Setting Up Environment Variables for Ollama

What Are Environment Variables?

Why Set Environment Variables?

• Customize settings for model storage locations.
• Manage service configurations like host addresses.
• Optimize performance by setting up GPU usage options.
• Control the behavior of Ollama server when it communicates across networks.
• Ensure that your environment is secure & efficient for running LLMs.

Key Environment Variables for Ollama

• 1 OLLAMA_HOST
  : This variable specifies which IP address Ollama server will bind to. By default, it's set to
  1 127.0.0.1
  , which means it will only listen to local requests. If you want it accessible over your whole network, you must set this to
  1 0.0.0.0
  .
• 1 OLLAMA_MODELS
  : Designates where your models will be stored on disk. By default, Ollama saves them in a user-specific directory (like
  1 ~/.ollama/models
  on Linux or
  1 C:\Users\<Username>\.ollama\models
  on Windows).
• 1 OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE
  : If you'd like your models to remain loaded in memory longer than the default time, this variable can be adjusted to control the model's lifespan in memory.
• 1 OLLAMA_MAX_QUEUE
  : Controls how many concurrent requests the Ollama server can handle at once, preventing your server from getting overloaded.
• 1 OLLAMA_NUM_PARALLEL
  : Defines how many requests can be processed at the same time, letting you squeeze out more performance when you have available resources.

Setting Environment Variables on Different Platforms

On macOS

1. Open your terminal.
2. Use the following command to set a variable:
   1 2 bash launchctl setenv OLLAMA_HOST "0.0.0.0"
3. Restart the Ollama application to apply changes.

4. Make sure to source your file afterward:
   1 2 bash source ~/.bash_profile

On Linux

1. Edit the
   1 ollama.service
   file:
   1 2 bash sudo systemctl edit ollama.service
2. Add the following to define environment variables:
   1 2 3 ini [Service] Environment="OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0"
3. Save & exit, then reload the systemd configuration:
   1 2 3 bash sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl restart ollama

4. Make sure to verify your settings using:
   1 2 bash echo $OLLAMA_HOST

On Windows

1. Quit Ollama by right-clicking the application icon in the taskbar.
2. Go to Settings (Windows 11) or Control Panel (Windows 10), search for environment variables and click Edit environment variables for your account.
3. Here, you can add new variables like:
   • Variable Name:
     1 OLLAMA_HOST
   • Variable Value:
     1 0.0.0.0
4. Alternatively, you can use the Command Prompt to set it like this:
   1 2 cmd setx OLLAMA_HOST "0.0.0.0"
5. Restart Ollama application and verify settings.

Using Docker

Best Practices for Managing Environment Variables

• Documentation: Keep a record of what each environment variable does for future reference. This will help if you later need to update or debug your configurations.
• Separation of Concerns: If you're working on multiple projects, try to keep your environment variables organized by project. This can prevent conflicts and confusion later on.
• Security: Ensure sensitive information (like API keys) is not hardcoded in your applications but passed as environment variables instead.
• Testing: After setting the variables, always run tests to confirm they’re configured as expected. You can use scripts to automate testing.

Conclusion

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