Run the panel as a service#
After installing lllm2 and trying a model, you can run the panel as a systemd user service so it does not need an open terminal. Use a login session on the Linux machine where you installed lllm2. No sudo is needed. Run this tutorial’s commands in a terminal on that machine, outside the Pi devcontainer. Service controls are terminal commands, rather than panel buttons.
1. Stop the foreground panel#
Wait for experiments and downloads to finish. In the panel’s Launch model
tab, click Stop model beneath the model summary,
then press Ctrl-C in the terminal running lllm2.
2. Install and start the service#
Run this from the same environment you use to start lllm2, with any custom model paths or GPU settings already set:
lllm2 service install
systemctl --user status lllm2-panel
Look for active (running) in the status output. Press q to return to your shell if the output opens in a pager. If startup failed, use the log command in step 3 to see why.
The installer enables and starts lllm2-panel.service for your user. Open
http://127.0.0.1:8082, choose your model and click Start. The service starts
the panel; you still start the model yourself.
On DLS machines, the ~/models symlink to scratch from the installation
tutorial continues to work. If you use LLLM2_MODELS_DIR instead, set it before
installing the service so the installer saves it in the service environment.
You can now close the terminal. The service normally runs with your login session. To start it at boot and keep it running after logout, run:
loginctl enable-linger "$USER"
Your system may require administrator permission for lingering.
3. Manage the service#
The panel forwards llama-server output to the service journal as well as the
UI log. systemctl --user status lllm2-panel shows only recent lines. To follow
the logs:
journalctl --user -u lllm2-panel -f
For retained history, use journalctl --user -u lllm2-panel --since yesterday.
Retention across reboots depends on the workstation’s journald configuration.
Press Ctrl-C to leave the log viewer; the service keeps running. To stop or start the panel:
systemctl --user stop lllm2-panel
systemctl --user start lllm2-panel
To stop it and disable automatic startup:
systemctl --user disable --now lllm2-panel
Follow Upgrade lllm2 when updating the package. For custom ports, environment changes, checkout installations and removal, see the service options.