How to Secure Your OpenClaw Server with Arch Linux

This is the full security installation guide of the complete OpenClaw installation process. Don’t let hackers steal customer data, API keys, or run your OpenAI bill over-usage. You must secure your server instance such as a VPS, mini pc, or mac mini when exposing them to the internet. The Server Monitoring Tools and OpenClaw installation guides are available in another post.

[Consultation and remote installation available upon request.]

This is a complete guide for securing a ArchLinux server for OpenClaw AI bot and other web applications. https://archlinux.org/ is a popular distribution of Linux due to its flexibility and continuous updates. You get lots of control and since Arch Linux is a rolling release distribution model compared to Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Fedora, follow the point release model. Most importantly Arch doesn’t install anything by default. You’re installing components one-by-one for your specific needs.

Choose this for a learning experience and easier updates. Don’t choose it if you want a solid stable Linux version for a production server. I have another guide for that.

It’s more like a DIY approach and having Archwiki is known to be the most comprehensive reference for Linux there is. Here’s what’s covered in detail:

Table of Contents

• Initial Server Setup
• Install Essential Tools
• User Management
• SSH Keys
• SSH Hardening
• Firewall Configuration
• Install Web Servers
• Web Server Security
• Intrusion Prevention
• Vulnerability Audit

Initial Server Setup

You can use OpenClaw on a VPS but that costs a monthly fee. You should install it on a separate computer you already own and at a minimum, alternative option is to use a virtual machine on your main computer. The reason is that OpenClaw needs permissions to your computer’s file system far beyond what a browser uses so knowledge of network security is critical. OpenClaw uses costly API keys and needs many system privileges to be more effective.

I’m using a Mac so you can certainly run OpenClaw inside virtual machine software called UTM. You can download the UTM here for free and the Arch Linux package here from the gallery page. Provide the UTM the default configuration such as 2gb (8gb is recommended but no less than 4gb) of memory and shared network to get going. Start the instance and you’ll get root access as the username root. We’re going to install most of the packages as the root user and then switch to a more secure user for future maintenance. If you don’t have linux experience, this guide will try to help you understand the setup process.

Update System Packages

We will be using the pacman command which is the Arch Linux main package installer. Other Linux distributions use apt-get and dnf. All the commands included in this guide may not be necessary for your purpose but it’s better to include as many as feasible for OpenClaw to use. Here are commonly used pacman commands which you don’t need to memorize but you will be using often:

Important pacman commands

Command	Purpose
pacman -Syu	Update system
pacman -S [package]	Install package
pacman -R [package]	Remove package
pacman -Rs [package]	Remove with dependencies
pacman -Ss [keyword]	Search for package
pacman -Q	List installed packages
pacman -Qi [package]	Show package info
pacman -Qdt	List orphan packages
pacman -Sc	Clean package cache
pacman -Qkk	Verify package integrity

Please note that this setup already runs as a root (full-privileged) user in Arch Linux. Alternatively all commands can be prefixed with the word sudo to give privileged to non-root users. For example: sudo pacman. Going forward we will omit sudo in the command snippets since we are using root.

Since the date of publishing this post and your installation date can vary, your virtual machine image (VM) might have older packages so let’s update them to the current one since security relies on the latest updates which include security patches.

# Update package database and upgrade all packages
pacman -Syu

Side note: Updates the local package database and upgrades all installed packages. In ArchLinux, partial upgrades are not supported – always perform full system upgrades.

# Refresh package database only
pacman -Sy

Install Essential Tools

# Install essential utilities
pacman -S --needed base-devel vim wget curl git htop mlocate

Installs essential development tools and utilities. These will likely be used to clawbot and definitely needed if you want to work with code and files from the internet. --needed skips packages that are already installed.

# Install network utilities
pacman -S net-tools dnsutils whois

Installs network diagnostic tools including netstat, dig, and whois. These are helpful for troubleshooting the network and getting internet protocol (IP) address information.

Set Hostname

# Set the server hostname
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname openclaw

Sets the system hostname which is easier to remember than an IP address. This identifies your server on the network when you want to add more machines to the network and refer to them by name.

