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[GH-ISSUE #14347] How is one supposed to change models directory now? #55838

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opened 2026-04-29 09:47:31 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 4 comments
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-29 09:47:31 -05:00
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Originally created by @Dunravin on GitHub (Feb 21, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/14347

What is the issue?

I had this working a while back - described in issue #10246

this method no longer works. I am unable to use environment variable to change the models directory.

I have created a directory for the models on a second drive. Changed the ownership with to ollama:ollama

Created a drop in service config pointing to the new location.
Reloaded the daemons and re/started the ollama service

Checking the status of the service closes with the log output below.

It should all work, the owner and permissions of the new directory match the form of the defaults.

If there's a new method it's undocumented and the Ollama FAQ is out of date either way.

Maybe as the TUI is evolving these days the locations for models could be handled by that with a short questionnaire asking for a path and then a script handles everything to configure the service. It's a common annoyance for everyone what with the size of the models filling up OS drives.

Thanks for your attention.

Relevant log output

Error: mkdir /home/ollama: permission denied: ensure path elements are traversable
ollama.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
ollama.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

OS

Arch Linux 6.14.0-rt3-arch1-7-rt

GPU

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT [Discrete]

CPU

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K (12) @ 4.70 GHz

Ollama version

0.16.3

Originally created by @Dunravin on GitHub (Feb 21, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/14347 ### What is the issue? I had this working a while back - described in issue #10246 this method no longer works. I am unable to use environment variable to change the models directory. I have created a directory for the models on a second drive. Changed the ownership with to ollama:ollama Created a drop in service config pointing to the new location. Reloaded the daemons and re/started the ollama service Checking the status of the service closes with the log output below. It should all work, the owner and permissions of the new directory match the form of the defaults. If there's a new method it's undocumented and the Ollama FAQ is out of date either way. Maybe as the TUI is evolving these days the locations for models could be handled by that with a short questionnaire asking for a path and then a script handles everything to configure the service. It's a common annoyance for everyone what with the size of the models filling up OS drives. Thanks for your attention. ### Relevant log output ```shell Error: mkdir /home/ollama: permission denied: ensure path elements are traversable ollama.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE ollama.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. ``` ### OS Arch Linux 6.14.0-rt3-arch1-7-rt ### GPU AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT [Discrete] ### CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K (12) @ 4.70 GHz ### Ollama version 0.16.3
GiteaMirror added the bugneeds more info labels 2026-04-29 09:47:31 -05:00
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-29 09:47:33 -05:00
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@rick-github commented on GitHub (Feb 21, 2026):

What's the output of

systemctl cat ollama
<!-- gh-comment-id:3938497610 --> @rick-github commented on GitHub (Feb 21, 2026): What's the output of ``` systemctl cat ollama ```
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-29 09:47:33 -05:00
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@nickovaras commented on GitHub (Mar 3, 2026):

As per documentation, the guidance is still to use the OLLAMA_MODELS env to change storage location, but that method currently does not work.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3988643228 --> @nickovaras commented on GitHub (Mar 3, 2026): As per documentation, the guidance is still to use the `OLLAMA_MODELS` env to change storage location, but that method currently does not work.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-29 09:47:34 -05:00
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@nickovaras commented on GitHub (Mar 3, 2026):

See https://github.com/ollama/ollama/pull/14576 as a tiny step towards fixing this.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3988669224 --> @nickovaras commented on GitHub (Mar 3, 2026): See https://github.com/ollama/ollama/pull/14576 as a tiny step towards fixing this.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-29 09:47:34 -05:00
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@nickovaras commented on GitHub (Mar 3, 2026):

This worked for me:
For OLLAMA_MODELS=/media/myuser/myssd/my_ollama_models
do
sudo chmod -R 755 /media/myuser
and
chown -R ollama:ollama /media/myuser/myssd/my_ollama_models

<!-- gh-comment-id:3988723374 --> @nickovaras commented on GitHub (Mar 3, 2026): This worked for me: For `OLLAMA_MODELS=/media/myuser/myssd/my_ollama_models` do `sudo chmod -R 755 /media/myuser` and `chown -R ollama:ollama /media/myuser/myssd/my_ollama_models`
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