D4-Ollama-Win-Service

Turn Ollama into a real Windows service that runs 24/7 without any headaches!

Windows Service installation and management for Ollama using NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager).

Overview

ollama.exe does not implement the Windows Service Control Manager (SCM) interface and cannot run as a native Windows service. NSSM acts as the service binary, spawning and managing ollama.exe and handling all SCM communication.

Native service error without NSSM: %%1053 - The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion

Files

• scripts/win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 — PowerShell service manager script

Quick Start

# Run as Administrator in PowerShell terminal
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install

Running without arguments displays built-in help.

Usage

Command	Requires Admin	Description
-Install	Yes	Download NSSM (if needed), install and start the service
-Uninstall	Yes	Stop and remove the service and firewall rule
-Start	Yes	Start the installed service
-Stop	Yes	Stop the running service
-Status	No	Display current service state

Install

# Default install (service name: ollama, port: 11434)
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install

# Custom port
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install -Port 8080

# Custom model storage directory
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install -ModelPath "D:\OllamaModels"

# Custom ollama.exe path (auto-detected if omitted)
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install -OllamaPath "C:\Custom\ollama.exe"

# All options
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install -ServiceName "myollama" -Port 8080 -ModelPath "D:\OllamaModels"

Start / Stop / Status

# Start the service (requires Admin)
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Start

# Stop the service (requires Admin)
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Stop

# Check service status (no Admin required)
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Status

Uninstall

# Run as Administrator in PowerShell terminal
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Uninstall

# Uninstall a custom-named service
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Uninstall -ServiceName "myollama"

Note: Uninstall removes the Windows service and firewall rule. C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe is intentionally left in place — NSSM may be used by other services. Remove it manually if no longer needed.

Parameters

Parameter	Used with	Default	Description
-Install	—	—	Install and start the service
-Uninstall	—	—	Stop and remove the service
-Start	—	—	Start the installed service
-Stop	—	—	Stop the running service
-Status	—	—	Display current service status
-ServiceName	all	ollama	Windows service name
-DisplayName	-Install	Ollama Service	Display name shown in Services
-Port	-Install, -Uninstall	11434	Listening port (sets OLLAMA_HOST)
-ModelPath	-Install	(auto)	Custom model storage directory
-OllamaPath	-Install	(auto-detected)	Full path to ollama.exe
-NssmPath	all	C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe	Path to nssm.exe
-Silent	all	—	Suppress console output

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 or Windows Server 2016+
• PowerShell 5.1+ (run as Administrator for install/uninstall/start/stop)
• Ollama installed
• Internet connection (for automatic NSSM download, only if C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe is not already present)

Features

• Automatic NSSM download → installed to C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe (stable across repo moves)
• Auto-detects ollama.exe installation path
• Configurable port, service name, model path, custom NSSM path (-NssmPath)
• Inbound firewall rule created automatically
• Logs written to C:\ProgramData\Ollama\ with 1 MB rotation
• Retry logic for service start/stop operations
• Built-in help — running without arguments shows usage
• Argument validation — invalid combinations show help and exit

NSSM Setup

Option 1: Automatic Download (Recommended)

If nssm.exe is not found at C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe, -Install automatically downloads it from https://nssm.cc/release/nssm-2.24.zip and installs it there.

Option 2: Manual

1. Download NSSM from https://nssm.cc/download
2. Place nssm.exe at C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe
3. Run .\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install

Custom NSSM location

.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Install -NssmPath "D:\Tools\nssm.exe"

File Locations

File	Path
nssm.exe	C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe
Install log	C:\ProgramData\Ollama\OllamaServiceInstall.log
Service stdout	C:\ProgramData\Ollama\logs\ollama-stdout.log
Service stderr	C:\ProgramData\Ollama\logs\ollama-stderr.log

Service logs rotate automatically at 1 MB.

# View recent service output
Get-Content "$env:ProgramData\Ollama\logs\ollama-stdout.log" -Tail 50
Get-Content "$env:ProgramData\Ollama\logs\ollama-stderr.log" -Tail 50

# View install log
Get-Content "$env:ProgramData\Ollama\OllamaServiceInstall.log" -Tail 50

How It Works

1. NSSM wraps ollama.exe — NSSM runs as the Windows service and manages the ollama serve process
2. Environment variables — Sets OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:<port> and optionally OLLAMA_MODELS
3. Auto-restart — NSSM restarts ollama.exe automatically if it crashes
4. Log rotation — Logs rotate at 1 MB automatically
5. Firewall rule — An inbound TCP rule is created for the configured port

• Ollama service will always listen to 0.0.0.0, that is to all network interfaces, and the port 11434 or the port specified in the install command.

• Models are stored by default in C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\.ollama\models or the path specified in the install command.

Troubleshooting

Service won't start

.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Status
Get-Content "$env:ProgramData\Ollama\logs\ollama-stderr.log" -Tail 50

Port already in use

# Find what is using the port
netstat -ano | findstr :11434

# Stop any stray Ollama processes
Get-Process ollama -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

# Restart the service
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Stop
.\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Start

Move or re-clone the repo without breaking the service

Because nssm.exe is installed at C:\Program Files\NSSM\nssm.exe (not next to the script), the running service is unaffected if you move, delete, or re-clone the repository. The service keeps running — only the management script location changes.

# After re-cloning to a new path, manage the service from the new location
.\new\path\d4-ollama-win-service\scripts\win_ollama_service_install_nssm.ps1 -Status

Verify Ollama is responding

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:11434/api/tags" -Method GET

Comparison: Native Service vs NSSM

Feature	Native Windows Service	NSSM Wrapper
Works with ollama.exe	❌ Times out	✅ Yes
Auto-restart on crash	⚠️ Limited	✅ Full support
Log capture + rotation	❌ Manual	✅ Automatic
Environment variables	⚠️ Registry edits	✅ Built-in
Easy configuration	⚠️ Complex	✅ Script parameters

Additional Resources

• NSSM Documentation: https://nssm.cc/usage
• Ollama Documentation: https://github.com/ollama/ollama

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.