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Open WebUI Troubleshooting Guide
Understanding the Open WebUI Architecture
The Open WebUI system is designed to streamline interactions between the client (your browser) and the Ollama API. At the heart of this design is a backend reverse proxy, enhancing security and resolving CORS issues.
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How it Works: The Open WebUI is designed to interact with the Ollama API through a specific route. When a request is made from the WebUI to Ollama, it is not directly sent to the Ollama API. Initially, the request is sent to the Open WebUI backend via
/ollama/apiroute. From there, the backend is responsible for forwarding the request to the Ollama API. This forwarding is accomplished by using the route specified in theOLLAMA_API_BASE_URLenvironment variable. Therefore, a request made to/ollama/apiin the WebUI is effectively the same as making a request toOLLAMA_API_BASE_URLin the backend. For instance, a request to/ollama/api/tagsin the WebUI is equivalent toOLLAMA_API_BASE_URL/tagsin the backend. -
Security Benefits: This design prevents direct exposure of the Ollama API to the frontend, safeguarding against potential CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) issues and unauthorized access. Requiring authentication to access the Ollama API further enhances this security layer.
Open WebUI: Server Connection Error
If you're experiencing connection issues, it’s often due to the WebUI docker container not being able to reach the Ollama server at 127.0.0.1:11434 (host.docker.internal:11434) inside the container . Use the --network=host flag in your docker command to resolve this. Note that the port changes from 3000 to 8080, resulting in the link: http://localhost:8080.
Example Docker Command:
docker run -d --network=host -v open-webui:/app/backend/data -e OLLAMA_API_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:11434/api --name open-webui --restart always ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main
General Connection Errors
Ensure Ollama Version is Up-to-Date: Always start by checking that you have the latest version of Ollama. Visit Ollama's official site for the latest updates.
Troubleshooting Steps:
- Verify Ollama URL Format:
- When running the Web UI container, ensure the
OLLAMA_API_BASE_URLis correctly set, including the/apisuffix. (e.g.,http://192.168.1.1:11434/apifor different host setups). - In the Open WebUI, navigate to "Settings" > "General".
- Confirm that the Ollama Server URL is correctly set to
[OLLAMA URL]/api(e.g.,http://localhost:11434/api), including the/apisuffix.
- When running the Web UI container, ensure the
By following these enhanced troubleshooting steps, connection issues should be effectively resolved. For further assistance or queries, feel free to reach out to us on our community Discord.