# Verify hostname
hostnamectl

# Update hosts file adding your hostname
sudo vim /etc/hosts
127.0.1.1 openclaw

Configure Timezone

# Set timezone
sudo timedatectl set-timezone UTC

Sets system timezone to UTC (recommended for servers). UTC avoids daylight saving time issues. This is necessary when dealing with databases and cron jobs. Cron jobs are automated commands which run at specific intervals so if you explicitly set the timezone, you will have an easier time knowing when cron jobs execute. Querying databases for info when it’s time-related, the timezone also becomes critical to get the right data.

# List available timezones
timedatectl list-timezones

# Enable NTP time synchronization
sudo timedatectl set-ntp true

This is an extra explicit step for network timing. Enables automatic time synchronization using systemd-timesyncd. Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an internet protocol used to synchronize with computer clock time sources in a network.

# Verify time settings
timedatectl status

Output

               Local time: Tue 2027-03-10 00:39:02 UTC
           Universal time: Tue 2027-03-10 00:39:02 UTC
                 RTC time: Tue 2027-03-10 00:39:56
                Time zone: UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: no

User Management

Create Non-Root User

You don’t want to run OpenClaw as a root user because that is considered a security concern. Always set a secondary user to run as clawbot or any other automated software because you are setting the explicit controls for that user. This helps in tracking issues and logging history which is also important for any system. Use clawbot or any name of your choice for the username.

# Create new user with home directory and default groups
sudo useradd -m -G wheel,storage,power -s /bin/bash clawbot

• -m: Creates home directory
• -G: Adds to supplementary groups (wheel for sudo)
• -s: Sets default shell

# Set user password
sudo passwd clawbot

Configure Sudo Access

Since using Arch Linux, the sudo package is not installed by default. Sudo stands for “substitute user and do”.

# Install sudo (if not installed)
sudo pacman -S sudo

Output

resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Package (1)  Old Version  New Version  Net Change

core/sudo    1.9.17.p2-2  1.9.17.p2-2    0.00 MiB

Total Installed Size:  8.72 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:      0.00 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
(1/1) checking keys in keyring                                   [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) checking package integrity                                 [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) loading package files                                      [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) checking for file conflicts                                [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) checking available disk space                              [------------------------------------] 100%
:: Processing package changes...
(1/1) reinstalling sudo                                          [------------------------------------] 100%
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/4) Creating temporary files...
(2/4) Reloading system manager configuration...
(3/4) Restarting marked services...
(4/4) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...

---
# Edit sudoers file safely
sudo EDITOR=vim visudo

These changes will allow OpenClaw to run your computer as server using nginx and httpd. It’s not necessary if you don’t want to use httpd or nginx. Opens sudo configuration with syntax validation. Never edit /etc/sudoers directly!

Uncomment this line:

%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Add specific permissions:

# Allow user to run specific commands without password
clawbot ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl restart nginx
clawbot ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl restart httpd

Set Up SSH Keys

SSH keys are currently the most secure way to login to your server instance when using a VPS or a remote server. It’s not needed if you’re using a VM on your computer or a secondary computer that’s a dedicated server for personal use. The SSH key is just a lock and key analogy as strings made using cryptography. This requires a hidden folder called ssh in your home directory.

# Switch to new user
su - clawbot

# Create SSH directory
mkdir ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh

Switch user to clawbot

[root@alarm ~]# su - clawbot
[clawbot@openclaw ~]$ 

# Generate SSH key pair (run on your local machine)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

This is the common secure type used for keys. Generates Ed25519 SSH key pair, which is more secure and faster than RSA. The actual key will look similar to this: jvTEGMLzoastwqlLTKG8uAudZKUcM5xDBr+Pl8wZKEw

Output

Generating public/private ed25519 key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/clawbot/.ssh/id_ed25519): 
Enter passphrase for "/home/clawbot/.ssh/id_ed25519" (empty for no passphrase): 
Enter same passphrase again: 
Your identification has been saved in /home/clawbot/.ssh/id_ed25519
Your public key has been saved in /home/clawbot/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
The key fingerprint is:
SHA256:jvTEGMLzoastwqlLTKG8uAudZKUcM5xDBr+Pl8wZKEw your_email@example.com
The key's randomart image is:
+--[ED25519 256]--+
|..o              |
| + o             |
| E= + o          |
|= .= = =         |
|+=./ = =         |
|o+% X . o        |
|o= =             |
|=o.              |
+----[SHA256]-----+
[clawbot@openclaw ~]$ 

