Comprehensive Guide to Setting Up Dokploy, Ollama, OpenWebUI, and N8n on VPS

This guide will walk you through installing and configuring these tools on your VPS instance, ensuring they work together seamlessly.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure your VPS has:

• At least 2GB RAM and 30GB storage for Dokploy1

• 16GB RAM, 12GB+ storage, and 4-8 CPU cores for optimal Ollama performance23

• A fresh Linux installation (Ubuntu 22.04 or higher recommended)23

• Root access or sudo privileges19

Installing Dokploy on VPS

Connect to your VPS via SSH:text

ssh root@your-vps-ip

Install Dokploy using the installation script:text

curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh

This also installs Docker automatically. The installation takes 5-10 minutes1.

Set up Dokploy by accessing it in your browser:text

http://your-vps-ip:3000

Create an admin account with a username and strong password.

Installing Ollama on VPS

Update your system:text

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Install dependencies:text

sudo apt install python3 python3-pip git

Download and install Ollama:text

curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

Deploying OpenWebUI using Dokploy

1. Access Dokploy dashboard at http://your-vps-ip:3000

2. Create a new project by clicking "New Project"1:

   • Project name: "openwebui"

   • Create a new service and use a template to deploy OpenWebUI.

Deploying N8n using Dokploy

1. Return to Dokploy dashboard

2. Create a new project:

   • Project name: "n8n”

   • Create a new service and use a template to deploy n8n.

Logging into OpenWebUI

1. Access OpenWebUI by visiting the URL provided in Dokploy dashboard (typically http://your-vps-ip:port)

2. Create an admin account:

   • The first account created will automatically have administrator privileges4

   • Subsequent user registrations will start with "Pending" status, requiring administrator approval4

Configuring OpenWebUI to Connect to Ollama

1. Login to OpenWebUI with your admin account

2. Access admin settings by clicking on your profile icon and selecting "Settings"

3. Change Ollama API connection:

   • Navigate to "Connections" or "API Settings" section

   • Find Ollama API configuration

   • Change the API endpoint to http://your-vps-ip:11434

   • Save your changes

Configuring N8n to Connect to Ollama

1. Access N8n by visiting the URL provided in Dokploy dashboard (typically http://your-vps-ip:port)

2. Navigate to Credentials:

   • Go to http://your-vps-ip:port/home/credentials

   • Click on "Create New Credentials"

   • Select "Ollama API"

3. Change Ollama credentials:

   • Name: "Ollama"

   • Base URL: http://your-vps-ip:11434

   • Click "Create" or "Save"

Now your entire setup is ready to use, with OpenWebUI and N8n properly connected to your Ollama instance running on VPS.

Download your first model through the OpenWebUI chat Interface and N8n will then list it as an available model for the flow.