This guide documents how to install and manage Ollama on macOS, using DeepSeek R1 as an example.

Tested Environment: macOS Sequoia (Apple M4/M2)

Install Ollama

Install Ollama using Homebrew:

brew install ollama

Once the installation is complete, verify it by running:

ollama version

Manage the Ollama service using Homebrew

If the ollama command is not recognized, you may need to manually start the service.

Check active Homebrew services:

brew services list

Start the Ollama service:

brew services start ollama

Stop the Ollama service:

brew services stop ollama

Ollama commands

Commonly used Ollama commands, using the DeepSeek R1 (7B) model as an example.

Pull the model:

ollama pull deepseek-r1:7b

Run the model (automatically pulls if not already downloaded):

ollama run deepseek-r1:7b

Stop the model:

ollama stop deepseek-r1:7b

Delete the model:

ollama rm deepseek-r1:7b

References

Ollama on Homebrew

Ollama models