To back up Ollama on a Linux VPS, stop the Ollama service, copy the entire active model directory with its blobs and metadata, preserve ownership and filesystem attributes, then restart and test the service. A standard Linux service installation stores models in /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models. If the service uses OLLAMA_MODELS, back up that custom directory instead.
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This procedure lets you restore models without downloading them again, move them to a larger disk, and keep your VPS root volume from filling up.
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Do not assume that a model label such as llama3 is a complete backup. Ollama maintains a store containing manifests, metadata, and content-addressed blob files. The complete directory is required for a reliable restore.
Standard installation path
With the standard Linux service installation and no override, the model store is:
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/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/modelsThe service normally runs under the dedicated ollama account. That account must be able to read and write the model directory.
Check for a custom OLLAMA_MODELS setting
A custom OLLAMA_MODELS value changes the location. Environment settings can be defined in the unit file or in a systemd drop-in, so inspect the service rather than relying on the environment of your interactive shell:
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systemctl cat ollama.service
systemctl show ollama --property=EnvironmentLook for an entry such as OLLAMA_MODELS=/mnt/models/ollama. Use that path as the source for every backup and restore command. If no override is present, use /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models.
Record the configuration before changing anything
Save the details needed to reproduce the installation:
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systemctl show ollama --property=Environment
findmnt -T /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models
df -h /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models
du -sh /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/modelsReplace the path in the last two commands if OLLAMA_MODELS points elsewhere. Record the Ollama version, active model path, backup time in UTC, destination filesystem, and available free space. There is no universal backup-size or recovery-time figure: model collections differ, so measure the directory you own.
Prepare a safe backup destination
Use a mounted disk, a separate VPS volume, or removable/off-site storage with more free capacity than the source directory. Check that the destination is mounted before copying; otherwise a copy can silently land on the VPS root filesystem and exhaust it.
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findmnt /mnt/backup
df -h /mnt/backupCreate a dedicated destination directory:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/backup/ollama-modelsA backup should survive a failure of the VPS disk. Keep at least one additional copy in a different failure domain, such as an encrypted off-site copy. Protect removable and off-site media with encryption, and keep storage credentials separate from the backup itself. Never publish the model directory through a public HTTP server.
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Back up the model store step by step
1. Stop Ollama before a filesystem copy
Stopping the service prevents files from changing while the copy is in progress. This is a consistency precaution for filesystem-level backups:
sudo systemctl stop ollama
sudo systemctl is-active ollamaThe second command should report inactive. If it still reports active, investigate the service status before copying.
2. Copy every subdirectory and preserve metadata
rsync is convenient for a repeatable directory copy. The trailing slash on the source means “copy the contents of this directory” rather than creating an extra nested models directory:
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/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/
/mnt/backup/ollama-models/If the service uses a custom path, replace /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/ with the directory shown by OLLAMA_MODELS. The options preserve ownership, permissions, hard links, ACLs, extended attributes, and timestamps; --numeric-ids records numeric owners instead of remapping them by name.
3. Use an archive when rsync is unavailable
An archive is useful when moving one self-contained backup file to another system:
sudo tar --xattrs --acls -czf /mnt/backup/ollama-models-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ).tar.gz
-C /usr/share/ollama/.ollama modelsFor a custom model directory, change the -C argument to its parent directory and keep the final directory name as the archive member. Ensure the destination has enough free space for both the archive and any temporary filesystem overhead.
4. Verify the copy while Ollama is still stopped
Run an rsync dry run against the destination. With no changes expected, it should produce no file-transfer list:
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sudo rsync -aHAXn --delete --numeric-ids
/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/
/mnt/backup/ollama-models/For a custom path, substitute that path in the source position. Also compare the apparent sizes:
sudo du -sh /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models
sudo du -sh /mnt/backup/ollama-modelsA dry run checks what rsync would change; it is not a cryptographic proof that every storage device is healthy. If your operational policy requires checksums, perform a checksum pass before deleting or overwriting the original. Keep the original model directory until the backup has passed validation.
5. Start Ollama and validate the live installation
sudo systemctl start ollama
sudo systemctl status ollama --no-pager
ollama listThe model names listed after the restart should match the pre-backup inventory. Exercise one known-installed model with a small request:
ollama run MODEL_NAME 'Reply with the word OK.'Replace MODEL_NAME with a name shown by ollama list. If startup fails, inspect the service log:
journalctl -u ollama --no-pager -n 100Choose between rsync and an archive
| Method | Best use | Important behavior |
|---|---|---|
rsync -aHAX --numeric-ids |
Repeatable backups to a mounted directory | Copies the complete tree and preserves ownership, modes, links, ACLs, extended attributes, and timestamps. A later run can transfer only differences. |
tar --xattrs --acls -czf |
One portable backup file | Packages the model tree for transport. Restore requires extracting it into the correct parent directory and then checking ownership. |
Neither utility is mandated by Ollama. They are operational choices; the essential requirements are a quiesced service, a complete model tree, preserved metadata, and a validation run.
Restore Ollama models without downloading them
Restore into the directory selected by the active service configuration. Do not delete the current directory at the start: moving it aside gives you a rollback path if the backup is incomplete or the path is wrong.
