On Tuesday, Red Hat principal software engineer Sally O’Malley launched a new open-source tool, Tank OS, aimed at simplifying and securing the deployment and management of OpenClaw agents. “This was a fun weekend project that I felt would be ideal for where AI is headed,” O’Malley told TechCrunch, expressing her intent to make it accessible to a wider audience.
Tank OS targets power users who wish to run OpenClaw on personal computers and IT professionals managing large numbers of OpenClaw agents. It is designed to enhance the safety and maintenance of OpenClaw at scale.
Many individuals, companies, and startups are already developing improved methods for utilizing OpenClaw, an open-source project that allows an AI agent to be installed on a local machine. There is also a rise in startups offering competing alternatives, such as NanoClaw, which claim enhanced safety.
O’Malley’s contribution is noteworthy due to her role as an OpenClaw maintainer, collaborating with the creator, Peter Steinberger, on feature development and bug fixes. Her focus lies in enhancing OpenClaw’s performance for enterprise applications and compatibility with Red Hat’s Linux variants. Although Steinberger was hired by OpenAI, he continues to lead the independent OpenClaw project.
O’Malley joined OpenClaw with a vision of “enabling everyone to run AI safely and openly.” Her concern about OpenClaw’s integration into enterprises led her to develop a supportive tool. She utilized Podman, an open-source container tool created by a Red Hat colleague, to kickstart her project. Containers allow applications to operate independently from the host machine, accommodating Linux apps on Windows or Mac systems.
Podman is praised for its security, being “rootless” and not granting containers privileges from the base machine, as noted by Red Hat. Tank OS deploys OpenClaw in a Podman container on Fedora Linux OS, creating a bootable image that launches OpenClaw upon startup.
The tool encompasses essential features for OpenClaw to function autonomously, including state retention, API key storage, and more. Users can operate multiple Tank OS instances for varied tasks while ensuring no shared credentials or cross-access between OpenClaw instances on the machine.
O’Malley acknowledges OpenClaw’s immense power and potential danger when improperly configured, highlighting the necessity for technical aptitude in its use. Incidents, such as a Meta AI security researcher’s Claw deleting work emails or improperly downloading user data, underline this risk. Malware targeting OpenClaw users is also on the rise.
Although Tank OS isn’t for tech novices, it aims to be particularly beneficial for IT professionals, Red Hat’s core clients, who may need to manage numerous OpenClaw agents on corporate devices, enabling them to update these agents as they currently manage other containers.
“My role within OpenClaw stems from my interest in its expansive potential,” O’Malley stated, “as there could soon be millions of these autonomous agents interacting globally.”