Preserve personalized data, such as AI assistant memory, identity configurations, and Skills, by backing up and restoring workspace data when you upgrade the OpenClaw application image. - Simple Application Server

To preserve your OpenClaw application's workspace data (such as memory, identity configurations, and Skills) when upgrading its version on a Simple Application Server instance by resetting the system, follow the instructions in this topic to back up and restore the data.

Warning

Resetting the system erases all data on the system disk (including configurations, logs, and databases) and stops your services. You must back up important data before you proceed. To ensure a complete backup, we recommend that you stop the gateway and pause the OpenClaw service during the backup process.

Background

The default OpenClaw workspace directory, /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace, stores the core personalized data for your AI assistant, including:

IDENTITY.md: Identity definition.
SOUL.md: Values definition.
AGENTS.md: Work style definition.
memory/: Conversation history and work records.
skills/: Installed extension skills.

Important

This topic uses the default workspace directory /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace. If you have changed the default OpenClaw workspace, use your actual workspace path.
The configuration file for OpenClaw is located at /home/admin/.openclaw/openclaw.json. You can back up this file as needed.

Procedure

Step 1: Back up the workspace data

Package the workspace directory and download it to your local machine.

In the Simple Application Server console, find the target server and click Remote connection. In the Workbench One-click Connection section, click Log In Now.

Package the workspace data.

cd /home/admin
tar -zcvf workspace.tar.gz -C /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace

Refer to Download files by using Workbench to download the compressed package to your local machine.
Workbench limits single-file downloads to 1,200 MB. If your compressed package is larger than 1,200 MB, see Transfer files to a Linux instance by using scp, rsync, or sftp.

Step 2: Reset the system and upgrade the image

In the Simple Application Server console, find the target server and choose More Actions > reset system.
Under Reset to Other image, select the latest version of the OpenClaw image and click Confirm Reset.
After the system reset is complete, follow Step 2 in Deploy the OpenClaw application image to reconfigure your instance.

Step 3: Restore the backup data

Upload the backup data to the reset instance and restore it to the workspace directory.

Refer to Upload files by using Workbench to upload the backup file to the /home/admin directory on the instance.
Workbench limits single-file uploads to 1,200 MB. If your compressed package is larger than 1,200 MB, see Transfer files to a Linux instance by using scp, rsync, or sftp.

Connect to the instance remotely, then extract and restore the workspace data.

cd  /home/admin
tar -xzvf workspace.tar.gz
mv /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace /home/admin/.openclaw/workspace.bak # Rename the current workspace as a backup.
mv workspace /home/admin/.openclaw/ # Move the restored workspace to the application path.

Restart the gateway to apply the changes.
```
openclaw gateway restart
```
Open the WebUI, enter the /new command, and confirm with the AI assistant that the memory and identity configurations have been restored.

FAQ

How do I stop the gateway?

Run openclaw gateway stop in the terminal or enter the stop gateway command in the WebUI.