openwebui

Open WebUI

Open WebUI running as a Docker container on TrueNAS, connected to a remote Ollama instance.

Architecture

TrueNAS (Docker)               Gaming PC / Remote Host
┌──────────────────────────┐   ┌─────────────────────┐
│  Traefik → Open WebUI    │──▶│  Ollama  :11434     │
│  :8080 (internal)        │   │  (OLLAMA_BASE_URL)  │
└──────────────────────────┘   └─────────────────────┘
        ▲
  https://${OPENWEBUI_DOMAIN}

Prerequisites

Create the data directory before deploying:

mkdir -p /mnt/SSD/Containers/openwebui

Quick Start

cp example.env .env
# Edit .env — set OLLAMA_BASE_URL and OPENWEBUI_DOMAIN
docker compose up -d

Then open https://<OPENWEBUI_DOMAIN>. DNS must resolve the domain to Traefik (10.0.5.5) before the UI is reachable.

Configuration

Variable	Description	Example
OLLAMA_BASE_URL	URL of the remote Ollama instance	http://<ollama-host>:11434
OPENWEBUI_DOMAIN	Hostname Traefik routes to the UI	openwebui.yourdomain.com

Ollama Host Requirements

The Ollama instance must be reachable from the TrueNAS host over the network.

1. Listen on all interfaces

By default Ollama only binds to 127.0.0.1. Set OLLAMA_HOST to make it accept remote connections:

Windows — system environment variable (persistent):

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("OLLAMA_HOST", "0.0.0.0", "Machine")
# Restart the Ollama service/app after setting this

Windows — per-session (temporary):

$env:OLLAMA_HOST = "0.0.0.0"
ollama serve

Linux/macOS:

OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0 ollama serve

2. Open port 11434 in the firewall

Windows Defender (PowerShell, run as Administrator):

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Ollama" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 11434 -Action Allow

3. Verify connectivity

From the TrueNAS host:

curl http://<ollama-host>:11434/api/tags

A JSON response listing available models confirms the connection is working.

Changing the Ollama URL After Deployment

You can update the Ollama connection without restarting the container via the UI:

Settings > Admin Settings > Connections > Ollama API

Changes take effect immediately.