---
title: Troubleshoot OpenRAG
slug: /support/troubleshoot
---

import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs';
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';

This page provides troubleshooting advice for issues you might encounter when using OpenRAG or contributing to OpenRAG.

## OpenSearch fails to start

Check that `OPENSEARCH_PASSWORD` set in [Environment variables](/reference/configuration) meets requirements.
The password must contain at least 8 characters, and must contain at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one digit, and one special character that is strong.

## OpenRAG fails to start from the TUI with operation not supported

This error occurs when starting OpenRAG with the TUI in [WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install).

The error occurs because OpenRAG is running within a WSL environment, so `webbrowser.open()` can't launch a browser automatically.

To access the OpenRAG application, open a web browser and enter `http://localhost:3000` in the address bar.

## OpenRAG installation fails with unable to get local issuer certificate

If you are installing OpenRAG on macOS, and the installation fails with `unable to get local issuer certificate`, run the following command, and then retry the installation:

```bash
open "/Applications/Python VERSION/Install Certificates.command"
```

Replace `VERSION` with your installed Python version, such as `3.13`.

## Langflow connection issues

Verify the `LANGFLOW_SUPERUSER` credentials set in [Environment variables](/reference/configuration) are correct.

## Container out of memory errors

Increase Docker memory allocation or use [docker-compose-cpu.yml](https://github.com/langflow-ai/openrag/blob/main/docker-compose-cpu.yml) to deploy OpenRAG.

## Memory issue with Podman on macOS

If you're using Podman on macOS, you might need to increase VM memory on your Podman machine.
This example increases the machine size to 8 GB of RAM, which should be sufficient to run OpenRAG.

```bash
podman machine stop
podman machine rm
podman machine init --memory 8192   # 8 GB example
podman machine start
```

## Port conflicts

Ensure ports 3000, 7860, 8000, 9200, 5601 are available.

## OCR ingestion fails (easyocr not installed)

If Docling ingestion fails with an OCR-related error and mentions `easyocr` is missing, this is likely due to a stale `uv` cache.

`easyocr` is already included as a dependency in OpenRAG's `pyproject.toml`. Project-managed installations using `uv sync` and `uv run` always sync dependencies directly from your `pyproject.toml`, so they should have `easyocr` installed.

If you're running OpenRAG with `uvx openrag`, `uvx` creates a cached, ephemeral environment that doesn't modify your project. This cache can become stale.

On macOS, this cache directory is typically a user cache directory such as `/Users/USER_NAME/.cache/uv`.

1. To clear the uv cache, run:

   ```bash
   uv cache clean
   ```

2. Start OpenRAG:

   ```bash
   uvx openrag
   ```

If you don't need OCR, you can disable OCR-based processing in your ingestion settings to avoid requiring `easyocr`.

## Upgrade fails due to Langflow container already exists {#langflow-container-already-exists-during-upgrade}

If you encounter a `langflow container already exists` error when upgrading OpenRAG, this typically means you upgraded OpenRAG with `uv`, but you didn't remove or upgrade containers from a previous installation.

To resolve this issue, do the following:

1. Remove only the Langflow container:

   <Tabs groupId="Container software">
   <TabItem value="Podman" label="Podman">

   1. Stop the Langflow container:

      ```bash
      podman stop langflow
      ```

   2. Remove the Langflow container:

      ```bash
      podman rm langflow --force
      ```

   </TabItem>
   <TabItem value="Docker" label="Docker" default>

   1. Stop the Langflow container:

      ```bash
      docker stop langflow
      ```

   2. Remove the Langflow container:

      ```bash
      docker rm langflow --force
      ```

   </TabItem>
   </Tabs>

2. Retry the upgrade:

   * [Upgrade self-managed containers](/docker#upgrade-containers)
   * [Upgrade TUI-managed containers](/install#upgrade-containers)

3. If reinstalling the Langflow container doesn't resolve the issue, you must reset your OpenRAG deployment:

   * [Reset self-managed containers](/docker#reset-containers)
   * [Reset TUI-managed containers](/install#reset-containers)

4. Retry the upgrade.

## Document ingestion or similarity search issues

See [Troubleshoot ingestion](/ingestion#troubleshoot-ingestion).