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

| Command | What it does | |---|---| | /boot-install | Fresh install of all components | | /boot-update | Upgrade all packages to latest versions | | /boot-repair | Deep clean and rebuild broken state | | /boot-check | Health-check — verify all components |

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):

bash {baseDir}/boot.sh                # install
bash {baseDir}/boot.sh --update       # update
bash {baseDir}/boot.sh --repair       # repair
bash {baseDir}/boot.sh --check        # check — exits with number of failed checks (max 125)

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 scrapling[fetchers]
• Chromium browser via Playwright (~/.cache/ms-playwright)
• NPM globals: 9router, openclaw@latest, clawhub, paperclipai, @presto-ai/google-workspace-mcp, mcporter
• System symlinks in /usr/local/bin
• 9router autostart via systemd user service (falls back to .bashrc hook)
• openclaw-gateway-watchdog systemd user service
• Mcporter Google Workspace connector

Key paths

| Path | Purpose | |---|---| | ~/venv | Python virtual environment | | ~/.local/bin | UV binary | | ~/.local/npm/bin | NPM global binaries | | ~/.cache/ms-playwright | Chromium browser | | ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills | Workspace skills | | ~/.config/systemd/user/9router.service | 9router systemd unit | | ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway-watchdog.service | Gateway watchdog |

After install

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

source ~/.bashrc

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

--check 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.