# Copy SSH public key to server (run on your local machine)
ssh-copy-id clawbot@server-ip

# Set proper permissions (on server)
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

---

SSH Hardening

Hardening is a more stringent process for securing server communication and ports. This process is akin to setting a whitelist vs a blacklist.

Configure SSH Daemon

# Backup SSH configuration
sudo cp /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.backup

# Edit SSH configuration
sudo vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Apply these security settings:

# Change default SSH port (choose a port between 1024-65535)
Port 2222

# Disable root login via SSH
PermitRootLogin no

# Enable public key authentication
PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Disable password authentication (only after SSH keys are set up!)
PasswordAuthentication no

# Disable empty passwords
PermitEmptyPasswords no

# Limit authentication attempts
MaxAuthTries 3

# Set login grace time (seconds)
LoginGraceTime 60

# Enable strict modes
StrictModes yes

# Configure keepalive
ClientAliveInterval 300
ClientAliveCountMax 2

# Disable X11 forwarding
X11Forwarding no

# Restrict to specific users or groups
AllowUsers clawbot username2
# or
AllowGroups ssh-users

# Use only SSH protocol 2 (default in modern systems)
Protocol 2

# Disable GSSAPI authentication
GSSAPIAuthentication no

# Disable DNS lookups
UseDNS no

# Enable PAM
UsePAM yes

# Configure SFTP subsystem
Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/ssh/sftp-server

WARNING! Disabling root login and forgetting your SSH key will require you to delete your server instance and start over. These settings harden SSH against common attacks. Most important: disable root login when using a VPS. This is not necessary on your VM or home computer.

# Test SSH configuration before restarting
sudo sshd -t

No output means the configuration is valid.

# Restart SSH service
sudo systemctl restart sshd

At this point, we have completed to server access security part after restarting the SSH daemon (sshd). It applies the new SSH configuration. Keep your current session open until you verify the new connection works. From here we configure the security for incoming server traffic.

Firewall Configuration

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall)

# Install UFW
sudo pacman -S ufw

UFW provides a simpler interface for managing firewall rules. It is the newer and simplified firewall and is necessary if you want to run any web applications on your server.

# Set default policies
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing

# Allow SSH (CRITICAL - do this first!)
sudo ufw allow 2222/tcp comment 'SSH'

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp comment 'HTTP'
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp comment 'HTTPS'

# Rate limit SSH connections
sudo ufw limit 2222/tcp comment 'SSH rate limit'

# Allow from specific IP only
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.100 to any port 2222 proto tcp

# Enable UFW
sudo ufw enable

# Check status
sudo ufw status verbose

# Enable UFW service
sudo systemctl enable ufw
sudo systemctl start ufw

---

Web Server Security

OpenClaw can use Apache as a reverse proxy among other purposes so we should install php-apache and nginx which are both server software for supplying files to inbound server requests. I’ve included sudo in the commands from here since we are no longer using the root user.

Apache Security Hardening

# Install Apache
sudo pacman -S apache

# Install PHP (if needed)
sudo pacman -S php php-apache

# Edit Apache configuration
sudo vim /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

# Test configuration
sudo apachectl configtest

# Start and enable Apache
sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd

Nginx Security Hardening

# Install Nginx
sudo pacman -S nginx
# Start and enable Nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Intrusion Prevention

In this part, we protect our server from explicit login and port scanning attacks. No matter if your server get no traffic or lots of traffic, inevitably somebody will try to hack it so Fail2Ban will prevent or at least mitigate this attack. Make sure to change the email address to your own if you want to get notifications.

