Lite Installation

This tutorial walks you through setting up, configuring, and running a NEPI Docker Lite Installation on a supported device.

Supported devices: Ubuntu PC, NVIDIA Jetson

NEPI Docker Lite Installations are recommended for PC-based installations, trial Edge-Compute processor installations, and NEPI Software development. With fully automated NEPI Docker setup processes, it is also recommended for non-experienced Linux users.

After testing with the Lite installation, you can upgrade your system to a Full installation for production deployments with support for both local and remote real-time management of operating system services through User Interface and API controls. See the NEPI Docker Full Setup instructions.

Note: NEPI Docker installation will require a minimum of 30 GB of available free hard drive space on your device. See the Check Available Disk Space section at the end of these instructions for more information.

NEPI Docker Lite Setup

Log into a user account on the device with 'Administrator' privileges. Open a Terminal window by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting the "Open in Terminal" option.

Make sure your system has internet access by running the following command:

ping -c 1 google.com

Update Git application:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git

Clone the NEPI Setup repo:

cd /home/${USER}
git clone https://github.com/nepi-engine/nepi_setup.git

Run the NEPI Docker Lite setup script:

cd /home/${USER}/nepi_setup/scripts

Then, if prompted, enter y or yes:

source ./docker_lite_setup.sh

This step will configure the NEPI Docker installation using the default settings. You can change settings later in the NEPI Docker Customization section.

This process will create (if not already created) and set up the following NEPI folders:

NEPI Storage folder at /mnt/nepi_storage, along with several user subfolders where NEPI processes store user files such as:
- data - Saved Data
- ai_models - AI models
- nepi_images - Import/Export Docker Images
- user_cfg - User Saved Configurations
NEPI Config folder at /mnt/nepi_config, along with several config subfolders.

Note: After this process, the following changes will be made:

NEPI bash alias and utility functions added to the user bash profile.
NEPI folder shortcuts added to File Manager folder bookmarks.
Chromium browser updated with useful NEPI browser bookmarks.

Power cycle your system when complete.

NEPI Docker Init Setup

Log back into the user account on the device with 'Administrator' privileges.

Check for internet connection:

ping -c 1 google.com

Run the NEPI Docker Storage Initialization script:

source ~/nepi_setup/scripts/docker_storage_init.sh

Run the NEPI Docker Image Initialization script:

Note: This step can take a long time as it involves downloading several large files from the internet.

source ~/nepi_setup/scripts/docker_image_init.sh

After the import completes, you can print the current installed NEPI Docker Image by typing:

dimg

NEPI Docker Image Testing

Refresh your .bashrc file:

sbrc

Start your NEPI container running:

nepistart

The start script will let you know if the installed NEPI Image started successfully.

Note: Some useful NEPI Docker command line shortcuts are:

nepistart = Start the NEPI docker container.
nepidev = Start the NEPI docker container in a dev mode with no processes running, and an OPTIONAL_RUN_COMMAND.
nepistop = Stop the running NEPI docker container.
nepilogin = Log into the running NEPI container as user 'nepi'.
nepiloginroot = Log into the running NEPI container as user 'root'.
nepiswitch = Switch to Inactive NEPI container on next boot or restart.
nepicommit = Commit the running NEPI container with provided COMMIT_DESCRIPTION.
nepiinit = Reset, clear, and import new NEPI Image.
nepiimport = Import a NEPI image .tar file.
nepiexport = Export the running NEPI container to a .tar file.
nepiload = Import a NEPI image .archive.tar file.
nepisave = Save the active NEPI Image with all commits to a .archive.tar file.
nepitag = Update the Software Description field in the active NEPI container.
nepienable = Enable NEPI Docker service on next boot.
nepidisable = Disable NEPI Docker service on next boot.
nepirestart = Restart NEPI docker service.
nepistatus = Show the systemctl status for nepi_docker service.
nepilogs = Show live NEPI Docker service journal file.
nepibld = Build or Update the NEPI Docker File System from source code.
nepiupdate = Run NEPI Docker bash, folders, files, and config update processes.
nepicreate = Export and Import a new NEPI Docker Image from running container.
nepiprint = Print current NEPI DOCKER and SYSTEM configuration settings.

