How to deploy Open WebUI on the QNAP NAS and connect to Ollama

Open SSH or File Station on your QNAP NAS. Create a directory for Open WebUI persistent data:
/share/Container/open-webui

This directory stores chat history, user settings, and configuration data. Without this volume mount, all your conversations disappear when the container restarts.

In Container Station, create a new Application with the following content:

version: '3.8'
services:
  open-webui:
    image: ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main
    container_name: open-webui
    ports:
      - "3000:8080"
    volumes:
      - /share/Container/open-webui:/app/backend/data
    environment:
      OLLAMA_BASE_URL: http://ollama:11434
    networks:
      - ai-network
    restart: unless-stopped

networks:
  ai-network:
    name: ai-network
    driver: bridge

Key Configuration Explained

• Image:ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main — Official Open WebUI image from GitHub Container Registry
• Port:3000:8080 — Access from browser at http://NAS-IP:3000, mapped to container port 8080
• Volume:/share/Container/open-webui:/app/backend/data — Persistent storage for chats and settings
• OLLAMA_BASE_URL:http://ollama:11434 — Must match your Ollama container service name and port
• Network:ai-network — Shared bridge network with Ollama container
• Restart:unless-stopped — Container restarts automatically after QNAP reboots

Wait 30-60 seconds for the container to start. Check logs in Container Station.

Open your browser and navigate to:
http://YOUR-NAS-IP:3000

Screenshot: Open WebUI login screen with sign-up fields

On first access, Open WebUI displays a sign-up form. Fill in:

• Name: Your display name
• Email: An email address (does not need to be valid)
• Password: A secure password for your account

The first account created automatically becomes the admin account. You must create this account before the interface unlocks. Click Create Account.

After signing in, Open WebUI shows a model selector. If you have already pulled models in Ollama, they appear here automatically. If no models are listed:

1. Go to the Admin Panel menu
2. Select Setting -> Models
3. Verify Ollama connections and display model availability.
4. Pull a model directly from Open WebUI or return to Ollama to pull one first

Select a model from the dropdown (e.g., Gemma, Qwen, Deepseek).

Type a message in the text box at the bottom and press Enter. Open WebUI sends your message to Ollama, which processes it using the selected model and returns a response. The interface stores the full conversation in your persistent volume.

Screenshot: Open WebUI chat interface with a sample conversation

If you want Open WebUI to connect to Ollama running on a different QNAP NAS or machine (not the same physical host), modify the environment variable:
OLLAMA_BASE_URL: http://OTHER-NAS-IP:11434

Replace OTHER-NAS-IP with the IP address of the remote machine running Ollama. Ensure that machine's firewall allows port 11434 traffic from your QNAP NAS. Both machines must be on the same network or have proper routing configured.