NemoClaw Setup

Install NVIDIA NemoClaw — a sandboxed AI agent platform built on OpenClaw with Landlock + seccomp + network namespace isolation. Runs inside Docker via k3s (OpenShell).

What You Get

• Sandboxed AI agent with web UI and terminal CLI

• Powered by NVIDIA Nemotron models (cloud or local)

• Network-policy-controlled access to external services

• Optional remote access via Cloudflare Tunnel

Prerequisites

Requirement Check Install

Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+) uname -a

—

Docker docker ps

sudo apt install docker.io

Node.js 20+ (22 recommended) node --version

nvm install 22

NVIDIA GPU (optional but recommended) nvidia-smi

—

NVIDIA API key — https://build.nvidia.com/settings/api-keys

Workflow

Step 1: Pre-flight Checks

Check Docker

docker ps 2>/dev/null || echo "Docker not running or no access"

Check Node.js

node --version

Check if already installed

which nemoclaw && nemoclaw --version which openshell && openshell --version

If nemoclaw is already installed, skip to Step 4.

Step 2: Install NemoClaw

curl -fsSL https://nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash

This installs NemoClaw and OpenClaw via npm globally (to ~/.npm-global/bin/ ).

If the installer can't find Node.js, install it first:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt install -y nodejs

Step 3: Install OpenShell

curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/main/install.sh | sh

Installs to ~/.local/bin/openshell .

Step 4: Fix Docker Permissions and cgroup

Docker group — the user must be in the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER newgrp docker

or log out and back in

cgroup v2 fix — required for k3s inside Docker:

Check if needed

grep cgroup2 /proc/filesystems && echo "cgroup v2 detected — fix needed"

Apply fix (needs sudo)

sudo $HOME/.npm-global/bin/nemoclaw setup-spark

This adds "default-cgroupns-mode": "host" to /etc/docker/daemon.json and restarts Docker.

IMPORTANT: The nemoclaw setup-spark command also asks for an NVIDIA API key. Have it ready (starts with nvapi- ). Get one at https://build.nvidia.com/settings/api-keys.

Step 5: Run Onboarding

PATH=$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH nemoclaw onboard

The interactive wizard will:

• Check Docker and OpenShell

• Start the OpenShell gateway (k3s in Docker)

• Ask for a sandbox name — use claw or any name

• Configure the NVIDIA API key

• Set up inference (Nemotron 3 Super 120B via cloud API)

• Launch OpenClaw inside the sandbox

• Apply network policy presets — select the ones you need

Common port conflict: If port 8080 is in use, find and kill the process:

fuser -k 8080/tcp

Step 6: Verify

Check sandbox is running

PATH=$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH nemoclaw claw status

Connect via terminal

PATH=$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH nemoclaw claw connect

Step 7: Set Up Web UI Access

The web UI runs inside the sandbox and needs a port forward:

PATH=$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH openshell forward start 18789 claw

Then open: http://127.0.0.1:18789/

Known bug (OpenClaw ≤ v2026.3.11): "device identity required" error. Workaround — append the gateway token to the URL:

Get the token

ssh -F /tmp/nemoclaw-ssh-config openshell-claw
"python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('/sandbox/.openclaw/openclaw.json'))['gateway']['auth']['token'])""

Then visit: http://127.0.0.1:18789/#token=<gateway-token>

Fix: Update to OpenClaw v2026.3.12+ (see Updating section below).

Step 8: Make the Port Forward Persistent

Create a health-checked keepalive script:

cat > ~/.local/bin/nemoclaw-keepalive.sh << 'KEEPALIVE' #!/bin/bash export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin" cleanup() { kill %1 2>/dev/null; exit 0; } trap cleanup SIGTERM SIGINT while true; do fuser -k 18789/tcp 2>/dev/null; sleep 1 openshell forward start 18789 claw & FORWARD_PID=$!; sleep 3 while kill -0 $FORWARD_PID 2>/dev/null; do if ! curl -sf -o /dev/null --connect-timeout 3 http://127.0.0.1:18789/ 2>/dev/null; then echo "$(date): Health check failed, restarting..." kill $FORWARD_PID 2>/dev/null; wait $FORWARD_PID 2>/dev/null; break fi sleep 10 done echo "$(date): Forward died, restarting in 3s..."; sleep 3 done KEEPALIVE chmod +x ~/.local/bin/nemoclaw-keepalive.sh

Create the systemd service:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/nemoclaw-forward.service << 'SERVICE' [Unit] Description=NemoClaw Port Forward with Health Check After=docker.service Requires=docker.service

[Service] Type=simple User=$USER Group=docker Environment=PATH=/home/$USER/.npm-global/bin:/home/$USER/.local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin ExecStart=/home/$USER/.local/bin/nemoclaw-keepalive.sh Restart=always RestartSec=5 KillMode=control-group

[Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target SERVICE

sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable nemoclaw-forward sudo systemctl start nemoclaw-forward

Step 9: Remote Access via Cloudflare Tunnel (Optional)

If you have a Cloudflare Tunnel already running, add NemoClaw to it.