# Type nepihelp to see all NEPI Software command line shortcuts

Open Chromium web browser. Check that the NEPI Resident User Interface (RUI) is running by opening the Chromium browser and entering the following in the search bar:

localhost:5003

This will take you to the NEPI RUI dashboard. Once the NEPI core software system is running, you should see a blinking green indicator and messages.

You can also access the NEPI admin page for managing NEPI software configurations by entering the following in the search bar:

localhost:5003/admin

The default admin password is: nepiadmin

Note: If you encounter any issues starting and running the NEPI Software container, see the debugging steps in the NEPI Docker Debugging section at the end of this document.

NEPI Docker Host Config Setup

While most NEPI device settings like static, alias, and NTP IP addresses are configurable in real-time through the RUI (Resident User Interface), some settings such as User Password, Folders, and SSH Keys must be configured prior to run-time. You may also want to Factory Reset a NEPI Docker configuration.

Run the NEPI Docker Host configuration script by typing:

nepisetup

Make any changes you want using the menu options presented, then choose 'APPLY SETTINGS' to apply changes, or 'FACTORY RESET' to factory reset your installation.

Note: The NEPI System Configuration file is located at /mnt/nepi_config/system_cfg/etc/nepi_system_config.yaml. For production environments, you can replace this file with a production-ready file, or create a custom production script that makes any required changes.

Note: If you want to set up your device to support both NEPI Docker Host mode and NEPI Remote Dev System modes, you can switch between these modes by typing nepisetup_remote and nepisetup_host respectively.

NEPI Software Tutorials

Learn more about using and configuring the NEPI software, as well as building and deploying custom AI models at nepi.com.

See the documentation, tutorials, videos, and community forum available at NEPI.com: NEPI Website

NEPI Software Customization

You can update or customize the NEPI software running in a NEPI Docker Container from source code, then export it as a new sharable NEPI Docker Container.

See NEPI Software Build and Customize instructions at NEPI Software Build.

Check Available Disk Space

Before proceeding, make sure your device has the minimum free space (60 GB) required for NEPI Docker installation and run-time processes.

Note: If you don't have the minimum required free space to proceed, there are several options available:

Delete unneeded files and clean your current file system to open up additional free space.
Upgrade to a larger SSD by cloning your current SSD to a larger SSD hard drive using an SSD clone device that supports cloning to larger disks, then run gparted to increase your file system's available space.

NEPI Docker Debugging

If your NEPI Image failed to start, you can try to run it in a dev mode without any NEPI services started:

nepidev

Then log into the running NEPI container to check NEPI process statuses:

nepilogin

Once inside the container, start the NEPI services running:

/nepi_start_all

Check running statuses:

nepistatus

If any services are not running, examine the process messages with one of the following commands:

nepistatus_engine
nepistatus_rui
nepistatus_license
nepistatus_ssh

To debug issues with the core NEPI Engine software process, you can start and stop NEPI Engine to visually look for run-time errors:

nepistop
nepistart

Note: Some additional NEPI Software command line shortcuts (run inside the container):

nepihome = change to NEPI home dir
nepistart = start the NEPI processes
nepistop = stop the NEPI processes
nepibld = Build NEPI bash, config, code repos, and RUI
codebld = Build NEPI code repos only
ruibld = Build the RUI only
nepistatus = Print running status of all NEPI processes
nepistatus_engine = Print tail of nepi_engine process
nepistatus_rui = Print tail of nepi_rui process
nepistatus_license = Print tail of nepi_license process
nepistatus_ssh = Print tail of nepi_ssh process