[GH-ISSUE #6024] Disable auto updates #50281

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opened 2026-04-28 14:56:30 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 9 comments
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Originally created by @MNeMoNiCuZ on GitHub (Jul 28, 2024).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/6024

I found my Ollama to not update automatically.
It had downloaded the update and it was placed in a temporary folder, but restarting ollama didn't update it.

I would love a manual update feature, and to be able to disable auto-updating.
To maintain a state of version preference if nothing else.

Ollama is perhaps the best offline model tool there is, but the auto-updating feature is a risk to people that prefer to manually update their tools.

How many times have you updated an application and regretted it?

Please add support for manual updates <3

Originally created by @MNeMoNiCuZ on GitHub (Jul 28, 2024). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/6024 I found my Ollama to not update automatically. It had downloaded the update and it was placed in a temporary folder, but restarting ollama didn't update it. I would love a manual update feature, and to be able to disable auto-updating. To maintain a state of version preference if nothing else. Ollama is perhaps the best offline model tool there is, but the auto-updating feature is a risk to people that prefer to manually update their tools. How many times have you updated an application and regretted it? Please add support for manual updates <3
GiteaMirror added the feature request label 2026-04-28 14:56:30 -05:00
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@SmilerRyan commented on GitHub (Sep 13, 2024):

I would also like the option to disable update checking (environment variable, config option?). In my use case I prefer to update manually, and if I do click the notification to update, because my installation is not standard (I launch it in a specific way, where updating it won't replace itself) so every time I launch it it is still out of date making the point of automatic updates for my installations useless.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2347922723 --> @SmilerRyan commented on GitHub (Sep 13, 2024): I would also like the option to disable update checking (environment variable, config option?). In my use case I prefer to update manually, and if I do click the notification to update, because my installation is not standard (I launch it in a specific way, where updating it won't replace itself) so every time I launch it it is still out of date making the point of automatic updates for my installations useless.
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@zos474 commented on GitHub (Jan 17, 2025):

Please please implement this. In the space of 3 days we have gone from 0.5.5 to 0.5.6 to 0.5.7 and this is killing my bandwidth. Not everyone lives in a big city with unlimited data. Also, my internet is flaky and so twice now (with 0.5.5 and 0.5.6 I restarted to do the update and it said 'this program is not compatible with your version of windows' or similar words - didnt make a note. It seems the update got corrupted during the autoupdate, so I then had to do a manual download and reinstall. So essentially I have spent almost 3 GB in bandwidth just between 0.5.5 and 0.5.6. For now I have killed the "ollama app.exe" and just running "ollama.exe" which appears to inhibit the update.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2597333110 --> @zos474 commented on GitHub (Jan 17, 2025): Please please implement this. In the space of 3 days we have gone from 0.5.5 to 0.5.6 to 0.5.7 and this is killing my bandwidth. Not everyone lives in a big city with unlimited data. Also, my internet is flaky and so twice now (with 0.5.5 and 0.5.6 I restarted to do the update and it said 'this program is not compatible with your version of windows' or similar words - didnt make a note. It seems the update got corrupted during the autoupdate, so I then had to do a manual download and reinstall. So essentially I have spent almost 3 GB in bandwidth just between 0.5.5 and 0.5.6. For now I have killed the "ollama app.exe" and just running "ollama.exe" which appears to inhibit the update.
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@metamec commented on GitHub (Feb 26, 2025):

The other (old) issue asking for this was closed with no comment. I suspect the only way forward is for someone else to develop a better systray app. On the other hand, reinstalling Ollama on Windows causes it to re-enable its own systray app, even if you explicitly disabled it as a startup entry via Windows task manager or autoruns. So it would still need reconfiguring with every update. Options would be an easy fix ("check for updates? yes/no". "start with windows? yes/no") but some reason there's no appetite for it.

I have far more critical systray apps that give me the option to do both those things, and they don't revert those settings after reinstallation.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2685794625 --> @metamec commented on GitHub (Feb 26, 2025): The other (old) issue asking for this was closed with no comment. I suspect the only way forward is for someone else to develop a better systray app. On the other hand, reinstalling Ollama on Windows causes it to re-enable its own systray app, even if you explicitly disabled it as a startup entry via Windows task manager or autoruns. So it would still need reconfiguring with every update. *Options* would be an easy fix ("check for updates? yes/no". "start with windows? yes/no") but some reason there's no appetite for it. I have far more critical systray apps that give me the option to do both those things, and they don't revert those settings after reinstallation.
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@ostapkonst commented on GitHub (Mar 13, 2025):