Install and Configure Fail2Ban

# Install Fail2Ban
sudo pacman -S fail2ban

# Create local configuration
sudo cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf /etc/fail2ban/jail.local
sudo vim /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

[DEFAULT]
# Ban duration (1 hour)
bantime = 3600

# Time window for counting failures
findtime = 600

# Number of failures before ban
maxretry = 5

# Backend for log monitoring
backend = auto

# Email notifications (optional)
destemail = admin@example.com
sendername = Fail2Ban
mta = sendmail

# Action on ban
action = %(action_mwl)s

[sshd]
enabled = true
port = ssh,2222
filter = sshd
logpath = /var/log/auth.log
maxretry = 3
bantime = 3600

[apache-auth]
enabled = true
port = http,https
filter = apache-auth
logpath = /var/log/httpd/*error_log
maxretry = 5

[apache-badbots]
enabled = true
port = http,https
filter = apache-badbots
logpath = /var/log/httpd/*access_log

[nginx-http-auth]
enabled = true
port = http,https
filter = nginx-http-auth
logpath = /var/log/nginx/error.log

Save and exit the file then restart the fail2ban process.

```bash
# Start and enable Fail2Ban
sudo systemctl start fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable fail2ban
```

```bash
# Check status
sudo fail2ban-client status
```

```bash
# Check SSH jail
sudo fail2ban-client status sshd

At this point we have installed and configured the security needed for our server so let’s run an audit by installed another package. We can also included additional precautions to streamline updates and reduce manual maintenance to our server. These are optional depending on how much time you want to spend with your server. Arch-audit is the package used so we will set it to run daily at midnight. If this is your VM or personal sever, the cron job is not necessary.

---

Check for Security Vulnerabilities

# Install arch-audit
sudo pacman -S arch-audit

# Check for vulnerable packages
arch-audit

# Show only upgradable vulnerable packages
arch-audit --upgradable

# Create daily security check cron job
sudo crontab -e

# Daily security check at midnight
0 0 * * * /usr/bin/arch-audit | mail -s "Arch Security Updates" admin@example.com

OUTPUT

resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Package (1)       Old Version  New Version  Net Change

extra/arch-audit  0.2.0-4      0.2.0-4        0.00 MiB

Total Installed Size:  4.29 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:      0.00 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
(1/1) checking keys in keyring                                   [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) checking package integrity                                 [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) loading package files                                      [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) checking for file conflicts                                [------------------------------------] 100%
(1/1) checking available disk space                              [------------------------------------] 100%
:: Processing package changes...
(1/1) reinstalling arch-audit                                    [------------------------------------] 100%
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/3) Reloading system manager configuration...
(2/3) Restarting marked services...
(3/3) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
[clawbot@openclaw ~]$ arch-audit
libxml2 is affected by denial of service. High risk!
pam is affected by arbitrary filesystem access. High risk!
apr is affected by information disclosure. Medium risk!
coreutils is affected by information disclosure. Medium risk!
nginx is affected by insufficient validation. Medium risk!
openssl is affected by arbitrary command execution, certificate verification bypass. Medium risk!
perl is affected by signature forgery, directory traversal, unknown. Medium risk!
systemd is affected by information disclosure. Medium risk!
wget is affected by information disclosure. Medium risk!

SUMMARY

Let’s summarize what we did with a checklist:

• System packages fully updated (pacman)
• Non-root user created with sudo access
• SSH key-based authentication configured
• SSH root login disabled
• SSH password authentication disabled
• SSH port changed from default 22
• Firewall enabled and configured
• Only necessary ports open (SSH, HTTP, HTTPS)
• Web server security headers configured
• Fail2Ban installed to prevent login hacks
• Security auditing with arch-audit

This ends the guide on security configuration for Arch Linux servers for you to run OpenClaw. ArchLinux requires more manual configuration than other distributions, but offers greater control and understanding of your system. Regular monitoring and updates are essential to maintain security which we will describe in another post. Always test changes in development before applying to production.

Additional ArchLinux Resources

The Arch Wiki is an excellent resource for detailed configuration information and troubleshooting.

• Arch Wiki Security: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Security
• Arch Wiki Firewall: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firewall
• Arch Wiki SSH Keys: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/SSH_keys
• ArchWiki Web Server: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Web_server