How to install Open WebUI with Docker

What this does

Deploys the Open WebUI browser interface as a Docker container connected to the local Ollama backend. After this guide the interface is reachable at http://localhost:8080 and responsive to model queries.

Steps

1. Create the project directory and compose file.

   mkdir -p ~/open-webui && cd ~/open-webui
   

   Create a compose.yaml with:

   services:
     open-webui:
       image: ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main
       container_name: open-webui
       ports:
         - "8080:8080"
       environment:
         - OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://host.docker.internal:11434
       volumes:
         - ./data:/app/backend/data
       restart: unless-stopped
   

2. Start the container stack.

   docker compose up -d
   

   Expected output: Pull progress followed by Container open-webui Running.

3. Wait for startup and confirm the container is healthy.

   sleep 30 && docker compose ps
   

   Expected output: open-webui showing status Up.

4. Open the interface in a browser.

   http://localhost:8080
   

   Expected result: Login page rendered with admin account setup prompt.

Verification

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost:8080
# Expected: 200

Common failures

• 503 Service Unavailable on browser load — Open WebUI is still initializing. Wait 60 seconds and refresh.
• Connection refused to Ollama — OLLAMA_BASE_URL uses a domain Ollama cannot route. On Linux use --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway.
• Image pull fails — Use ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:latest or pin a specific version tag.
• Permission denied writing to ./data/ — Run sudo chown -R 1000:1000 ~/open-webui/data.
• Container restarts repeatedly — Check logs with docker compose logs for Connection refused errors.

Operator checkpoint

Before treating this as solved, write down the local runtime, model or package version, hardware/backend if relevant, and the verification output. This keeps the guide useful as a Will-It-Run style decision instead of a one-off command transcript.

Related guides

• How to configure Open WebUI with Ollama backend
• How to set up Open WebUI admin account
• Course Local AI Fundamentals