How to Install and Use Ollama on Windows and Linux

image taken from: https://ollama.com/

Want to run powerful AI models on your own computer without the headaches? That’s exactly what Ollama lets you do. Think of it as your personal AI assistant that lives right on your machine — no cloud services or complicated setups needed.

Whether you’re a developer looking to experiment with AI or just curious about running these models yourself, Ollama makes the whole process surprisingly straightforward. I’ve helped quite a few people get started with it, and the most common reaction I hear is “That’s it? I thought it would be more complicated!”

The best part? It works on both Windows and Linux, so you won’t be left out regardless of which operating system you prefer. Getting started is as simple as installing the software, downloading the AI model you want to use (there are plenty to choose from), and running a quick test to make sure everything’s working as it should.

Ready to dive in? Let me walk you through the process. Trust me — if you can install a regular program on your computer, you can definitely handle this.

What is Ollama?

Ollama is an open-source platform that allows users to run large language models locally on their machines. It abstracts away much of the complexity involved in managing these models, making it accessible to a broader audience. Ollama provides a straightforward and efficient way to get started.

Why Llama3.2:1B?

Llama3.2:1B is a highly optimized model designed for efficiency and performance. Despite having only 1 billion parameters, it delivers impressive results for a wide range of tasks. This model is particularly noteworthy for its:

• High Context Window: It supports context lengths of up to 128,000 tokens, allowing it to manage complex tasks like summarizing large documents or engaging in extended conversations.
• Efficient Performance: The 1B model is incredibly fast, generating responses in real-time with minimal latency. It requires only 1.8 GB of GPU memory, making it ideal for devices with limited resources.
• Versatile Task Handling: It excels in summarization, instruction following, and rewriting, making it suitable for a variety of applications.

Installing Ollama on Windows

Prerequisites

• Operating System: Windows 10 or later.
• Internet Connection: Required for downloading the Ollama installer and models.

Step-by-Step Installation

Download the Installer:

• Visit the Ollama Download Page and click on the “Download for Windows” button. This will download the Ollama installer to your machine.

Run the Installer:

• Locate the downloaded installer file (usually in your Downloads folder) and double-click it to start the installation process.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. The installer will guide you through the necessary steps, including accepting the license agreement and selecting the installation directory.

Verify Installation:

• Once the installation is complete, open a command prompt (you can do this by pressing Win + R, typing cmd, and pressing Enter).
• Type the following command to ensure Ollama is installed correctly:

ollama version

• If everything is set up correctly, this command will display the version of Ollama installed on your system.

Installing Ollama on Linux

Prerequisites

• Operating System: Any modern Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu, Fedora).
• Internet Connection: Required for downloading the Ollama package and models.

Step-by-Step Installation

Download the Ollama Package:

• Open a terminal and run the following command to download the Ollama package:

curl -O https://ollama.com/download/ollama-linux-amd64.tar.gz

Extract the Package:

• Extract the downloaded package using the following command:

tar -xvf ollama-linux-amd64.tar.gz

Install Ollama:

• Move the extracted binary to a directory in your PATH. For example, you can move it to /usr/local/bin:

sudo mv ollama /usr/local/bin/

Verify Installation:

• Run the following command to check if Ollama is installed correctly:

ollama version

• This command should display the version of Ollama installed on your system.

Downloading and Running a Model

Once Ollama is installed, you can download and run models with just a few commands.

Downloading a Model

1.Download ** the Model**:

• Open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux) and run the following command to download the llama3.2:1b model:

ollama run llama3.2:1b

List Available Models:

• To see a list of all available models, use the following command:

ollama list

Testing the Model

To ensure that the model is working correctly, you can test it via the console.

Start the Ollama Server:

• Run the command following to start the Ollama server and load the model:

ollama start llama3.2:1b

Interact with the Model:

• After executing the command, you can interact with the model directly in the console. Type your prompts and view the responses directly in the terminal.

Conclusion

Ollama provides a seamless and user-friendly way to run large language models on your local machine. Whether you’re using Windows or Linux, the installation process is straightforward, and the platform offers powerful tools for managing and interacting with AI models. By following the steps outlined in this article, you should be able to get up and running with Ollama in no time. Happy experimenting!