Prerequisites

• Docker (opens in a new tab): Infernet Nodes execute containerized workflows. As such, installing and running (opens in a new tab) a modern version of Docker is a prerequisite, regardless of your choice of how to run the node.
• Python (opens in a new tab): Required for running the Infernet CLI. Must be Python 3.9 or higher, and include pip package manager.

Install CLI

In the terminal, run the following command to install the Infernet CLI:

pip install infernet-cli

Prepare Configuration

Set the DEPLOY_DIR environment variable to point to the directory that will store all relevant deployment files. The directory will be created if it doesn't exist, and defaults to ./deploy.

export DEPLOY_DIR=./deploy

Now pull a configuration tempate using the config command. This will create a partially filled config.json. In this example, we pull a template that connects to a local Anvil chain (opens in a new tab) instance, with Infernet SDK contracts predeployed (opens in a new tab).

infernet-cli config anvil --skip

You should expect output similar to the following:

Using configurations: 
  Chain = 'anvil'
  Version = '1.3.0'
  GPU support = disabled
  Output dir = 'deploy'

Stored base configurations to './deploy'.
To configure services:
  - Use `infernet-cli add-service`
  - Or edit config.json directly

Notice that the first argument specifies which chain to connect to, in this case a local anvil instance. The --skip flag skips optional configuration inputs, which aren't needed for demonstration purposes. As the output suggests, config.json is now stored in the deploy/ directory. You can edit it manually (see Configuration), or use the CLI to add services.

Add Services

Although our node is fully configured, it's not running any services yet. To add services, you can use the add-service command.

Official services

You can add any of Ritual's official services (opens in a new tab) via recipes (opens in a new tab), which greatly simplify configuration and deployment of containers. The complete list of service recipes can be found here (opens in a new tab).

For example, to add the onnx-inference service:

infernet-cli add-service onnx-inference --skip

You should expect output similar to the following:

Version not provided. Using latest version v2.0.0.
Successfully added service 'onnx-inference-2.0.0' to config.json.

Custom services

For custom container configurations, you can paste the raw JSON directly into the add-service command:

infernet-cli add-service

You will be prompted:

Enter service configuration JSON, followed by EOF:

You can then paste any valid JSON configuration, e.g.:

{
  "id": "onnx-inference-2.0.0",
  "image": "ritualnetwork/onnx_inference_service:2.0.0",
  "description": "ONNX Inference Service",
  "command": "--bind=0.0.0.0:3000 --workers=2",
  "env": {},
  "external": true,
  "gpu": false,
  "volumes": [],
  "allowed_addresses": [],
  "allowed_delegate_addresses": [],
  "allowed_ips": [],
  "accepted_payments": {},
  "generates_proofs": false
}

After pasting the JSON, press Ctrl+D (EOF) to submit it. You should see output similar to the following:

Successfully added service 'onnx-inference-2.0.0' to config.json.

Alternatively, you can edit the config.json directly:

{
  ...,
  containers: [
    ...,
    // TODO: Add the following JSON object to the containers array
    {
      "id": "onnx-inference-2.0.0",
      "image": "ritualnetwork/onnx_inference_service:2.0.0",
      "description": "ONNX Inference Service",
      "command": "--bind=0.0.0.0:3000 --workers=2",
      "env": {},
      "external": true,
      "gpu": false,
      "volumes": [],
      "allowed_addresses": [],
      "allowed_delegate_addresses": [],
      "allowed_ips": [],
      "accepted_payments": {},
      "generates_proofs": false
    }
  ]
}

Both examples above add the onnx-inference-2.0.0 service to the node, identical to the official service. Adding custom services requires familiarity with the container configuration options. As such, we recommend starting with official services.

Deploy Node

Your node is now fully configured. To deploy the node, use start:

infernet-cli start

Starting Infernet Node...
Containers started successfully.

To stop it, use stop:

infernet-cli stop

Stopping Infernet Node...
Containers stopped successfully.

For instance, to apply new node AND service configurations:

infernet-cli reset --services

Resetting Infernet Node...
Containers stopped successfully.
Destroying service containers...
Containers started successfully.

Congratulations!

Your Infernet Node is now running, and can fulfill requests to the onnx-inference-2.0.0 service. You can now interact with the node via the REST API.