- Stop the service.
sudo systemctl stop ollama sudo systemctl is-active ollama - Move the current store aside. Use a timestamped name on the same filesystem so the operation is quick and reversible:
sudo mv /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models.before-restore-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ) sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/modelsReplace the path when
OLLAMA_MODELSis customized. - Restore the complete backup. For an rsync directory, copy its contents into the active model directory:
sudo rsync -aHAX --numeric-ids /mnt/backup/ollama-models/ /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/For an archive, extract it from the parent directory expected by the archive layout:
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sudo tar --xattrs --acls -xzf /mnt/backup/ollama-models-TIMESTAMP.tar.gz -C /usr/share/ollama/.ollama - Set ownership for the service account.
sudo chown -R ollama:ollama /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/modelsUse the actual custom directory if one is configured. Avoid making the store world-writable; grant only the service account and authorized administrators the access they need.
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sudo systemctl start ollama sudo systemctl status ollama --no-pager ollama list ollama run MODEL_NAME 'Reply with the word OK.' - Keep the old directory until validation succeeds. Once the model list and inference request work, retain or remove the old directory according to your retention policy. If validation fails, stop Ollama, move the restored directory aside, and put the pre-restore directory back in its original location.
Move models to a larger VPS volume or external disk
Moving the store is useful when model files would otherwise consume the VPS root volume. The destination must be mounted reliably before Ollama starts and writable by the ollama service account.
Copy the existing store to the mounted volume
Mount the new filesystem, create a directory, stop Ollama, and copy the complete tree:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/ollama-models
sudo systemctl stop ollama
sudo rsync -aHAX --numeric-ids
/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/
/mnt/ollama-models/Check the destination with a dry run before changing the service configuration:
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/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/
/mnt/ollama-models/Create a systemd drop-in
Open the service override editor:
sudo systemctl edit ollama.serviceAdd a [Service] section with the mounted path:
[Service]
Environment=OLLAMA_MODELS=/mnt/ollama-modelsSave and close the editor, then reload systemd and restart Ollama:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart ollamaConfirm that the service received the setting:
systemctl show ollama --property=Environment
ollama listRun the small inference check described above. Do not remove the original store until the new mount, permissions, model listing, and inference have all passed. If the disk is not mounted during boot, Ollama can start against an empty directory or fail, depending on the service and filesystem state; configure your VPS mount to be available before the service starts.
Fix ownership and mount permissions
After copying, make the service account the owner:
sudo chown -R ollama:ollama /mnt/ollama-modelsThen test access as the service account without exposing the directory to other users:
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sudo -u ollama test -r /mnt/ollama-models
sudo -u ollama test -w /mnt/ollama-modelsBoth tests should succeed. A restrictive mount or parent directory permission can still block access even when the model directory itself has the right owner, so check each parent directory if the tests fail.
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ollama list is empty after a restore
- Check the active service environment with
systemctl show ollama --property=Environment; the restored files may be in a different directory. - Verify that the backup contains the complete tree, including blob data and subdirectories, not merely a manually selected model label.
- Check ownership with
ls -ldand restoreollama:ollamaownership where appropriate. - Confirm that the intended filesystem is mounted and that the path is not an empty directory on the VPS root volume.
The service fails to start
Read the recent unit log and status output:
sudo systemctl status ollama --no-pager
journalctl -u ollama --no-pager -n 100Typical causes during a move are a missing mount, an incorrect drop-in path, a typo in OLLAMA_MODELS, or insufficient permissions. Correct the configuration, run sudo systemctl daemon-reload after editing the unit, and restart.
The copy reports permission or attribute errors
Run the copy as root and verify that the destination filesystem supports the metadata you intend to preserve. If a destination cannot represent ACLs or extended attributes, document that limitation rather than assuming the backup is equivalent. Check the rsync exit status and repeat the dry run after correcting the filesystem or command.
The VPS runs out of space
Stop the copy, check df -h on both filesystems, and remove only incomplete temporary data after confirming which directory is active. Never delete the original model store until a separate backup has been verified and the running service has passed its model-list and inference checks.
Retention and security practices
- Use least-privilege permissions and keep the model store inaccessible to untrusted users.
- Encrypt removable and off-site media. Store encryption keys or credentials separately from the backup.
- Keep copies on different failure domains; a second directory on the same physical disk does not protect against disk failure.
- Label each backup with its UTC timestamp, Ollama version, active model path, destination filesystem, and validation result.
- Schedule filesystem copies during a maintenance window in which Ollama can be stopped. An online copy can observe a changing store and should not be treated as equivalent to a quiesced backup unless you have a separate consistency mechanism.
- Periodically perform a test restore to a disposable directory or host. A backup that has never been restored is only an unverified copy.
What this method does and does not preserve
Copying the model directory preserves the locally installed model data, manifests, and blob files needed for Ollama to recognize and run those models. It does not automatically reproduce unrelated VPS configuration, firewall rules, systemd overrides, mount definitions, user accounts, application data, or secrets. Record the OLLAMA_MODELS setting and service configuration alongside the model backup, and back up other application data with its own procedure.
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Model collections can be very large, and their size depends on which models and variants you have installed. No authoritative universal backup-size statistic or recovery-time benchmark applies to every VPS, so use the measured du size, destination throughput, and your own restore test to set retention and maintenance windows.
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