Setup & Installation
Or with the ClawHub CLI, for registry-managed skill folders outside a full OpenClaw workspace:
Version History
- Added comprehensive cross-platform and migration documentation, including Windows and macOS support details. - Clarified temporary file locations for Linux, macOS, and Windows environments in backup output examples. - Expanded and documented the list of excluded files/directories to improve backup security and avoid sensitive/cache files. - Provided detailed migration checklist and platform-specific instructions for backup and restore on Git Bash, WSL, Linux, and macOS. - Improved instructions for verifying and locating backup files, making workflows clearer for both regular backups and migrations.
What This Skill Does
Backs up the OpenClaw state directory and workspace into a compressed tarball. Sensitive files, including auth tokens, API keys, and credentials, are automatically excluded. Supports Linux, macOS, and Windows via Git Bash or WSL.
Automatically excludes credential files and session data so backups are safe to store or transfer without manual file filtering.
When to use it
- Migrating OpenClaw setup to a new machine via USB transfer
- Creating a weekly encrypted local backup before OS upgrades
- Storing agent configs and memory in a private GitHub repository
- Syncing OpenClaw state to a remote server with rsync
- Recovering agent definitions and memory files after disk failure
Example Workflow
Here's how your AI assistant might use this skill in practice.
User asks: Back up my OpenClaw setup and store it securely
- 1Runs ~/.openclaw/skills/safe-backup/scripts/backup.sh to generate a dated tarball
- 2Reads the output path of the generated .tar.gz file
- 3Encrypts the tarball using openssl aes-256-cbc with a user-supplied password
- 4Stores the encrypted file in ~/backups/ and deletes the unencrypted original
- 5Confirms backup integrity by listing archive contents
Encrypted backup file saved to ~/backups/safe-backup-YYYYMMDD.tar.gz.enc