Applies to SUSE AI Factory

2 How do I deploy SUSE AI Factory? #

You can install SUSE AI Factory on the Rancher Prime-enabled RKE2 Kubernetes cluster in the following ways:

on the command line by using the Helm command
using Rancher Prime UI

2.1 How do I install SUSE AI Factory using the Helm CLI? #

To install SUSE AI Factory on the command line using Helm, proceed as follows.

Identify the operator chart version number that you want to install. The latest version is 2.2.0.

Review the aif-operator Helm chart values.

> helm show values oci://ghcr.io/suse/chart/aif-operator \
  --version 2.2.0

Install SUSE AI Factory Operator. The installation can take a few minutes.

> helm install aif-operator \
  oci://ghcr.io/suse/chart/aif-operator:2.2.0 \
  --namespace aif-operator \
  --create-namespace

Verify that the operator is correctly installed and related pods running. The output should be similar to the following:

> kubectl get pods -A | grep aif \
aif-operator                aif-operator-7bf464987-mnrw5
cattle-ui-plugin-system     aif-ui-server-865c7fc84c-bmf7w

2.2 How do I install SUSE AI Factory using Rancher? #

To deploy SUSE AI Factory through the graphical interface, add the OCI repository and install the operator chart. This procedure walks you through setting up the repository endpoint and configuring the installation in the Rancher Prime UI.

Important

You must have Rancher Prime Administrator privileges to perform this task.

Add a new repository for SUSE AI Factory.
1. From the main left panel, select local › Apps › Repositories and click Create.
2. Select OCI Repository and enter your preferred repository name, for example, suse-aif-operator.
3. Enter oci://ghcr.io/suse/chart/aif-operator as an OCI repository URL.
4. Leave None for authentication type and confirm with Create.
Install the SUSE AI Operator application.
1. Navigate to Apps › Charts and select the new suse-aif-operator filter in the left repository panel.
2. Click Refresh all repositories and the aif-operator application tile appears.
3. Click the application’s tile and then the Install this version button.
4. Select the aif-operator namespace and specify name for the workload.
5. To customize detailed installation options, activate Customize Helm options before install. Confirm with Next.
6. Review or update the installation chart and install the application with the Install button in the bottom right. You can watch the installation progress in the newly opened log window.
7. Verify that the application is listed in Apps › Installed Apps.

2.3 Can I provide repository credentials during the SUSE AI Factory installation? #

To access applications and blueprints from SUSE Application Collection and SUSE Registry, you need to provide valid credentials. By default, you can configure the credentials after the SUSE AI Factory installation is complete as described in Chapter 3, Are there any post-deployment steps?.

However, you can specify the credentials during the SUSE AI Factory installation process as well. The result is identical—specifying credentials during the installation creates the secrets and configure the settings in Rancher Prime.

Warning

Storing credentials in a plain-text values YAML file poses a security risk. Always restrict the file permissions of your override files to prevent unauthorized local access. Avoid passing passwords directly in command-line arguments to prevent them from being recorded in your shell history.

For production environments, we recommend using secure secrets-management tools, such as the helm-secrets plug-in with Mozilla SOPS, or the External Secrets Operator.

Tip

User names for specific registries are preconfigured:

SUSE Registry uses regcode.
NVIDIA catalog uses $oauthtoken.

2.3.1 Providing registry credentials during Helm CLI installation #

Download and display the default values for the SUSE AI Factory installation.
```
> helm show values oci://ghcr.io/suse/chart/aif-operator --version 2.2.0
```
Create the aif-values.yaml file and restrict its permissions so that only you can read and write to it:
```
> touch aif-values.yaml && chmod 600 aif-values.yaml
```

Copy the section that deals with registry credentials into the file, for example:

credentials:
  # credential for oci://dp.apps.rancher.io/charts
  applicationCollection:
    username: ""
    password: ""
  # credential to pull NGC artifacts
  # e.g. https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia
  nvidia:
    username: "$oauthtoken"
    password: ""
  # credential for oci://registry.suse.com/ai/charts
  suseRegistry:
    username: "regcode"
    password: ""

Provide the credentials to individual registries in the related username: and password: fields.
Save the file and install SUSE AI Factory as described in Section 2.1, “How do I install SUSE AI Factory using the Helm CLI?” by specifying the override file, for example:
```
> helm install aif-operator \
  oci://ghcr.io/suse/chart/aif-operator:2.2.0 \
  --namespace aif-operator \
  --create-namespace \
  -f aif-values.yaml
```

2.3.2 Providing registry credentials during installation in SUSE Rancher Prime #

Important

You must have Rancher Prime Administrator privileges to perform this task.

Start the SUSE AI Factory installation as described in Section 2.2, “How do I install SUSE AI Factory using Rancher?”.
On the installation screen, activate Customize Helm options before install.

Update the part of the installation chart that deals with registry credentials by providing credentials to individual registries.

credentials:
  # credential for oci://dp.apps.rancher.io/charts
  applicationCollection:
    username: ""
    password: ""
  # credential to pull NGC artifacts
  # e.g. https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia
  nvidia:
    username: "$oauthtoken"
    password: ""
  # credential for oci://registry.suse.com/ai/charts
  suseRegistry:
    username: "regcode"
    password: ""

Continue the installation by clicking the Install button in the bottom right.