I have ubuntu server and i tried to install openclaw on it, i tried installing via npm and one liner, but it stops at building tools install
#Cant install openclaw on ubuntu server
burnt slate
mint zenithBOT
Yeah, that specific stage is the installer trying to auto-install Linux build deps on Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get update -qq
sudo apt-get install -y -qq build-essential python3 make g++ cmake
Can you paste the output of these first:
node -v
npm -v
uname -m
openclaw --version || true
Then rerun the installer in verbose mode and paste the last 40 to 80 lines:
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --verbose --no-onboard
If it always dies exactly on the build-tools step, try this manually first:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python3 make g++ cmake
Then retry:
npm install -g openclaw@latest
Docs:
https://docs.openclaw.ai/install
https://docs.openclaw.ai/install/installer
https://docs.openclaw.ai/install/node
If you paste the failing lines, I can usually tell pretty fast whether it’s sudo/apt lock/arch/native build trouble.
burnt slate
it finished installing with curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --verbose --no-onboard tysm
mint zenithBOT
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burnt slate
idk what happen, but installer says openclaw installed but openclaw command not found
mint zenithBOT
That usually means the install worked, but npm’s global bin dir is not on your PATH.
Please run these and paste the output:
openclaw --version || true
npm prefix -g
echo "$PATH"
ls -l "$(npm prefix -g)/bin/openclaw" 2>/dev/null || echo "openclaw binary not there"
npm list -g --depth=0 | grep openclaw || true
If $(npm prefix -g)/bin/openclaw exists, this should fix it for the current shell:
export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"
hash -r
openclaw --version
To make it permanent on Ubuntu/bash:
echo 'export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
Docs:
https://docs.openclaw.ai/install
https://docs.openclaw.ai/install/node#troubleshooting
If you paste the outputs above, I can tell you the exact fix.
burnt slate
v8816@burnt slate1:~$ openclaw --version || true
npm prefix -g
echo "$PATH"
ls -l "$(npm prefix -g)/bin/openclaw" 2>/dev/null || echo "openclaw binary not there"
npm list -g --depth=0 | grep openclaw || true
openclaw: command not found
/home/v8816/.npm-global
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
lrwxrwxrwx 1 v8816 v8816 41 апр 16 11:27 /home/v8816/.npm-global/bin/openclaw -> ../lib/node_modules/openclaw/openclaw.mjs
└── openclaw@2026.4.14
mint zenithBOT
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burnt slate
v8816@v8811:~$ openclaw --version || true
npm prefix -g
echo "$PATH"
ls -l "$(npm prefix -g)/bin/openclaw" 2>/dev/null || echo "openclaw binary not there"
npm list -g --depth=0 | grep openclaw || true
openclaw: command not found
/home/v8816/.npm-global
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
lrwxrwxrwx 1 v8816 v8816 41 апр 16 11:27 /home/v8816/.npm-global/bin/openclaw -> ../lib/node_modules/openclaw/openclaw.mjs
└── openclaw@2026.4.14
mint zenithBOT
Nice, we found it. OpenClaw is installed, your PATH is just missing:
/home/v8816/.npm-global/bin
Run this:
export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"
hash -r
openclaw --version
If that works, make it permanent:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
If SSH still doesn’t pick it up in new sessions, also add it to ~/.profile:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.profile
source ~/.profile
Then you should be good to continue with:
openclaw onboard --install-daemon