Open WebUI (formerly Ollama WebUI)

Garth, this is the “NetYeti” Command and Control (C2) layer for your Local LLM setup. It provides a ChatGPT-like interface that points directly at your containerized Ollama instance.

The Strategy

Open WebUI is deployed as a standalone container, connected to the host’s Ollama instance via the host.docker.internal gateway. We’ve also integrated Open Terminal, giving your AI a “sandbox” to execute code and manage files.

The docker-compose.yml

services:
  open-webui:
    image: ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main
    container_name: open-webui
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "3000:8080"
    environment:
      - OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://host.docker.internal:11434
      - OPEN_TERMINAL_URL=http://open-terminal:8000
      - OPEN_TERMINAL_API_KEY=b9f916233a86e2d3767985d36e000e4a
    volumes:
      - open-webui:/app/backend/data
    extra_hosts:
      - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"
    networks:
      - open-webui-net
 
  open-terminal:
    image: ghcr.io/open-webui/open-terminal:latest
    container_name: open-terminal
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    environment:
      - OPEN_TERMINAL_API_KEY=b9f916233a86e2d3767985d36e000e4a
    volumes:
      - open-terminal-data:/home/user
    networks:
      - open-webui-net
 
volumes:
  open-webui:
    external: true
  open-terminal-data:
 
networks:
  open-webui-net:

How to Deploy

1. Navigate to Network/Services/Open-WebUI/.
2. Pull and Start:

   docker compose up -d

3. Verify the Handshake: Access the UI at http://localhost:3000. In Admin Settings > Integrations, verify that the Open Terminal connection is active and pointed at http://open-terminal:8000.

Open Terminal: The “Hands” of the AI

By adding Open Terminal, your LLMs can now:

• Execute Code: Run Python, Node.js, or Shell scripts directly from the chat.
• Manage Files: View and edit files in the sidebar navigator.
• Persistent Sandbox: The /home/user directory in the terminal is backed by a Docker volume, meaning the AI’s “workspace” survives container restarts.

Security Hardening

• Signup Disabled: Once the initial admin (e.g., growlfd@gmail.com) is logged in, ENABLE_SIGNUP has been set to False in the docker-compose.yml. This prevents unauthorized users from creating accounts on your private instance.

The PACE Connection

This is your **Alternate (A)** layer for interaction. While **[[OpenClaw]]** handles complex orchestration, Open WebUI is your go-to for direct chat, document RAG, and multi-model comparison.

Knowledge Check

• Why host.docker.internal? Because the open-webui container needs to “reach out” to the host machine (where Ollama is listening on 11434). The extra_hosts flag maps this hostname to the host’s internal gateway IP.
• Why an external volume? To ensure your chat history, uploaded documents, and RAG data persist even if you delete the container or update the image.

Related: index, index