Chapter 2. Initializing InstructLab

Procedure

1. Optional: You can view your machine’s information by running the following command:

   $ ilab system info

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2. Initialize InstructLab by running the following command:

   $ ilab config init

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3. The RHEL AI CLI starts setting up your environment and config.yaml file. The CLI automatically detects your machine’s hardware and selects a system profile based on the GPU types. System profiles populate the config.yaml file with the proper parameter values based on your detected hardware.

   Example output of profile auto-detection

   Generating config file and profiles:
       /home/user/.config/instructlab/config.yaml
       /home/user/.local/share/instructlab/internal/system_profiles/
   
   We have detected the NVIDIA H100 X4 profile as an exact match for your system.
   
   --------------------------------------------
     Initialization completed successfully!
   You're ready to start using `ilab`. Enjoy!
   --------------------------------------------

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4. If the CLI does not detect an exact match for your system, you can manually select a system profile when prompted. Select your hardware vendor and configuration that matches your system.

   Example output of selecting system profiles

   Please choose a system profile to use.
   System profiles apply to all parts of the config file and set hardware specific defaults for each command.
   First, please select the hardware vendor your system falls into
   [0] NO SYSTEM PROFILE
   [1] NVIDIA
   Enter the number of your choice [0]: 4
   You selected: NVIDIA
   Next, please select the specific hardware configuration that most closely matches your system.
   [0] No system profile
   [1] NVIDIA H100 X2
   [2] NVIDIA H100 X8
   [3] NVIDIA H100 X4
   [4] NVIDIA L4 X8
   [5] NVIDIA A100 X2
   [6] NVIDIA A100 X8
   [7] NVIDIA A100 X4
   [8] NVIDIA L40S X4
   [9] NVIDIA L40S X8
   Enter the number of your choice [hit enter for hardware defaults] [0]: 3

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   Example output of a completed ilab config init run.

   You selected: /Users/<user>/.local/share/instructlab/internal/system_profiles/nvidia/H100/h100_x4.yaml
   
   --------------------------------------------
       Initialization completed successfully!
     You're ready to start using `ilab`. Enjoy!
   --------------------------------------------

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5. If you want to use the skeleton taxonomy tree, which includes two skills and one knowledge qna.yaml file, you can clone the skeleton repository and place it in the taxonomy directory by running the following command:

   rm -rf ~/.local/share/instructlab/taxonomy/ ; git clone https://github.com/RedHatOfficial/rhelai-sample-taxonomy.git ~/.local/share/instructlab/taxonomy/

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6. If the incorrect system profile is auto-detected, you can run the following command:

   $ ilab config init --profile <path-to-system-profile>

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   where

   <path-to-system-profile>

   Specify the path to the correct system profile. You can find the system profiles in the ~/.local/share/instructlab/internal/system_profiles path.

   Example profile selection command

   $ ilab config init --profile ~/.local/share/instructlab/internal/system_profiles/amd/mi300x/mi300x_x8.yaml

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Verification

1. You can view the full config.yaml file by running the following command

   $ ilab config show

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2. You can also manually edit the config.yaml file by running the following command:

   $ ilab config edit

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