This chapter is for everyone.

Downloading Models

NeuralDrive provides four primary methods for downloading and managing LLMs. Regardless of the method used, all models are stored in a central location on the persistent partition of your drive.

1. Web Interface (Open WebUI)

The most user-friendly method is through the Open WebUI.

Navigate to the Models page in the web interface.
Enter the name of the model you wish to pull (e.g., llama3.1:8b).
Click the download icon.
You can monitor the download progress directly in the web UI.

2. Terminal User Interface (TUI)

The TUI provides a fast, keyboard-driven way to manage models without opening a browser.

From the main dashboard, press M to enter the Models screen.
Press P to initiate a Pull Model command.
Enter the model string and press Enter.
The TUI displays a progress bar and allows you to cancel if needed.

3. Command Line Interface (CLI)

For power users and automated scripts, you can use the Ollama CLI directly from any terminal session.

ollama pull <model_name>

Example:

ollama pull qwen2.5:3b

4. API Request

NeuralDrive's underlying Ollama service exposes an API that can be used to programmatically trigger downloads.

curl -X POST http://localhost:11434/api/pull -d '{"name": "phi3:mini"}'

Storage Location and Progress

All model data is stored in the following path on the persistence partition: /var/lib/neuraldrive/models/

Specifically:

Blobs: Actual model weights are stored in /var/lib/neuraldrive/models/blobs/.
Manifests: Metadata about the models is stored in /var/lib/neuraldrive/models/manifests/.