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* feat(cli): support systemd socket activation Serve the API from a single stream listener inherited through the systemd activation protocol while retaining the existing address bind path when no listener is provided. Validate activation metadata, preserve the public-bind safety check, and document an on-demand systemd setup. Assisted-by: Codex:gpt-5 * fix(cli): satisfy listener cleanup lint Make the best-effort close explicit so errcheck accepts the deferred systemd listener cleanup. Assisted-by: Codex:gpt-5 [golangci-lint] --------- Co-authored-by: localai-org-maint-bot <306269227+localai-org-maint-bot@users.noreply.github.com>
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title, description, weight, url
| title | description | weight | url |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux Installation | Install LocalAI on Linux using binaries | 9 | /installation/linux/ |
Manual Installation
Download Binary
You can manually download the appropriate binary for your system from the releases page:
- Go to GitHub Releases
- Download the binary for your architecture (amd64, arm64, etc.)
- Make it executable:
chmod +x local-ai-*
- Run LocalAI:
./local-ai-*
Run your first model
Starting the binary on its own gives you an empty server. To get a working chat right away, run LocalAI with a model name and it will download and serve it from the gallery:
./local-ai-* run qwen3-4b
Once it is ready, open the WebUI at http://localhost:8080 or send a request to the API:
curl http://localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
"model": "qwen3-4b",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
}'
System Requirements
Hardware requirements vary based on:
- Model size
- Quantization method
- Backend used
For performance benchmarks with different backends like llama.cpp, visit this link.
Configuration
After installation, you can:
- Access the WebUI at
http://localhost:8080 - Configure models in the models directory
- Customize settings via environment variables or config files
Start LocalAI on demand with systemd
LocalAI accepts a single TCP listener passed through the systemd socket activation protocol. This lets systemd listen on the public port and start LocalAI only when the first client connects.
Create /etc/systemd/system/local-ai.socket:
[Unit]
Description=LocalAI API socket
[Socket]
ListenStream=8080
NoDelay=true
[Install]
WantedBy=sockets.target
Create the matching /etc/systemd/system/local-ai.service:
[Unit]
Description=LocalAI
[Service]
Type=simple
User=localai
Group=localai
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/local-ai run
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/local-ai
Adjust the user, binary path, working directory, and model configuration for your installation. Then enable the socket, not the service:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now local-ai.socket
The first connection to port 8080 starts local-ai.service; systemd holds that
connection until LocalAI is ready to accept it. LOCALAI_ADDRESS and
--address are ignored while an inherited listener is present. LocalAI
rejects activation with multiple stream listeners so it cannot silently choose
the wrong endpoint.
For a Podman-managed container, configure Podman to preserve and pass the systemd socket file descriptor into the container. The LocalAI process inside the container consumes the same activation protocol.