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OS with Open WebUI app

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 — learn 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 size of the video memory on the GPU. Learn more about choosing a configuration for LLM in the Machine Learning Models section of the Choose components for a dedicated server with a custom configuration.

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 the ollama Docker container, which does not have direct internet access and only interacts with the openweb-ui Docker container via the llm-net;

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

  • network component settings:

    • nginx — 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; for 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 the application, 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 the OS with Open WebUI along with an LLM right away or install the required LLM after installing the OS.

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

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

  3. Click Reinstall OS.

  4. Optional: for secure connection to the server via encrypted SSH protocol, select a previously uploaded and placed SSH key or add a new one. For details, see the instructions Create and upload an SSH key on a dedicated server.

  5. Enter user data. With user data, you can 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 model creator and name, for example, Qwen/Qwen3-30B-A3B-GGUF. GGUF format models are available for installation; for more information about available models, visit 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 four or more disks are installed on the server, you can configure them in pairs into different RAID levels, such as 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 in accordance with the order of disk installation on the server — NVMe → SSD → HDD.

  8. Click Install. Installation may take between 7 and 60 minutes, depending on the server performance and the selected distribution. If it takes longer, submit 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 → tab Operating system → in the Password field, click . The password is available for viewing for 24 hours from the start of the OS installation or configuration change. If you have forgotten the server password, you can reset and restore 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. It can be copied in the control panel: in the top menu, click Products → Dedicated Servers → server page → tab Operating system → 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 the account password.

    3.4. Click Create Admin Account.

Install LLM

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

  2. Install the model:

ollama_pull hf.co/<llm_name>

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