github-starred/ollama
2
0
Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/ollama/ollama.git synced 2026-07-16 13:19:40 -05:00
Code Issues 16.9k Packages Projects Releases 122 Wiki Activity

[GH-ISSUE #7821] Unable to save models to custom path #67060

New Issue
Closed
opened 2026-05-04 09:23:59 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 3 comments
GiteaMirror commented 2026-05-04 09:23:59 -05:00
Owner
Copy Link

Originally created by @rattle99 on GitHub (Nov 24, 2024).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/7821

What is the issue?

I update my ollama.service file at /etc/systemd/system/ollama.service as below by adding the environment variable OLLAMA_MODELS so that I can have ollama download and save the models in a different location. By default it saves models in /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models.

[Unit]
Description=Ollama Service
After=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/ollama serve
User=ollama
Group=ollama
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
Environment="PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin"
Environment="OLLAMA_MODELS=/home/rattle/Downloads/LLMs/OllamaModels"

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

I then changes the directory ownership by sudo chown -R ollama:ollama <directory> as can be seen below

rattle@loq:~/Downloads/LLMs/OllamaModels$ ls -lah
total 8.0K
drwxrwxr-x 2 ollama ollama 4.0K Nov 24 01:43 .
drwxrwxr-x 3 ollama ollama 4.0K Nov 24 01:43 ..

then a standard systemctl daemon-reload followed by systemctl restart ollama.
But upon checking the service I get the error below

sudo systemctl status ollama
● ollama.service - Ollama Service
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ollama.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2024-11-25 01>
    Process: 61176 ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/ollama serve (code=exited, status=1/FA>
   Main PID: 61176 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
        CPU: 21ms

OS

Linux

GPU

Nvidia

CPU

Intel

Ollama version

0.4.4

Originally created by @rattle99 on GitHub (Nov 24, 2024). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/7821 ### What is the issue? I update my ollama.service file at `/etc/systemd/system/ollama.service` as below by adding the environment variable `OLLAMA_MODELS` so that I can have ollama download and save the models in a different location. By default it saves models in `/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models`. ```service [Unit] Description=Ollama Service After=network-online.target [Service] ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/ollama serve User=ollama Group=ollama Restart=always RestartSec=3 Environment="PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin" Environment="OLLAMA_MODELS=/home/rattle/Downloads/LLMs/OllamaModels" [Install] WantedBy=default.target ``` I then changes the directory ownership by `sudo chown -R ollama:ollama <directory>` as can be seen below ```bash rattle@loq:~/Downloads/LLMs/OllamaModels$ ls -lah total 8.0K drwxrwxr-x 2 ollama ollama 4.0K Nov 24 01:43 . drwxrwxr-x 3 ollama ollama 4.0K Nov 24 01:43 .. ``` then a standard `systemctl daemon-reload` followed by `systemctl restart ollama`. But upon checking the service I get the error below ```bash sudo systemctl status ollama ● ollama.service - Ollama Service Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ollama.service; enabled; preset: enabled) Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2024-11-25 01> Process: 61176 ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/ollama serve (code=exited, status=1/FA> Main PID: 61176 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE) CPU: 21ms ``` ### OS Linux ### GPU Nvidia ### CPU Intel ### Ollama version 0.4.4
GiteaMirror added the bug label 2026-05-04 09:23:59 -05:00
GiteaMirror commented 2026-05-04 09:24:01 -05:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@rattle99 commented on GitHub (Nov 24, 2024):

Small update:

Works when I run with OLLAMA_MODELS=/home/rattle/Downloads/LLMs/OllamaModels ollama serve, it downloads to the correct directory, but it's not running as a service this way. The service file should work, what's causing the error?

<!-- gh-comment-id:2496218158 --> @rattle99 commented on GitHub (Nov 24, 2024): Small update: Works when I run with `OLLAMA_MODELS=/home/rattle/Downloads/LLMs/OllamaModels ollama serve`, it downloads to the correct directory, but it's not running as a service this way. The service file should work, what's causing the error?
GiteaMirror commented 2026-05-04 09:24:01 -05:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@rick-github commented on GitHub (Nov 25, 2024):

The server ollama runs as user ollama, and doesn't have access to your Downloads directory because the permissions of /home/rattle prevent it. You can either loosen the permissions (chmod a+x ~) or add ollama to your group: sudo usermod -a -G $(id -ng) ollama.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2496454140 --> @rick-github commented on GitHub (Nov 25, 2024): The server ollama runs as user ollama, and doesn't have access to your Downloads directory because the permissions of `/home/rattle` prevent it. You can either loosen the permissions (`chmod a+x ~`) or add ollama to your group: `sudo usermod -a -G $(id -ng) ollama`.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-05-04 09:24:02 -05:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@rattle99 commented on GitHub (Nov 25, 2024):

The server ollama runs as user ollama, and doesn't have access to your Downloads directory because the permissions of /home/rattle prevent it. You can either loosen the permissions (chmod a+x ~) or add ollama to your group: sudo usermod -a -G $(id -ng) ollama.

Thanks, didn't notice the linux permission issue!

Fixed it by changing ownership of the .ollama folder instead with sudo chown -R ollama:ollama ~/.ollama and adding Environment="OLLAMA_MODELS=/home/rattle/.ollama/models" to the service file.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2498315161 --> @rattle99 commented on GitHub (Nov 25, 2024): > The server ollama runs as user ollama, and doesn't have access to your Downloads directory because the permissions of `/home/rattle` prevent it. You can either loosen the permissions (`chmod a+x ~`) or add ollama to your group: `sudo usermod -a -G $(id -ng) ollama`. Thanks, didn't notice the linux permission issue! Fixed it by changing ownership of the .ollama folder instead with `sudo chown -R ollama:ollama ~/.ollama` and adding `Environment="OLLAMA_MODELS=/home/rattle/.ollama/models"` to the service file.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No Branch/Tag Specified
Branches Tags
Labels
Clear labels
amd
api
app
bug
build
cli
cloud
compatibility
context-length
create
docker
documentation
embeddings
feature request
feedback wanted
good first issue
gpt-oss
gpu
harmony
help wanted
image
install
intel
js
launch
linux
macos
memory
mlx
model
needs more info
networking
nvidia
ollama.com
performance
pull-request
Mirrored from GitHub Pull Request
 python
question
registry
rendering
thinking
tools
top
vulkan
windows
wsl
No Label bug
Milestone
No items
No Milestone
Projects
Clear projects
No project
Assignees
Clear assignees
GiteaMirror ninjasurge
No Assignees
1 Participants
Notifications
Due Date
No due date set.
Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: github-starred/ollama#67060
Delete Branch "%!s()"

Deleting a branch is permanent. Although the deleted branch may continue to exist for a short time before it actually gets removed, it CANNOT be undone in most cases. Continue?