Setting Up an Azure VM for OpenClaw: Prerequisites and...

Why Azure for OpenClaw?

OpenClaw runs as a Docker container and needs a persistent server. Azure Virtual Machines provide a reliable, scalable foundation with enterprise-grade networking and security. In this post, I’ll walk through creating the perfect Azure VM for your OpenClaw deployment.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• An Azure subscription (free tier works for testing)
• SSH client on your local machine (built into macOS/Linux; use Windows Terminal or PuTTY on Windows)
• A GitHub account (for Copilot authentication later)
• Optionally, a Discord account (for the bot channel)

Step 1: Create the Azure VM

Via Azure Portal

1. Navigate to Azure Portal → Virtual machines → Create
2. Configure the basics:

Via Azure CLI

# Create resource group
az group create \
  --name rg-openclaw \
  --location westeurope

# Create VM
az vm create \
  --resource-group rg-openclaw \
  --name vm-openclaw-01 \
  --image Ubuntu2204 \
  --size Standard_B2s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --public-ip-sku Standard

Sizing recommendations

Step 2: Configure Networking

Keep it private (recommended)

The most secure approach is to not expose OpenClaw ports publicly and access the Control UI via SSH tunnel. For this setup, you only need:

• Inbound: SSH (TCP 22) from your IP
• Everything else: deny

If you need public access

Add an NSG (Network Security Group) rule for OpenClaw:

az network nsg rule create \
  --resource-group rg-openclaw \
  --nsg-name vm-openclaw-01NSG \
  --name AllowOpenClaw \
  --priority 1001 \
  --destination-port-ranges 18789 18790 \
  --source-address-prefixes "<YOUR_PUBLIC_IP>" \
  --protocol Tcp \
  --access Allow

Security note: Always restrict the source to your IP address. Never use * or 0.0.0.0/0 for OpenClaw ports.

Step 3: SSH into the VM

ssh azureuser@<VM_PUBLIC_IP>

Verify you’re connected:

uname -a
# Linux vm-openclaw-01 6.x.x-azure ...

Step 4: Install Docker + Compose

Run this block to install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin:

# Update packages and install dependencies
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg git

# Add Docker's official GPG key
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

# Add the Docker repository
echo \
"deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) \
signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \
https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
$(. /etc/os-release && echo $VERSION_CODENAME) stable" \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y \
  docker-ce \
  docker-ce-cli \
  containerd.io \
  docker-buildx-plugin \
  docker-compose-plugin

# Add your user to the docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Verify installation

docker version
# Client: Docker Engine - Community
# Version: 27.x.x ...

docker compose version
# Docker Compose version v2.x.x

Step 5: Verify Everything

Run a quick sanity check:

# Docker works
docker run --rm hello-world

# Network connectivity
curl -s https://github.com > /dev/null && echo "GitHub: OK"
curl -s https://discord.com > /dev/null && echo "Discord: OK"

# Disk space (OpenClaw image ~1-2 GB)
df -h /

What You Should Have Now

At this point, your Azure VM is ready with:

• ✅ Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 LTS
• ✅ Docker Engine + Compose plugin
• ✅ SSH access configured
• ✅ NSG rules for SSH (and optionally OpenClaw ports)
• ✅ Your user in the docker group

Next Steps

Your infrastructure is ready! In the next post, we’ll clone OpenClaw and run the Docker setup wizard: Installing OpenClaw on Azure with Docker.