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OS with Open WebUI app

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You can install an OS with a pre-installed Open WebUI app on a dedicated server.

The OS image with Open WebUI is prepared based on SelectOS — read more about the OS in the SelectOS documentation. Parameters of available models (LLM, Large Language Model) depend on the dedicated server component features. The model will not run if its size exceeds the GPU video memory. Read more about selecting a configuration for LLMs in the Machine Learning Models subsection of the Choose components for a custom dedicated server guide.

The OS image contains:

  • Open WebUI — a web interface that allows you to manage and interact with LLMs via Ollama;

  • Ollama — a platform for running LLMs locally on a server. It runs in an ollama Docker container that does not have direct internet access but interacts only with the openweb-ui Docker container via the llm-net Docker network.

  • Docker — a containerization platform for developing and running containerized applications;

  • network component settings:

    • nginx is a web server and reverse proxy. Open WebUI does not support HTTPS directly. Nginx is used as a proxy server and provides access to Open WebUI over HTTPS; to do this, a self-signed TLS(SSL) certificate is generated in the system for the IP address.
      For long-term use of the server, we recommend replacing the self-signed certificate with a trusted certificate for your domain and configuring nginx to work with it;

    • UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) — a simplified command-line interface for managing the Netfilter firewall on Linux-based OSs. UFW allows incoming connections only on ports 22, 80 and 443; all other traffic is blocked.

Before installing an OS with an application, please review the software license agreements included in the image.

Install OS with Open WebUI

For Open WebUI to work, the dedicated server must be accessible from the internet.

You can install an OS with Open WebUI directly with an LLM or install the required LLM after installing the OS.

  1. In the control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Dedicated Servers.

  2. In the Servers section, open the server page → Operating System tab.

  3. Click Reinstall OS.

  4. Optional: for secure server connection via the encrypted SSH protocol, select a previously uploaded and placed SSH key or add a new one. Read more in the Create and upload an SSH key to a dedicated server guide.

  5. Enter user data. You can use user data to automate server configuration. You can specify user data only for servers without hardware HBA and RAID controllers.

    To install an LLM, you need to insert a script into the user data field:

    #cloud-config
    runcmd:
      - ollama_pull hf.co/<llm_name>

    Specify <llm_name> — model manufacturer and name, for example, Qwen/Qwen3-30B-A3B-GGUF. Models in GGUF format are available for installation; read more about available models on the Hugging Face website.

  6. In the Distribution field, select Open WebUI.

  7. Optional: partition the disks. You can select the disk where the root partition / will be created and the OS installed. If the server has four or more disks, you can pair them into different RAID levels, for example, RAID1 and RAID0.

    By default, the optimal RAID level is determined, and only disks with partitions and disks in a RAID are partitioned. If you leave the default partitioning, the OS will be installed on the first disk in accordance with the server disk installation order — NVMe → SSD → HDD.

  8. Click Install. Installation can take from 7 to 60 minutes, depending on server performance and the selected distribution. If more time has passed, create a ticket.

  9. After OS installation, a password for connecting to the server will be generated. You can copy the password in the control panel: in the top menu, click Products → Dedicated Servers → server page → Operating System tab → in the Password field, click . The password is available for viewing for 24 hours from the moment OS installation starts or configuration is changed. If you forgot your server password, you can reset and recover it.

Connect to the Open WebUI panel

  1. Open the following page in your browser:

    https://<ip_address>

    Specify <ip_address> — public IP address of the server. It can be copied in the control panel: in the top menu, click Products → Dedicated Servers → server page → Operating System tab → in the IP field, click .

  2. Click Get started.

  3. Create an administrator account:

    3.1. In the Name field, enter the administrator name, for example, Admin.

    3.2. In the Email field, enter an email address.

    3.3. In the Password field, enter an account password.

    3.4. Click Create Admin Account.

Install LLM

  1. Connect to the server via SSH or via the KVM console.

  2. Install the model:

ollama_pull hf.co/<llm_name>

Specify <llm_name> — model manufacturer and name, for example, Qwen/Qwen3-30B-A3B-GGUF. Models in GGUF format are available for installation; read more about available models on the Hugging Face website.