A dedicated monitoring service for Ubuntu that automatically detects Astrill VPN failures and restores the connection seamlessly.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install astrill-watchdog
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install astrill-watchdog using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is Astrill Watchdog?
Astrill Watchdog is a specialized script designed to enhance the reliability of the Astrill VPN client on Ubuntu systems. As part of the broader ecosystem of Openclaw Skills, it provides a background monitoring service that checks both the network interface and external connectivity. If the StealthVPN tunnel drops, the watchdog automatically terminates the stalled processes and relaunches the application, ensuring that your desktop session remains protected by the VPN without requiring manual restarts.
Astrill Watchdog Use Cases
- Maintaining uninterrupted VPN protection on Ubuntu workstations.
- Automated recovery of StealthVPN tunnels during periods of network instability.
- Ensuring background services dependent on VPN connectivity remain active.
- Preventing manual downtime when the Astrill GUI client hangs or unexpectedly disconnects.
How Astrill Watchdog Works
- Monitors the tun0 network interface every 30 seconds to confirm the VPN tunnel is physically active.
- Performs a ping test to 8.8.8.8 to verify actual internet data throughput through the tunnel.
- Triggers a full process tree cleanup using pkill if a connectivity failure is detected.
- Relaunches the Astrill GUI using the setsid command to properly inherit desktop session environment variables.
- Confirms the relaunch and allows the VPN to auto-connect to the last used server.
- Logs all monitoring events and restart attempts to a persistent log file for auditing.
Astrill Watchdog Setup
To install the watchdog and enable it as a systemd user service, execute the following command in your terminal:
bash setup.sh
This script configures the watchdog to start automatically on login. You can verify the status or trigger manual checks using the provided CLI tool:
# Check the health and logs
astrill-watchdog.sh status
# Perform a manual single check
astrill-watchdog.sh once
Astrill Watchdog Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill maintains a structured file hierarchy in the user's home directory to manage configuration and logs:
| File Path | Description |
|---|---|
~/.config/astrill-watchdog/astrill-watchdog.sh |
The main execution script containing user-definable configurations. |
~/.config/systemd/user/astrill-watchdog.service |
The systemd unit file that manages the background lifecycle. |
~/.local/state/astrill-watchdog/watchdog.log |
Operational log file with built-in rotation at 5000 lines. |
~/.local/state/astrill-watchdog/watchdog.pid |
Tracks the active process ID for the monitoring service. |
Astrill Watchdog Advanced Features
- Native systemd integration for high availability and automatic startup on user login.
- Environment variable preservation (DISPLAY, DBUS, WAYLAND_DISPLAY) to ensure GUI compatibility from service contexts.
- Configurable health check parameters, including custom ping hosts and interval timings.
- Automated log rotation to prevent storage issues on long-running systems.
- Compatibility with Openclaw Skills for advanced network automation workflows.
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