What are you trying to do?
Update OpenClaw from 2026.9.8 to 2026.10.8, which openclaw update status --json reports as the latest stable release, while preserving configuration, session history, and databases.
Environment
- OpenClaw version: 2026.9.8 (fc23bc8)
- Operating system: Linux x64, kernel 6.8.0-147-generic
- Installation method: npm package installation
- Gateway location: Same machine, a Linux VPS, managed by a systemd user service
- Node.js runtime: 26.5.0
- Relevant integrations: Codex plugin, Discord, Telegram
What happened?
Running:
openclaw update --channel stable --dry-run
fails with:
OpenClaw update failed: update-recovery-pending.
ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat ‘/tmp/openclaw/managed-update-handoffs.sqlite’
Update recovery remains pending (update-recovery-pending). Retained state and artifacts were left for the owning updater to reconcile; automatic restart and repair were not attempted.
Creating a fresh backup also fails:
openclaw backup create
Private update capture marker is unreadable; export refused.
What have you tried?
-
Checked openclaw update status --json, which confirms that 2026.10.8 is available.
-
Ran openclaw update repair. Initially, maintenance was refused because the running Gateway held state database ownership.
-
From an independent SSH terminal, stopped the systemd Gateway service and ran openclaw update repair again.
-
Repair completed with warnings. Deferred plugin migrations reported completion, and the displayed agent database integrity checks reported healthy.
-
Ran openclaw doctor --fix separately. It completed and reported:
Gateway restarted and verified after Doctor repair.
-
Retried the update dry run. It still fails with the same missing handoff database error.
-
Read-only inspection found a retained package activation journal with phase publication-complete. Its original retained recovery helper was run with the status command and also refused:
Package publication recovery refused: ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat ‘/tmp/openclaw/managed-update-handoffs.sqlite’
-
I reviewed topics 15, 14, and 26. My CLI and Gateway both report 2026.9.8; the failure is a missing managed-update-handoffs.sqlite required by retained package activation recovery, rather than a reported schema-version mismatch.
I have not recreated the missing database, deleted recovery artifacts, or installed over the package using npm.
Safe diagnostics
Before offline maintenance, openclaw gateway status --deep reported:
Service: systemd user (enabled)
CLI version: 2026.9.8
Gateway version: 2026.9.8
Runtime: running
Connectivity probe: ok
Capability: connected-no-operator-scope
The retained activation journal is under:
~/.local/lib/node_modules/.openclaw.package-activation-.control/operation.sqlite
What is the supported recovery procedure when the retained package activation requires a temporary handoff database that no longer exists? Could the backup privacy-marker refusal be related?