Installation Guide

This guide will walk you through setting up WebDev on a fresh server.

Prerequisites

Hardware Requirements

• CPU: 2+ cores (4 recommended)
• RAM: 4GB minimum (8GB recommended)
• Disk: 20GB SSD minimum
• Network: Public IP address

Recommended Platform

WebDev runs best on:

• Hetzner CX32: 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM (€11.50/month)
• DigitalOcean Droplet: 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM
• AWS EC2: t3.large

Software Requirements

• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (recommended)
• Root or sudo access
• Domain name (for SSL)

Step 1: Server Setup

1.1 Initial Configuration

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install essential packages
sudo apt install -y \
  curl \
  wget \
  git \
  build-essential \
  ca-certificates \
  gnupg \
  lsb-release

1.2 Create Non-Root User

# Create webdev user
sudo adduser webdev

# Add to sudo group
sudo usermod -aG sudo webdev

# Add to docker group (we'll install Docker next)
sudo usermod -aG docker webdev

# Switch to webdev user
su - webdev

Step 2: Install Dependencies

2.1 Node.js 22

# Add NodeSource repository
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -

# Install Node.js
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Verify installation
node --version  # Should show v22.x.x
npm --version

2.2 pnpm

# Install pnpm globally
npm install -g pnpm

# Verify installation
pnpm --version

2.3 Docker

# Add Docker's official GPG key
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

# Add Docker repository
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

# Verify installation
docker --version
docker compose version

2.4 Nginx

# Install Nginx
sudo apt install -y nginx

# Enable and start Nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

# Verify
sudo systemctl status nginx

2.5 Certbot (Let’s Encrypt)

# Install Certbot
sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# Verify
certbot --version

Step 3: Configure Environment

3.1 Directory Structure

# Create project directories
mkdir -p ~/projects ~/scripts ~/logs/daily

# Create OpenClaw workspace
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace

3.2 Git Configuration

# Configure Git
git config --global user.name "WebDev Agent"
git config --global user.email "webdev@yourdomain.dev"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

3.3 Environment Variables

Create ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc additions:

# WebDev environment
export GIT_TOKEN="github_pat_..." # Get from GitHub settings
export CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN="your_token"
export CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID="your_zone_id"
export SERVER_IP="your.server.ip"

Step 4: DNS Configuration

4.1 Cloudflare Setup

1. Add your domain to Cloudflare
2. Update nameservers at your registrar
3. Create API token with DNS edit permissions

4.2 Create Base A Record

# Point domain to server
curl -X POST "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/${CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID}/dns_records" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "type": "A",
    "name": "@",
    "content": "'${SERVER_IP}'",
    "ttl": 1,
    "proxied": false
  }'

Step 5: Install WebDev

5.1 Clone Repository

cd ~/
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw

5.2 Install Dependencies

pnpm install

5.3 Configure WebDev

Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, etc. (see Configuration Guide)

Step 6: First Project

6.1 Initialize Project Tracker

cat > ~/projects/PROGRESS.json << 'EOF'
{
  "current_level": 1,
  "current_project": null,
  "projects": {},
  "total_commits": 0,
  "started_at": null
}
EOF

6.2 Start WebDev

# Start OpenClaw gateway
openclaw gateway start

# Check status
openclaw status

Next Steps

• Quickstart Guide - Launch your first project
• Configuration - Customize WebDev behavior
• Troubleshooting - Common issues

Security Checklist

Before production use:

• Firewall configured (ufw)
• SSH key-only authentication
• Automatic security updates enabled
• Resource limits set (Docker, Node)
• Monitoring configured
• Backup strategy in place
• API tokens secured
• Non-root user created