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[GH-ISSUE #11322] MacOS: Add settings option to exclude ollama model folder from TimeMachine. #7471

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opened 2026-04-12 19:32:37 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 6 comments
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-12 19:32:37 -05:00
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Originally created by @stroiman on GitHub (Jul 7, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/11322

The models may take up a significant amount of disk space, and it's generally the type of data I don't want to include in backups.

Originally created by @stroiman on GitHub (Jul 7, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ollama/ollama/issues/11322 The models may take up a significant amount of disk space, and it's generally the type of data I don't want to include in backups.
GiteaMirror added the feature request label 2026-04-12 19:32:37 -05:00
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-12 19:32:38 -05:00
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@jmkraus commented on GitHub (Jul 8, 2025):

Is this common practice on the Mac? For example if I don't want my VM's in the TimeMachine backup, then I add the folder manually to the "Exclude" settings, no?

<!-- gh-comment-id:3047579816 --> @jmkraus commented on GitHub (Jul 8, 2025): Is this common practice on the Mac? For example if I don't want my VM's in the TimeMachine backup, then I add the folder manually to the "Exclude" settings, no?
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-12 19:32:38 -05:00
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@ghmer commented on GitHub (Jul 8, 2025):

Is this common practice on the Mac? For example if I don't want my VM's in the TimeMachine backup, then I add the folder manually to the "Exclude" settings, no?

Exactly. If I don't want something to be contained in my backup, I need to exclude it from my backup. It is not up to the application to be excluded by your backup.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3050202496 --> @ghmer commented on GitHub (Jul 8, 2025): > Is this common practice on the Mac? For example if I don't want my VM's in the TimeMachine backup, then I add the folder manually to the "Exclude" settings, no? Exactly. If I don't want something to be contained in my backup, I need to exclude it from my backup. It is not up to the application to be excluded by your backup.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-12 19:32:39 -05:00
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@jmkraus commented on GitHub (Jul 10, 2025):

As a starting point:

sudo tmutil addexclusion -p ~/.ollama/models
(for a static path)

I have yet to find out where the new ollama client stores its settings for model location. Then a small script could fetch this information directly from the config file.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3057857784 --> @jmkraus commented on GitHub (Jul 10, 2025): As a starting point: `sudo tmutil addexclusion -p ~/.ollama/models` (for a static path) I have yet to find out where the new ollama client stores its settings for model location. Then a small script could fetch this information directly from the config file.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-12 19:32:39 -05:00
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@stroiman commented on GitHub (Jul 11, 2025):

Docker Desktop on MacOS has the option, "Include VM in Time Machine Backups". (I couldn't remember where I had seen this option until just now)

This is a somewhat similar case, a reasonably large amount of ephemeral data I have no wish to backup.

Image
<!-- gh-comment-id:3063355379 --> @stroiman commented on GitHub (Jul 11, 2025): Docker Desktop on MacOS has the option, "Include VM in Time Machine Backups". (I couldn't remember where I had seen this option until just now) This is a somewhat similar case, a reasonably large amount of ephemeral data I have no wish to backup. <img width="503" height="429" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/04a224fa-b32c-4bb3-b7fe-c3816cc49cc3" />
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-12 19:32:39 -05:00
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@FrancisVillarba commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2025):

This is 100% common practise for applications that contain large data.

You can see this as a feature in applications such as:

  • Docker Desktop (and other related containerisation tools)
  • Parallels Desktop (and related VM platforms)

A bit more context of what is likely happening under the hood when they're set

(See apiExclusionPaths)
https://eclecticlight.co/2025/05/02/what-isnt-backed-up/
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/urlresourcekey/isexcludedfrombackupkey

<!-- gh-comment-id:3138197516 --> @FrancisVillarba commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2025): This is 100% common practise for applications that contain large data. You can see this as a feature in applications such as: * Docker Desktop (and other related containerisation tools) * Parallels Desktop (and related VM platforms) A bit more context of what is likely happening under the hood when they're set (See apiExclusionPaths) https://eclecticlight.co/2025/05/02/what-isnt-backed-up/ https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/urlresourcekey/isexcludedfrombackupkey
GiteaMirror commented 2026-04-12 19:32:39 -05:00
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@bysiber commented on GitHub (Mar 5, 2026):

Great feature request — Ollama models can easily consume 20-50GB+ and backing them up to Time Machine is wasteful since they're always re-downloadable.

While waiting for a built-in setting, you can manually exclude the models folder from Time Machine:

# Default Ollama models location on macOS
sudo tmutil addexclusion ~/.ollama/models

# Verify the exclusion
tmutil isexcluded ~/.ollama/models

# Check how much space your models are using
du -sh ~/.ollama/models/

If you've set a custom OLLAMA_MODELS path, exclude that directory instead.

For broader macOS disk management, I built ClearDisk — a free, open-source menu bar utility that monitors 44+ developer cache paths (including AI model directories, Docker images, Xcode DerivedData, node_modules, Homebrew, etc.) and shows what's consuming disk space at a glance. It's especially useful when you're juggling multiple large LLMs alongside other dev tools.

<!-- gh-comment-id:4001281878 --> @bysiber commented on GitHub (Mar 5, 2026): Great feature request — Ollama models can easily consume 20-50GB+ and backing them up to Time Machine is wasteful since they're always re-downloadable. While waiting for a built-in setting, you can manually exclude the models folder from Time Machine: ```bash # Default Ollama models location on macOS sudo tmutil addexclusion ~/.ollama/models # Verify the exclusion tmutil isexcluded ~/.ollama/models # Check how much space your models are using du -sh ~/.ollama/models/ ``` If you've set a custom `OLLAMA_MODELS` path, exclude that directory instead. For broader macOS disk management, I built [ClearDisk](https://github.com/bysiber/cleardisk) — a free, open-source menu bar utility that monitors 44+ developer cache paths (including AI model directories, Docker images, Xcode DerivedData, node_modules, Homebrew, etc.) and shows what's consuming disk space at a glance. It's especially useful when you're juggling multiple large LLMs alongside other dev tools.
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