Add DNS route:

cloudflared tunnel route dns <tunnel-name> nemoclaw.<domain>

Update tunnel config (/etc/cloudflared/config.yml ):

• hostname: nemoclaw.<domain> service: http://localhost:18789 originRequest: httpHostHeader: "127.0.0.1:18789"

Restart tunnel:

sudo systemctl restart cloudflared

Update sandbox allowed origins — SSH into the sandbox and add your domain:

openshell sandbox ssh-config claw > /tmp/nemoclaw-ssh-config

ssh -F /tmp/nemoclaw-ssh-config openshell-claw 'python3 -c " import json with open("/sandbox/.openclaw/openclaw.json") as f: config = json.load(f) config["gateway"]["controlUi"]["allowedOrigins"].append("https://nemoclaw.&#x3C;domain>\") config["gateway"]["trustedProxies"] = ["127.0.0.1", "::1", "172.0.0.0/8", "10.0.0.0/8"] config["gateway"]["allowRealIpFallback"] = True with open("/sandbox/.openclaw/openclaw.json", "w") as f: json.dump(config, f, indent=2) print("Done. Token:", config["gateway"]["auth"]["token"]) "'

Protect with Cloudflare Access — add the hostname to your Access application in the Zero Trust dashboard.

Access URL: https://nemoclaw.&#x3C;domain>/#token=&#x3C;gateway-token>

Step 10: Install Custom Skills

Skills are markdown files in /sandbox/.openclaw/skills/<name>/SKILL.md . SSH into the sandbox to create them:

ssh -F /tmp/nemoclaw-ssh-config openshell-claw mkdir -p /sandbox/.openclaw/skills/my-skill cat > /sandbox/.openclaw/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md << 'EOF'

name: my-skill description: What this skill does. tools: [exec, read, write]

My Skill

Instructions for the agent... EOF

Verify with: openclaw skills list

Step 11: Configure the Workspace

Update the workspace files so the agent knows who you are:

• /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/USER.md — your profile, preferences

• /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/TOOLS.md — available tools and access

• /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md — agent personality and behaviour

Updating OpenClaw

The sandbox bundles OpenClaw at install time. To update:

1. Update host-side packages

npm install -g openclaw@latest

2. Destroy and recreate sandbox

nemoclaw claw destroy nemoclaw onboard

3. Reconfigure remote access (Step 9) and skills (Step 10)

Note: Sandbox network policies block npm/PyPI inside the sandbox. Updates must be done by rebuilding.

Troubleshooting

Issue Cause Fix

Docker is not running

Docker service stopped or user not in docker group sudo systemctl start docker then newgrp docker

cgroup v2 detected

Docker not configured for cgroupns=host sudo nemoclaw setup-spark

Port 8080 in use Another service on that port fuser -k 8080/tcp

nemoclaw: command not found

Not in PATH PATH=$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH

device identity required

Bug in OpenClaw ≤ v2026.3.11 Append #token=<gateway-token> to URL, or update to v2026.3.12+

gateway token mismatch

Token changed after sandbox rebuild Get new token from sandbox config

too many failed auth attempts

Rate limited from old token attempts Restart gateway: ssh -F /tmp/nemoclaw-ssh-config openshell-claw 'pkill -f "openclaw gateway"; sleep 2; openclaw gateway &'

origin not allowed

Domain not in allowedOrigins Add to gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins in sandbox config

Port 18789 not responding SSH tunnel died sudo systemctl restart nemoclaw-forward (auto-recovers within 13s)

npm 403 Forbidden inside sandbox Network policy blocking TLS Cannot install packages inside sandbox — rebuild instead

Tunnel not found on DNS route Wrong Cloudflare account/cert Check cloudflared tunnel list matches your cert

Error 502 on Cloudflare Tunnel connections dropped sudo systemctl restart cloudflared

Assets 404 via Cloudflare Browser not authenticated for sub-requests Hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R) after Cloudflare Access login

Architecture

Docker (openshell-cluster-<name>) └─ k3s cluster ├─ NVIDIA device plugin └─ OpenShell sandbox ├─ OpenClaw agent ├─ NemoClaw plugin ├─ Gateway (WebSocket + REST) └─ Workspace (SOUL.md, USER.md, TOOLS.md, skills/)

Port forward (systemd): localhost:18789 ←SSH tunnel→ sandbox:18789 Cloudflare Tunnel (optional): nemoclaw.domain → localhost:18789

References

• NemoClaw GitHub

• OpenShell GitHub

• OpenClaw docs

• NemoClaw quickstart

• awesome-nemoclaw presets

• awesome-openclaw-skills

• device auth bug fix