Air-Gapped/Offline Installation

Advanced ⏱ 60 minutes 📅 Updated Aug 2026

Install and run openclaw.ai in completely isolated environments without internet access using local LLMs.

SSL

Security-First

Ideal for secure environments, classified networks, or locations without internet connectivity.

1

Prepare Packages (Internet Machine)

On a machine WITH internet access, download all required packages:

bash
# Create staging directory and copy the official setup scripts
mkdir -p ~/openclaw-offline
cd ~/openclaw-offline
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git

# Download Ollama (for local LLM)
curl -L https://ollama.com/download/ollama-linux-amd64 -o ollama

# Download LLM model (example: Llama 2 7B Q4)
# Get model file from Hugging Face or other source
# Example: llama-2-7b-chat.Q4_K_M.gguf (~4GB)

# Save the official OpenClaw image
docker pull ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest
docker save ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest -o openclaw-image.tar

Place a compatible GGUF model in the staging directory and verify checksums for every transferred artifact.

2

Transfer to Air-Gapped Machine

Transfer files via USB drive, secure media, or internal network:

bash
# Create archive
cd ~/openclaw-offline
tar -czvf openclaw-offline-bundle.tar.gz .

# Transfer to USB drive
cp openclaw-offline-bundle.tar.gz /media/usb-drive/
⚠️

Security Review

Follow your organization's data transfer procedures for air-gapped systems.

3

Prepare the Local Model

Extract the bundle, install Ollama, and import the model before starting OpenClaw:

bash
# Extract bundle
tar -xzvf openclaw-offline-bundle.tar.gz
cd openclaw-offline

# Install and start Ollama on an address Docker can reach
chmod +x ollama
sudo mv ollama /usr/local/bin/
OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434 ollama serve > ollama.log 2>&1 &

# Import the transferred GGUF model
cat > Modelfile << EOF
FROM ./llama-2-7b-chat.Q4_K_M.gguf
EOF
ollama create llama2-local -f Modelfile
ollama list
4

Run OpenClaw Offline

Load the transferred OpenClaw image and run the official setup script in offline mode:

bash
docker load -i openclaw-image.tar
cd openclaw
export OPENCLAW_IMAGE="ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest"
./scripts/docker/setup.sh --offline

During onboarding, choose Ollama, use http://host.docker.internal:11434 as the base URL, and select llama2-local. Do not append /v1.

Air-gapped

Completely Offline!

openclaw.ai is now running with a local LLM, requiring no internet connectivity.