
su - kyoyarn

# Install Node.js via NVM (the most reliable method)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash

# Reload environment variables
source ~/.bashrc

# Install and use Node v20
nvm install 20
nvm use 20

# Verify the installation
node -v  # Should output v20.x.x

3. Install OpenClaw

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# Install OpenClaw globally
npm install -g openclaw@latest

# Initialize the config directory
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw

# Verify the installation
openclaw --version

Phase 2: Discord Setup

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1. Create an Application

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1. Log in to the Discord Developer Portal.
2. Click New Application in the top-right corner and give it a name (e.g., MyOpenClaw).
3. Click Bot in the left sidebar, then click Reset Token.

   

• 👉 Copy and save the Token immediately — once you close the page, it’s gone.

2. Enable Privileged Intents (Critical Step)

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On the Bot page, scroll down to Privileged Gateway Intents and enable all three:

• ✅ Presence Intent
• ✅ Server Members Intent
• ✅ Message Content Intent (without this, the bot is deaf)
• Click Save Changes.

  

3. Generate an Invite Link

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1. Click OAuth2 -> URL Generator in the left sidebar.

2. Under Scopes, check: bot.

   

3. Under Bot Permissions, check the ones you need. The following are required:

• Read Messages/View Channels
• Send Messages
• Read Message History

  

4. Copy the generated URL, open it in your browser, and invite the bot to your server.

Phase 3: OpenClaw Configuration

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1. Obtain IDs (Developer Mode Required)

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Go to Discord Settings -> Advanced -> Enable Developer Mode.

• Guild ID (Server ID): Right-click the server icon on the left -> Copy Server ID.

  

• Channel ID: Right-click the channel you want the bot to interact in -> Copy Channel ID.

  

2. Write the Configuration File

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Edit the config file using nano:

nano ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Copy and modify the following content (make sure to replace the Token and IDs):

{
  "channels": {
    "discord": {
      "enabled": true,
      "token": "PASTE_YOUR_DISCORD_TOKEN_HERE",
      "groupPolicy": "allowlist",
      "guilds": {
        "PASTE_YOUR_SERVER_ID_HERE": {
          "channels": {
            "PASTE_YOUR_CHANNEL_ID_HERE": {
              "allow": true
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "gateway": {
    // Allow access to the console via http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:4000
    "bind": "0.0.0.0"
  }
}

Press Ctrl + O then Enter to save, and Ctrl + X to exit.

3. Initial Test

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Don’t start the background service yet — run it manually first to see if it works:

openclaw gateway

• Check whether the logs show Gateway connected.
• Go to Discord and send hello to see if the bot replies.
• Once the test succeeds, press Ctrl + C to stop.

Phase 4: Process Management (Background Execution)

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Use Systemd to manage the service, ensuring the program keeps running after SSH disconnects and auto-starts on boot.

1. Enable User Linger

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Prevent the system from killing your processes after logout.

# Make sure you are the kyoyarn user
loginctl enable-linger $(whoami)

2. Set the Runtime Directory Variable

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export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u)

(It’s recommended to add this line to the bottom of ~/.bashrc so it persists across logins.)

3. Register and Start the Service

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# 1. Install the service
openclaw daemon install

# 2. Start the service
openclaw daemon start

# 3. Check the status
openclaw daemon status

If you see a green Active: active (running), you’re all set! 🎉

Phase 5: FAQ & Troubleshooting

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Q1: Discord replies with “Agent failed… permission denied /root/…”

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Cause: This is a classic post-migration issue. Even though you’re logged in as kyoyarn, the config files still contain paths referencing /root. Solution: Run the following command to batch-replace paths in all config files:

find ~/.openclaw -type f -exec sed -i "s|/root/.openclaw|/home/$(whoami)/.openclaw|g" {} +
# Don't forget to restart after replacing
openclaw daemon restart

Q2: The bot is online but doesn’t respond to any messages (logs are silent too)

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Cause: Usually the Message Content Intent is not enabled in the Discord Developer Portal. Solution: Go to Discord Developer Portal -> Bot -> Enable Message Content Intent -> Save Changes.

Q3: Error “This channel is not allowed”

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Cause: The allowlist is active, but the current channel ID is not in openclaw.json. Solution: Right-click to copy the current channel ID, add it to the config file, then run openclaw daemon restart.

Q4: How to view real-time error logs?

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Command:

journalctl --user -u openclaw -f

(Press Ctrl + C to exit the log viewer.)

Q5: How to completely stop or restart?

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• Restart (after modifying config): openclaw daemon restart
• Stop (for maintenance): openclaw daemon stop