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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 built on SelectOS — read more about the OS in the SelectOS documentation. Parameters of available models (LLM, Large Language Model) depend on the hardware specifications of the dedicated server. The model will not run if its size exceeds the GPU video memory. Learn more about choosing a configuration for LLM in the Machine learning models subsection of the Choose components for a custom dedicated server instruction.

The OS image contains:

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

  • Ollama is a platform for running LLMs locally on a server. It runs in an ollama Docker container that has no direct access to the internet and only interacts 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 via HTTPS; for this, a self-signed TLS(SSL) certificate is generated in the system based on 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) is a simplified command-line interface for managing the Netfilter firewall in 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 connection to the server via the encrypted SSH protocol, select a previously uploaded and placed SSH key or add a new one. Learn more in the Create and upload an SSH key to a dedicated server instruction.

  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> — the manufacturer and name of the model, 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 on which the root partition / will be created and the OS installed. If the server has four or more disks, you can assemble them in pairs 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 RAID are partitioned. If you leave the default partitioning, the OS will be installed on the first disk, according to the order of disk installation on the server — NVMe → SSD → HDD.

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

  9. After the OS is installed, a password will be generated for connecting to the server. The password can be copied 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 begins or the configuration is changed. If you have forgotten the 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> — the public IP address of the server. You can copy it 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> — the manufacturer and name of the model, 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.