ocm - OpenClaw Docker Manager

A lightweight CLI for managing multiple OpenClaw Docker containers on a single host.

Features

• Rapid container deployment with a single command
• Persistent data across upgrades via Docker volumes
• Per-container environment variable management (API keys, config)
• Seamless image upgrades without data loss
• Multi-container support with automatic port assignment
• Helper commands for logs, shell access, status monitoring

Quick start

# Clone and make executable (or symlink ocm into your PATH)
git clone <repo-url> && cd openclaw-docker-manager
chmod +x ocm

# Create and configure a container
./ocm create main
./ocm env main          # Set your API keys (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, etc.)
./ocm setup main        # Interactive OpenClaw setup (first time only)
./ocm start main

# Check status
./ocm list
./ocm status main
./ocm logs main -f

Commands

Container lifecycle

ocm create <name> [--tag TAG] [--port PORT]   # Create a container config
ocm setup <name>                               # Interactive OpenClaw setup
ocm start <name>                               # Start a container
ocm stop <name>                                # Stop a container
ocm restart <name>                             # Restart a container
ocm rm <name> [--volumes] [--force]            # Remove a container

Management

ocm list                                       # List all containers
ocm status [name]                              # Show detailed container status
ocm logs <name> [-f] [-n LINES]                # View container logs
ocm cli <name> [cmd...]                        # Shell or run openclaw commands
ocm env <name>                                 # Edit environment variables

Image management

ocm pull [tag]                                 # Pull latest image
ocm upgrade <name> [--tag TAG]                 # Upgrade a single container
ocm upgrade --all [--tag TAG]                  # Upgrade all containers

Configuration

Global config (ocm.conf)

Auto-created on first run. Configures the image source and defaults:

OCM_IMAGE=ghcr.io/aaronfaby/openclaw-custom
OCM_DEFAULT_TAG=latest
OCM_PORT_START=18789
OCM_CONTAINER_PREFIX=ocm

Per-container config (containers/<name>.env)

Each container has an env file editable via ocm env <name>:

# --- OCM internal (do not remove) ---
OCM_PORT=18789
OCM_TAG=latest

# --- User environment variables ---
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
XAI_API_KEY=xai-...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

OCM_PORT and OCM_TAG are used by ocm internally. All other variables are passed to the container.

Data persistence

Each container gets three Docker volumes that persist across restarts and upgrades:

Volume	Container path	Contents
ocm-<name>-config	/home/node/.openclaw	Configuration and auth profiles
ocm-<name>-workspace	/home/node/.openclaw/workspace	Session and workspace data
ocm-<name>-auth	/home/node/.config/openclaw	OAuth token encryption keys

Volumes are not removed when you ocm rm a container unless you pass --volumes.

Upgrading containers

Upgrades pull the latest image, stop the container, remove it, and recreate it with the same configuration and volumes — your data is preserved:

ocm upgrade main           # Upgrade a single container
ocm upgrade --all          # Upgrade all containers
ocm upgrade main --tag oc-2026.5.22   # Pin to a specific version

Accessing the container

ocm cli main                  # Interactive bash shell
ocm cli main configure        # Run 'openclaw configure'
ocm cli main doctor --fix     # Run 'openclaw doctor --fix'
ocm cli main --raw env        # Run an arbitrary command

Multiple containers

Containers are automatically assigned incrementing ports starting from OCM_PORT_START (default 18789):

ocm create production              # Port 18789
ocm create staging                 # Port 18790
ocm create dev --port 19000        # Explicit port
ocm create pinned --tag oc-2026.5.22  # Pinned image version

Requirements

• Docker
• Bash 4+