As a workaround, you can block the tray application's access to the Internet with the PowerShell command:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block Ollama App (disable autoupdate)" -Direction Outbound -Program "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Ollama\ollama app.exe" -Action Block

in this case, updates will not be downloaded, but commands such as ollama pull will work without problems.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2719500461 --> @ostapkonst commented on GitHub (Mar 13, 2025): As a workaround, you can block the tray application's access to the Internet with the PowerShell command: ``` New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block Ollama App (disable autoupdate)" -Direction Outbound -Program "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Ollama\ollama app.exe" -Action Block ``` in this case, updates will not be downloaded, but commands such as `ollama pull` will work without problems.
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@Justinius commented on GitHub (Apr 24, 2025):

I would like to add my voice to this one. In a corporate environment, there is a push to understand exactly what outside tools are doing. So having an option such as @SmilerRyan 's pull request (that was closed by @BruceMacD) would be good to show that during onboarding/testing that it was obviously just checking for updates not trying to exfiltrate data. Also, corporate environments like control, so having the option to set it gives the option for the IT teams to configure so the teams are on the same version.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2828801984 --> @Justinius commented on GitHub (Apr 24, 2025): I would like to add my voice to this one. In a corporate environment, there is a push to understand exactly what outside tools are doing. So having an option such as @SmilerRyan 's pull request (that was closed by @BruceMacD) would be good to show that during onboarding/testing that it was obviously just checking for updates not trying to exfiltrate data. Also, corporate environments like control, so having the option to set it gives the option for the IT teams to configure so the teams are on the same version.
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@qhaas commented on GitHub (May 10, 2025):

In a corporate environment, there is a push to understand exactly what outside tools are doing.

Same applies for any enterprise environment (e.g. government). When software phones home, there is often time taken to determine why.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2869156781 --> @qhaas commented on GitHub (May 10, 2025): > In a corporate environment, there is a push to understand exactly what outside tools are doing. Same applies for any enterprise environment (e.g. government). When software phones home, there is often time taken to determine why.
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@AetherMagee commented on GitHub (May 20, 2025):

Does anyone know which domains Ollama uses for its autoupdate? I'd like to block that in my DNS.

nvm, found it, it's at ollama.com - source
sadly it would block the frontend too, but at least they host their registry at registry.ollama.com so it can be unbanned separately

<!-- gh-comment-id:2893132230 --> @AetherMagee commented on GitHub (May 20, 2025): Does anyone know which domains Ollama uses for its autoupdate? I'd like to block that in my DNS. nvm, found it, it's at `ollama.com` - [source](https://github.com/ollama/ollama/blob/ff180c3466e7f3ee21658465958c9ece6de2d5c0/macapp/src/index.ts#L165) sadly it would block the frontend too, but at least they host their registry at `registry.ollama.com` so it can be unbanned separately
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@BreakNRetest commented on GitHub (Nov 8, 2025):

Ollama doesn't work on cpu only machines after version12.3, I finally installed 12.3 and it works again, but now it constantly wants to update. Either fix the new versions to work on my pc or give me the ability to stop the auto update.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3505708076 --> @BreakNRetest commented on GitHub (Nov 8, 2025): Ollama doesn't work on cpu only machines after version12.3, I finally installed 12.3 and it works again, but now it constantly wants to update. Either fix the new versions to work on my pc or give me the ability to stop the auto update.
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@tspspi commented on GitHub (Nov 8, 2025):

I have had a similar problem with permanent Auto updates - anything above 12.3 does not load models on my dual RTX3060 setup - I never figured out why from the debug information, it just never loads the tensors and requests to ollama silently hang. The quickest solution was to simply prevent ollamas frontend to contact the update servers in the firewall to "pin" the version at 12.3 like it has been mentioned above. Took a time to figure out why the application broke on every machine reboot since it wasn't clear to me that it auto updates silently (since the machine it runs on for me personally is not used interactively).

<!-- gh-comment-id:3506183383 --> @tspspi commented on GitHub (Nov 8, 2025): I have had a similar problem with permanent Auto updates - anything above 12.3 does not load models on my dual RTX3060 setup - I never figured out why from the debug information, it just never loads the tensors and requests to ollama silently hang. The quickest solution was to simply prevent ollamas frontend to contact the update servers in the firewall to "pin" the version at 12.3 like it has been mentioned above. Took a time to figure out why the application broke on every machine reboot since it wasn't clear to me that it auto updates silently (since the machine it runs on for me personally is not used interactively).
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Reference: github-starred/ollama#50281