How to Set Up OpenClaw on Raspberry Pi 5

Prerequisites

• ✓Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with 2 GB+ RAM (4 GB recommended).
• ✓MicroSD card (16 GB+) or a USB SSD for better performance.
• ✓Official Raspberry Pi power supply.
• ✓Network connection via Ethernet or WiFi.
• ✓64-bit Raspberry Pi OS (required — do not use 32-bit).
• ✓About 30 minutes to complete the setup.

Steps

1. 1

   Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) to your boot drive

   Set up a clean, headless Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) image so your Pi runs as a small server without desktop overhead. Configure SSH, hostname, and WiFi up front so you do not need a monitor or keyboard later.

   textCopy

   1.   Download [Raspberry Pi Imager](https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/).
   2.   Choose OS: **Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit)**.
   3.   In the settings dialog, pre-configure:
       *   Hostname: `gateway-host`
       *   Enable SSH
       *   Set username and password
       *   Configure WiFi (if not using Ethernet)
   
   4.   Flash to your SD card or USB drive, insert it, and boot the Pi.

2. 2

   Connect to the Raspberry Pi over SSH

   Once the Pi boots, connect over SSH so you can do the rest of the setup from your main machine. Use the hostname you configured in the imager settings and the user you created there.

   bashCopy

   ssh user@gateway-host

3. 3

   Update the system and install base packages

   js rely on, like git and build-essential. Set the timezone so cron jobs and reminders behave correctly.

   bashCopy

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   sudo apt install -y git curl build-essential
   
   # Set timezone (important for cron and reminders)
   sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago

4. 4

   Install Node.js 24 from NodeSource

   js 24, so you add the NodeSource repo and install nodejs from there. Verify the version so you know the install worked before moving on.

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   curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | sudo -E bash -
   sudo apt install -y nodejs
   node --version

5. 5

   Add swap space for low-RAM Raspberry Pi boards

   js spikes. You create a 2G swapfile, enable it at boot, and tune swappiness for better behavior on constrained hardware.

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   sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
   sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
   sudo mkswap /swapfile
   sudo swapon /swapfile
   echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
   
   # Reduce swappiness for low-RAM devices
   echo 'vm.swappiness=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
   sudo sysctl -p

6. 6

   Install OpenClaw using the official installer

   Use the official OpenClaw install script so the gateway, CLI, and user services are wired up correctly for your Pi. This script handles the platform-specific bits for you.

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   curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

7. 7

   Run the OpenClaw onboarding wizard and install the daemon

   The onboarding command walks you through connecting models and channels, and `--install-daemon` sets up the gateway as a persistent user service. On a headless Pi, API keys work better than OAuth flows, and Telegram is a quick first channel.

   bashCopy

   openclaw onboard --install-daemon

8. 8

   Verify the OpenClaw gateway service is healthy

   Before you depend on the Pi, confirm the gateway is running and inspect logs for any startup issues. These commands show the high-level OpenClaw status, the systemd user service state, and live logs.

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   openclaw status
   systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway.service
   journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway.service -f

9. 9

   Access the OpenClaw Control UI through an SSH tunnel

   For configuration and monitoring, you can open the Control UI in your local browser while the gateway stays bound to localhost on the Pi. First, ask the Pi for a dashboard URL, then forward the port over SSH and open the printed URL.

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   ssh user@gateway-host 'openclaw dashboard --no-open'
   
   ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@gateway-host

10. 10

    Apply performance tweaks for Raspberry Pi 5

    On Pi hardware, disk and memory tuning makes a big difference for OpenClaw responsiveness. js compile cache, and trim GPU and unused services to free RAM.

    bashCopy

    grep -q 'NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache' ~/.bashrc || cat >> ~/.bashrc <<'EOF' # pragma: allowlist secret
    export NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache
    mkdir -p /var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache
    export OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1
    EOF
    source ~/.bashrc
    
    echo 'gpu_mem=16' | sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt
    sudo systemctl disable bluetooth

Configuration

Troubleshooting

free -h
sudo systemctl disable cups bluetooth avahi-daemon

vcgencmd get_throttled

journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway.service --no-pager -n 100
openclaw doctor --non-interactive
sudo loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)"

uname -m

sudo iwconfig wlan0 power off

Frequently asked questions