LM Studio Service Manager

This repository contains scripts for installing and managing LM Studio as a systemd user service on Linux systems. LM Studio is downloaded and run as an AppImage with Xvfb (X Virtual Framebuffer) to provide a headless display environment.

Originally written for my DGX Spark, but works with Ubuntu 22+ and Arch-based systems.

After installation, you can control LM Studio with the lms cli.

• more lms cli docs
• lms github repo

These scripts assume this repository is downloaded to ~/lmstudio

Quick Start

cd .
git clone https://github.com/eleqtrizit/lmstudio-headless-dgx-spark-ubuntu24.git
mv lmstudio-headless-dgx-spark-ubuntu24 lmstudio
cd lmstudio

Then:

• ./first_time_install.sh - never need to run this again.
• ./install_or_update_lmstudio.sh - run this as new versions arrive or just starting

Credit

This is a take on running headless LM Studio on Ubuntu

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu-based Linux distribution (maybe Debian or more?)
• Systemd user services support
• Internet connection for downloading LM Studio

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository to ~/lmstudio
2. Run the first-time installation script:

   ./first_time_install.sh

3. Install or update LM Studio:

   ./install_or_update_lmstudio.sh

Scripts Overview

• first_time_install.sh: Installs required packages (xvfb, xauth) and copies systemd service files
• install_or_update_lmstudio.sh: Downloads the latest LM Studio AppImage, extracts it, and sets up the service
• start.sh: Starts the LM Studio service
• stop.sh: Stops the LM Studio service
• status.sh: Shows the status of the LM Studio service

Services

This setup includes two systemd user services:

1. xvfb-user.service: Provides a virtual X server environment (required for LM Studio)
2. lmstudio-user.service: Runs the LM Studio application

Configuration

The lmstudio.env file contains environment variables:

• DISPLAY: The virtual display number (default :99)
• LM_STUDIO: Path to the LM Studio executable

Important Notes

• LM Studio runs headlessly using Xvfb
• Services are managed as user services (not system-wide)
• The installation will automatically detect your system architecture (x86_64 or ARM64) and download the appropriate version

Usage

After installation, you can control LM Studio using:

# Start LM Studio
./start.sh

# Stop LM Studio
./stop.sh

# Check status
./status.sh

# Update to latest version of LM Studio
./install_or_update_lmstudio.sh

Troubleshooting

Check service status:

systemctl --user status lmstudio-user.service
systemctl --user status xvfb-user.service

View service logs:

journalctl --user -u lmstudio-user.service
journalctl --user -u xvfb-user.service