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Python / Pip on Auto-Scaling VMs

Deploy open-webui serve as a systemd-managed process on virtual machines in a cloud auto-scaling group (AWS ASG, Azure VMSS, GCP MIG).

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure you have configured the shared infrastructure requirements — PostgreSQL, Redis, a vector database, shared storage, and content extraction.

When to Choose This Pattern​

  • Your organization has established VM-based infrastructure and operational practices
  • Regulatory or compliance requirements mandate direct OS-level control
  • Your team has limited container expertise but strong Linux administration skills
  • You want a straightforward deployment without container orchestration overhead

Architecture​

Installation​

Install on each VM using pip with the [all] extra (includes PostgreSQL drivers):

pip install open-webui[all]

Create a systemd unit to manage the process:

[Unit]
Description=Open WebUI
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=openwebui
EnvironmentFile=/etc/open-webui/env
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/open-webui serve
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Place your environment variables in /etc/open-webui/env (see Critical Configuration).

Scaling Strategy​

  • Horizontal scaling: Configure your auto-scaling group to add or remove VMs based on CPU utilization or request count.
  • Health checks: Point your load balancer health check at the /health endpoint (HTTP 200 when healthy).
  • One process per VM: Keep UVICORN_WORKERS=1 and let the auto-scaler manage capacity. This simplifies memory accounting and avoids fork-safety issues with the default vector database.
  • Sticky sessions: Configure your load balancer for cookie-based session affinity to ensure WebSocket connections remain routed to the same instance.

Key Considerations​

ConsiderationDetail
OS patchingYou are responsible for OS updates, security patches, and Python runtime management.
Python environmentPin your Python version (3.11 recommended) and use a virtual environment or system-level install.
StorageUse object storage (such as S3) or a shared filesystem (such as NFS) since VMs in an auto-scaling group do not share a local filesystem.
Tika sidecarRun a Tika server on each VM or as a shared service. A shared instance simplifies management.
UpdatesScale the group to 1 instance, update the package (pip install --upgrade open-webui), wait for database migrations to complete, then scale back up.

For pip installation basics, see the Quick Start guide.

Need help planning your enterprise deployment? Our team works with organizations worldwide to design and implement production Open WebUI environments.

Contact Enterprise Sales → sales@openwebui.com