The tool is named after Meta’s Llama LLM, but you can use it to download and run a wide variety of other models, including those from Google and Microsoft. All you need to do is download the installer, click the “Install” button, and type three words to pull up your chatbot of choice. It is a text-based interface — but chatbots are text-based interfaces already.
To install and use Ollama, head to the Ollama website. Download and run the installer for Windows PCs — it works on both Windows 10 and 11. (Ollama also runs on macOS and Linux.) Just run the setup file and click “Install” — it’s a simple, one-click process.
Once that’s done, you click the Ollama notification that appears. Or, you can just open a command-line window: Terminal, Command Prompt, or PowerShell will all work.
To do this, right-click your Start button or press Windows+X. Then, click the “Terminal,” “Command Prompt,” or “Windows PowerShell” option in the menu. To run the Llama2 AI model for which Ollama is named, just type the following command at the command line and press Enter: ollama run llama2
Chris Hoffman, IDG
That’s it! Ollama will do all the work, downloading the AI model and the files it requires. You’ll see a progress bar at the command line while it finishes the download.
It might take a few minutes to get what you need the first time; Ollama is downloading a few gigabytes of data (about 3.8 GB). So, much depends on the speed of your connection. When it’s ready, you’ll see the following line:
