boot_installer

Runs {baseDir}/boot.sh to manage the full openclaw environment lifecycle.
Requires Linux and root/sudo access. The script handles privilege escalation automatically.

Slash commands

When to run which mode

• - User says "install openclaw", "set it up", "run the installer" → install (no flag)
• User says "update", "upgrade packages" → update
• User says "repair", "fix", "something is broken", "rebuild" → repair
• User says "check", "status", "is everything installed", "health check" → check

How to invoke

Always run as the calling user (sudo is handled internally by the script):

CODEBLOCK0

Use the exec tool. Stream output so the user sees the spinner progress live.

What gets installed (install mode)

• - Node.js v24+ via NodeSource
• UV Python package manager (~/.local/bin/uv)
• Python 3.10 venv at ~/venv with INLINECODE8
• Chromium browser via Playwright (~/.cache/ms-playwright)
• NPM globals: 9router, openclaw@latest, clawhub, paperclipai, @presto-ai/google-workspace-mcp, INLINECODE15
• System symlinks in INLINECODE16
• INLINECODE17 autostart via systemd user service (falls back to .bashrc hook)
• INLINECODE19 systemd user service
• Mcporter Google Workspace connector

Key paths

After install

If .bashrc was modified, remind the user to reload their shell:
CODEBLOCK1

Logs and errors

The script writes a full log to /tmp/boot-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.log. If a step fails, the last 15 lines of output are printed inline and the log path is shown. Surface that path to the user on failure.

Check mode exit codes

INLINECODE29 exits with the count of failed checks (0 = all pass, 1–125 = N issues, capped at 125). Parse the exit code and tell the user how many checks failed and to run bash {baseDir}/boot.sh to repair.

Troubleshooting

• - APT lock held — script waits up to 120 s and kills blocking processes automatically. No user action needed.
• Node.js wrong version — script upgrades it automatically if the installed major is below 24.
• Broken Python venv — run --repair first, then run without flags to reinstall packages.
• 9router not starting — logs at ~/.local/share/9router.log. Falls back to .bashrc login hook if systemd unavailable.
• Gateway watchdog not starting — run journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway-watchdog -n 50.
• Permission errors on files — run without flags (install mode); _fix_ownership runs at the end of every install/update.