Upstash Box

Run a persistent OpenClaw Gateway on Upstash Box, a managed Linux environment with keep-alive lifecycle support.

Use an SSH tunnel for dashboard access. Do not expose the Gateway port directly to the public internet.

Prerequisites

• Upstash account
• Keep-alive Upstash Box
• SSH client on your local machine

Create a Box

Create a keep-alive Box in the Upstash Console. Note the Box ID (for example right-flamingo-14486) and your Box API key.

Upstash maintains its current OpenClaw Box walkthrough at OpenClaw Setup.

Connect with an SSH tunnel

Forward the OpenClaw dashboard port to your local machine. Use your Box API key as the SSH password when prompted:

ssh -o ServerAliveInterval=15 -o ServerAliveCountMax=3 -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 <box-id>@us-east-1.box.upstash.com

The keepalive options reduce idle tunnel drops during onboarding.

Install OpenClaw

Inside the Box:

sudo npm install -g openclaw

Run onboarding

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Follow the prompts. Copy the dashboard URL and token when onboarding finishes.

Start the Gateway

Configure the Gateway for the Box network and start it in the background:

openclaw config set gateway.bind lan
nohup openclaw gateway > gateway.log 2>&1 &

With the SSH tunnel active, open the dashboard URL locally:

http://127.0.0.1:18789/#token=<your-token>

Auto-restart

Set this command as the Box init script so the Gateway restarts when the Box starts:

nohup openclaw gateway > gateway.log 2>&1 &

Troubleshooting

If SSH freezes during onboarding, reconnect with a clean SSH config and keepalives:

ssh -F /dev/null -o ControlMaster=no -o ServerAliveInterval=15 -o ServerAliveCountMax=3 -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 <box-id>@us-east-1.box.upstash.com

This bypasses stale local ~/.ssh/config settings and keeps the tunnel active through idle network periods.

Related

• Remote access
• Gateway security
• Updating OpenClaw