Browser Vps Setup Skill

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name: browser-vps-setup-skill description: Set up a remote-controlled Chrome browser on a Linux VPS with noVNC visual access (via SSH tunnel) and optional authenticated HTTP proxy. Use when the user wants to run a browser on a VPS, control it remotely, view it via noVNC, or route browser traffic through a proxy. license: MIT compatibility: Requires apt package manager (Ubuntu/Debian), sudo/root access, internet access. Designed for OpenClaw agents. metadata: author: osipov-anton version: "1.0"

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Browser on VPS — Setup

Set up Chrome on a Linux VPS so:

The agent can control it (open pages, click, fill forms, take screenshots) via OpenClaw browser tool

The user can watch and interact via noVNC in their local browser (over SSH tunnel)

Optionally: all traffic routes through an authenticated HTTP proxy (for anti-captcha)

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Step 1: Install dependencies

apt-get install -y xvfb x11vnc novnc
Install real Google Chrome (NOT snap — snap breaks automation)
wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb -O /tmp/chrome.deb
apt-get install -y /tmp/chrome.deb || apt --fix-broken install -y

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Step 2: Start the browser stack

# Clean stale locks
rm -f /tmp/.X99-lock ~/.openclaw/browser/openclaw/user-data/SingletonLock 2>/dev/null
Virtual display
Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1280x800x24 &
sleep 2
VNC server (localhost only, no password)
x11vnc -display :99 -forever -nopw -localhost -quiet &
sleep 1
noVNC web UI on port 6080 (localhost only)
websockify --web /usr/share/novnc 6080 localhost:5900 &
sleep 1
Chrome with CDP on port 18800
DISPLAY=:99 google-chrome-stable --no-sandbox --disable-gpu \
  --remote-debugging-port=18800 \
  --user-data-dir=~/.openclaw/browser/openclaw/user-data \
  --window-size=1280,800 &

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Step 3: Connect visually from your laptop

ssh -L 6080:localhost:6080 root@YOUR_VPS_IP

Then open http://localhost:6080/vnc.html → click Connect.

You'll see the Chrome window live. You and the agent control it simultaneously.

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Step 4: Configure OpenClaw

In ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json add:

{
  "browser": {
    "enabled": true,
    "executablePath": "/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable",
    "attachOnly": true,
    "headless": false,
    "noSandbox": true
  }
}

Then restart: openclaw gateway restart

The agent can now use the browser tool to navigate, click, type, screenshot, etc.

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Step 5 (Optional): Authenticated HTTP proxy

If you need a proxy (e.g. mobile proxy for anti-captcha), Chrome can't pass username/password in --proxy-server. Solution: run a local Python bridge that forwards with auth injected automatically.

python3 -c "
import socket, threading, base64, select
UPSTREAM_HOST = 'PROXY_IP'      # e.g. 87.236.22.82
UPSTREAM_PORT = PROXY_PORT       # e.g. 19423
USERNAME = 'PROXY_USER'
PASSWORD = 'PROXY_PASS'
LOCAL_PORT = 18801
auth = base64.b64encode(f'{USERNAME}:{PASSWORD}'.encode()).decode()
def handle(client):
    try:
        data = b''
        while b'\r\n\r\n' not in data:
            data += client.recv(4096)
        upstream = socket.create_connection((UPSTREAM_HOST, UPSTREAM_PORT))
        if b'Proxy-Authorization' not in data:
            data = data.replace(b'\r\n\r\n', f'\r\nProxy-Authorization: Basic {auth}\r\n\r\n'.encode(), 1)
        upstream.sendall(data)
        while True:
            r, _, _ = select.select([client, upstream], [], [], 30)
            if not r: break
            for s in r:
                d = s.recv(65536)
                if not d: return
                (upstream if s is client else client).sendall(d)
    except: pass
    finally:
        try: client.close()
        except: pass
        try: upstream.close()
        except: pass
srv = socket.socket()
srv.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
srv.bind(('127.0.0.1', LOCAL_PORT))
srv.listen(50)
print('Local proxy on 127.0.0.1:18801')
while True:
    c, _ = srv.accept()
    threading.Thread(target=handle, args=(c,), daemon=True).start()
" &

Then restart Chrome with proxy:

pkill -9 chrome
rm -f ~/.openclaw/browser/openclaw/user-data/SingletonLock
DISPLAY=:99 google-chrome-stable --no-sandbox --disable-gpu \
  --remote-debugging-port=18800 \
  --user-data-dir=~/.openclaw/browser/openclaw/user-data \
  --window-size=1280,800 \
  --proxy-server="http://127.0.0.1:18801" &

Verify: ask the agent to open https://api.ipify.org — it should show the proxy IP, not the VPS IP.

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Firewall (recommended)

ufw default deny incoming
ufw default allow outgoing
ufw allow 22/tcp
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw --force enable

noVNC (6080), VNC (5900), and CDP (18800) are all localhost-only — never exposed publicly.

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After reboot

All processes (Xvfb, x11vnc, websockify, Chrome) must be restarted. Ask the agent: > "Start the browser stack on the VPS"

The agent should run Step 2 commands from this skill.