Step 1 — Connect to your DownDoggy VPS
SSH into your VPS. Use the IP address from your DownDoggy dashboard.
Command:
ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP
Expected result:
You should see a root terminal prompt.
Step 2 — Update Ubuntu
Update your system before installing anything.
Command:
apt update && apt upgrade -y
Expected result:
No package errors.
Step 3 — Create a non-root user
Create a safer admin user instead of running everything as root.
Command:
adduser doggydish usermod -aG sudo doggydish
Expected result:
User is created and added to sudo.
Step 4 — Install Docker
Docker will run n8n and supporting services.
Command:
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh usermod -aG docker doggydish
Expected result:
Docker installs successfully.
Step 5 — Install n8n with Docker Compose
Create a local n8n deployment.
Command:
mkdir -p /opt/n8n && cd /opt/n8n nano docker-compose.yml
Expected result:
n8n compose folder is ready.
Step 6 — Install OpenClaw
Install OpenClaw locally. Do not expose the OpenClaw gateway publicly.
Command:
# OpenClaw install command goes here after final validation
Expected result:
OpenClaw runs locally on the VPS.
