vps-openclaw-security-hardening - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: vps-openclaw-security-hardening description: Production-ready security hardening for VPS running OpenClaw AI agents. Includes SSH hardening (custom port), firewall, audit logging, credential management, and intelligent alerting. Follows BSI IT-Grundschutz and NIST guidelines with minimal resource overhead. version: 1.0.6 author: OpenClaw Community homepage: https://github.com/MarcusGraetsch/vps-openclaw-security-hardening metadata: openclaw: emoji: 🛡️ requires: bins: ["ssh", "ufw", "auditd", "systemctl", "apt-get"] optional: ["fail2ban"] os: ["ubuntu", "debian"] tags: ["security", "hardening", "vps", "audit", "monitoring", "firewall", "ssh", "fail2ban"] install: "SSH_PORT=4848 ./scripts/install.sh" verify: "./scripts/verify.sh" warning: "DO NOT use on machines with sensitive personal data. Use dedicated VPS only. Test in VM first."

VPS Security Hardening for OpenClaw

Production-ready security hardening for AI agent deployments on VPS.

⚠️ CRITICAL WARNINGS

DO NOT run OpenClaw on servers/machines with sensitive personal data. Use a dedicated machine (VPS, bare-metal, or on-premise server dedicated to OpenClaw).

Supported OS: Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+. Not for Windows (use WSL2) or macOS.

⚠️ Choose Your SSH Port First

You must choose a custom SSH port (1024-65535) before installing. This makes you conscious of the security decision.

# Choose your port (example: 4848)
export SSH_PORT=4848

# Install
cd ~/.openclaw/skills/vps-openclaw-security-hardening
sudo ./scripts/install.sh

# Verify
./scripts/verify.sh

# Test SSH (new terminal)
ssh -p ${SSH_PORT} root@your-vps-ip

What It Does

Layer	Protection	Implementation
Network	Firewall, SSH hardening	UFW, custom port (your choice), key-only
System	Auto-updates, monitoring	unattended-upgrades, auditd
Secrets	Credential management	Centralized .env, 600 permissions
Monitoring	Audit logging, alerting	Kernel-level audit, multi-channel alerts

Requirements

OS: Ubuntu 20.04+ or Debian 11+ (Linux only)
NOT supported: Windows (use WSL2), macOS
Root access
Existing SSH key authentication
Alert channel (optional): Telegram, Discord, Slack, Email, or Webhook
Custom SSH port of your choice (1024-65535)

Security Changes

SSH

Port: 22 → ${SSH_PORT} (your choice, 1024-65535)
Auth: Keys only (no passwords)
Root login: Disabled
Max retries: 3
Fail2ban: Brute-force protection

Firewall

Default: Deny incoming
Allow: Your chosen SSH port only

Services

CUPS (printing): Stopped & disabled
Fail2ban: Intrusion detection enabled
Auto-updates: Security patches automatic

Monitoring

Credential file access tracking
SSH config change detection
Privilege escalation alerts
Daily security briefing

Resource Usage

Component	RAM	Disk
Auditd	~2 MB	40 MB max
UFW	~1 MB	Negligible
Scripts	~5 MB	Negligible
Total	<10 MB	<50 MB

Files

scripts/install.sh - Main installation
scripts/verify.sh - Verify installation
scripts/rollback-ssh.sh - Emergency rollback
scripts/critical-alert.sh - Telegram alerts
scripts/daily-briefing.sh - Daily reports
rules/audit.rules - Audit configuration

Documentation

See README.md for full documentation.

License

MIT - See LICENSE file