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How to Install Dify on Ubuntu 24.04

A step-by-step installation guide.

How to Install Dify on Ubuntu 24.04

How to Install Dify on Ubuntu 24.04

Dify is the leading open-source LLM app platform — create visual RAG pipelines, agent workflows, and AI chatbots with drag-and-drop. Connect any LLM, embed knowledge bases, and deploy via API. This guide covers self-hosted installation on Ubuntu 24.04 using Docker.

Prerequisites

  • CPU: 2 cores minimum (4 recommended)
  • RAM: 4 GB minimum (8 GB recommended)
  • Disk: 10 GB free space (20 GB+ for embeddings)
  • OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
  • Docker + Docker Compose (v2.20+)
  • Git and sudo access

Step 1 — Install Docker (if missing)

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
docker --version && docker compose version

Step 2 — Deploy with Docker Compose

git clone https://github.com/langgenius/dify.git
cd dify/docker
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d

Once running: Web UI at http://YOUR_IP:3001, API at http://YOUR_IP:3000 (image: langgenius/dify:latest).

Step 3 — Environment Variables

Edit dify/docker/.env before first start:

  • SECRET_KEY — Session encryption key. Generate with openssl rand -base64 42. Never change after setup — doing so invalidates all sessions.
  • INIT_PASSWORD — Admin password for first-run initialization.
  • LOG_LEVEL — INFO, WARNING, or ERROR. Use WARNING in production.

LLM Providers

Add API keys in Settings → Model Provider. Supports OpenAI, Azure, Anthropic, Gemini, Ollama, and dozens more.

RAG Configuration

Set Embedding Model (e.g., text-embedding-3-small via OpenAI, or local via Ollama) and optional Rerank Model (Cohere, BAAI/bge-reranker, Jina) under Settings → Model Provider.

Embedding and rerank models can be configured per knowledge base for different datasets.

Step 4 — Nginx Reverse Proxy (Same Domain)

Serve Web UI and API on one domain:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name dify.yourdomain.com;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3001;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}

Enable HTTPS: sudo certbot --nginx -d dify.yourdomain.com.

Step 5 — Backup

docker exec dify-db-1 pg_dump -U dify dify > dify_$(date +%F).sql
tar -czf dify_storage_$(date +%F).tar.gz ./dify/docker/volumes

Step 6 — Update

cd dify && git pull && docker compose up -d --pull always && docker image prune -f

Review GitHub releases for breaking changes before upgrading.

Step 7 — Change Default Admin Password

After first login, go to Settings → Account → Security and set a strong password (8+ chars, mixed case + numbers).

Troubleshooting

Port conflicts (5432/6379): PostgreSQL and Redis use these ports. Remap in docker-compose.yml: db → ports: "5433:5432", redis → ports: "6380:6379".

SECRET_KEY changes break sessions: Changing it after first deploy logs out all users. Set once, never change.

Database migration fails: Run docker compose run --rm api flask db upgrade manually, then restart.

LLM API key issues: Verify quota/status in the provider dashboard. For Ollama, ensure the container can reach the server at http://host.docker.internal:11434 (Docker Desktop) or the host IP. Check logs: docker compose logs api | grep -i error.

Visit runthisai.com/en/tool/dify for system requirements, VPS recommendations, and related tutorials.

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