How to install Ollama on the Raspberry Pi 5

Ollama is a framework that lets you run powerful AI models directly on your Pi, for tasks like text generation and translation.

Written By: Cherie Tan

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Have you ever wanted to experiment with powerful artificial intelligence models but lacked the resources for cloud computing? Ollama offers a solution! This framework allows you to run large language models (LLMs) directly on your Raspberry Pi 5, opening doors for exciting projects and exploration.

Step 1 Update your system

Open the terminal window on your Raspberry Pi.
Type the following command and press Enter:

sudo apt update

Note: Ensure your Raspberry Pi is running a 64-bit operating system. Ollama won't work on 32-bit systems.

This updates the list of available software packages. Next, type this command and press Enter:

sudo apt upgrade

Use code with caution.

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This upgrades your Raspberry Pi's software to the latest versions.

Step 2 Install curl

In the terminal window, type the following command and press Enter:

sudo apt install curl

This installs the curl package, which Ollama uses to download its installer.

Step 3 Download and Install Ollama

In the terminal window, type the following command and press Enter:

curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

This downloads the Ollama installation script and runs it automatically. The script will handle the installation process.

Note: Make sure you are using the latest Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm with 64-bit kernel + 64-bit OS. According to some users on Github, this has worked for them. Otherwise you may encounter an error: -bash: /usr/local/bin/ollama: cannot execute: required file not found

Step 4 Verify installation

In the terminal window, type the following command and press Enter:

ollama --version

If Ollama is installed correctly, you'll see the installed version displayed in the terminal.

Congratulations! You've successfully installed Ollama on your Raspberry Pi.