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troubleshooting

Fix OpenClaw Node Version Too Old

Check your Node.js version, shell path, service path, and VPS runtime before reinstalling OpenClaw or changing Gateway access.

Symptom
OpenClaw install, startup, or doctor command complains about an unsupported Node.js version.
Severity
medium
Affected Area
node
On this page
On this page
Symptom

OpenClaw install, openclaw doctor, or Gateway startup fails with a message like “Node.js version X is not supported. Requires v18 or higher.”

Likely Causes
  • Your interactive SSH shell uses one Node version, but the systemd service uses a different (older) binary
  • A Node version manager (nvm, fnm) works in SSH but is not loaded inside systemd
  • The VPS still has an old distro-packaged Node binary earlier in PATH
  • OpenClaw was installed before the expected runtime was configured
Diagnostic Commands

Run these from the same user account that starts OpenClaw:

node -v
which node
openclaw doctor

If OpenClaw runs through a service, check what binary the service actually uses:

systemctl cat openclaw

Good output:

v24.2.0
/home/clawuser/.nvm/versions/node/v24.2.0/bin/node

Bad output (old system Node):

v12.22.9
/usr/bin/node
Fix
  1. Confirm the Node.js version required by the current OpenClaw install guide (check Node.js OpenClaw Setup)
  2. Install the required version using one consistent method (recommended: nvm or NodeSource PPA)
  3. Restart your shell and confirm node -v again
  4. If using systemd, update the service ExecStart path to use the full binary path:
which node  # Copy this path
sudo systemctl edit openclaw

Then update ExecStart to use the absolute path to the correct node binary.

  1. Restart OpenClaw and run openclaw doctor before changing any firewall or Gateway access settings

When to ask for help

Ask for help if node -v looks correct in SSH but OpenClaw still fails from systemd, PM2, or another process manager. Share only redacted logs and command output via Setup Help.

Sources

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