ramalama 1

NAME

ramalama - Simple management tool for working with AI Models

SYNOPSIS

ramalama [options] command

DESCRIPTION

RamaLama : The goal of RamaLama is to make AI boring.

RamaLama tool facilitates local management and serving of AI Models.

On first run RamaLama inspects your system for GPU support, falling back to CPU support if no GPUs are present.

RamaLama uses container engines like Podman or Docker to pull the appropriate OCI image with all of the software necessary to run an AI Model for your systems setup.

Running in containers eliminates the need for users to configure the host system for AI. After the initialization, RamaLama runs the AI Models within a container based on the OCI image.

RamaLama pulls AI Models from model registries. Starting a chatbot or a rest API service from a simple single command. Models are treated similarly to how Podman and Docker treat container images.

When both Podman and Docker are installed, RamaLama defaults to Podman, The RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE=docker environment variable can override this behaviour. When neither are installed RamaLama attempts to run the model with software on the local system.

Note:

On Macs with Arm support and Podman, the Podman machine must be configured to use the krunkit VM Type. This allows the Mac's GPU to be used within the VM.

Default settings for flags are defined in ramalama.conf(5).

SECURITY

  Test and run your models more securely

Because RamaLama defaults to running AI models inside of rootless containers using Podman on Docker. These containers isolate the AI models from information on the underlying host. With RamaLama containers, the AI model is mounted as a volume into the container in read/only mode. This results in the process running the model, llama.cpp or vLLM, being isolated from the host. In addition, since ramalama run uses the --network=none option, the container can not reach the network and leak any information out of the system. Finally, containers are run with --rm options which means that any content written during the running of the container is wiped out when the application exits.

  Here’s how RamaLama delivers a robust security footprint:

    ✅ Container Isolation – AI models run within isolated containers, preventing direct access to the host system.
    ✅ Read-Only Volume Mounts – The AI model is mounted in read-only mode, meaning that processes inside the container cannot modify host files.
    ✅ No Network Access – ramalama run is executed with --network=none, meaning the model has no outbound connectivity for which information can be leaked.
    ✅ Auto-Cleanup – Containers run with --rm, wiping out any temporary data once the session ends.
    ✅ Drop All Linux Capabilities – No access to Linux capabilities to attack the underlying host.
    ✅ No New Privileges – Linux Kernel feature which disables container processes from gaining additional privileges.

MODEL TRANSPORTS

RamaLama supports multiple AI model registries types called transports. Supported transports:
Transports | Prefix | Web Site
URL based | https://, http://, file:// | https://web.site/ai.model, file://tmp/ai.model
HuggingFace | huggingface://, hf://, hf.co/ | huggingface.co
Ollama | ollama:// | ollama.com
OCI Container Registries | oci:// | opencontainers.org
 |  | Examples: quay.io, Docker Hub,Artifactory

RamaLama uses to the Ollama registry transport. This default can be overridden in the ramalama.conf file or via the RAMALAMA_TRANSPORTS environment. export RAMALAMA_TRANSPORT=huggingface Changes RamaLama to use huggingface transport.

Modify individual model transports by specifying the huggingface://, oci://, ollama://, https://, http://, file:// prefix to the model.

URL support means if a model is on a web site or even on your local system, you can run it directly.

ramalama pull huggingface://afrideva/Tiny-Vicuna-1B-GGUF/tiny-vicuna-1b.q2_k.gguf

ramalama run file://$HOME/granite-7b-lab-Q4_K_M.gguf

To make it easier for users, RamaLama uses shortname files, which container alias names for fully specified AI Models allowing users to specify the shorter names when referring to models. RamaLama reads shortnames.conf files if they exist . These files contain a list of name value pairs for specification of the model. The following table specifies the order which RamaLama reads the files
Shortnames type | Path
Distribution | /usr/share/ramalama/shortnames.conf
Local install | /usr/local/share/ramalama/shortnames.conf
Administrators | /etc/ramamala/shortnames.conf
Users | $HOME/.config/ramalama/shortnames.conf

    $ cat /usr/share/ramalama/shortnames.conf
    [shortnames]
      "tiny" = "ollama://tinyllama"
      "granite" = "huggingface://instructlab/granite-7b-lab-GGUF/granite-7b-lab-Q4_K_M.gguf"
      "granite:7b" = "huggingface://instructlab/granite-7b-lab-GGUF/granite-7b-lab-Q4_K_M.gguf"
      "ibm/granite" = "huggingface://instructlab/granite-7b-lab-GGUF/granite-7b-lab-Q4_K_M.gguf"
      "merlinite" = "huggingface://instructlab/merlinite-7b-lab-GGUF/merlinite-7b-lab-Q4_K_M.gguf"
      "merlinite:7b" = "huggingface://instructlab/merlinite-7b-lab-GGUF/merlinite-7b-lab-Q4_K_M.gguf"

ramalama [GLOBAL OPTIONS]

GLOBAL OPTIONS

  --container

run RamaLama in the default container. Default is true unless overridden in the ramalama.conf file. The environment variable "RAMALAMA_IN_CONTAINER=false" can also change the default.

  --debug

print debug messages

  --dryrun

show container runtime command without executing it (default: False)

  --engine

run RamaLama using the specified container engine. Default is podman if installed otherwise docker. The default can be overridden in the ramalama.conf file or via the RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE environment variable.

  --help, -h

show this help message and exit

  --image=IMAGE

OCI container image to run with specified AI model. By default RamaLama uses quay.io/ramalama/ramalama:latest. The --image option allows users to override the default.

The default can be overridden in the ramalama.conf file or via the RAMALAMA_IMAGE environment variable. export RAMALAMA_TRANSPORT=quay.io/ramalama/aiimage:latest tells RamaLama to use the quay.io/ramalama/aiimage:latest image.

  --keep-groups

pass --group-add keep-groups to podman (default: False) Needed to access the gpu on some systems, but has an impact on security, use with caution.

  --nocontainer

do not run RamaLama in the default container (default: False) The default can be overridden in the ramalama.conf file.

  --quiet

Decrease output verbosity.

  --runtime=llama.cpp | vllm

specify the runtime to use, valid options are 'llama.cpp' and 'vllm' (default: llama.cpp) The default can be overridden in the ramalama.conf file.

  --store=STORE

store AI Models in the specified directory (default rootless: $HOME/.local/share/ramalama, default rootful: /var/lib/ramalama) The default can be overridden in the ramalama.conf file.

COMMANDS
Command | Description
ramalama-bench(1) | benchmark specified AI Model
ramalama-containers(1) | list all RamaLama containers
ramalama-convert(1) | convert AI Models from local storage to OCI Image
ramalama-info(1) | display RamaLama configuration information
ramalama-inspect(1) | inspect the specified AI Model
ramalama-list(1) | list all downloaded AI Models
ramalama-login(1) | login to remote registry
ramalama-logout(1) | logout from remote registry
ramalama-perplexity(1) | calculate the perplexity value of an AI Model
ramalama-pull(1) | pull AI Models from Model registries to local storage
ramalama-push(1) | push AI Models from local storage to remote registries
ramalama-rag(1) | generate and convert Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) data from provided documents into an OCI Image
ramalama-rm(1) | remove AI Models from local storage
ramalama-run(1) | run specified AI Model as a chatbot
ramalama-serve(1) | serve REST API on specified AI Model
ramalama-stop(1) | stop named container that is running AI Model
ramalama-version(1) | display version of RamaLama

CONFIGURATION FILES

ramalama.conf (/usr/share/ramalama/ramalama.conf, /etc/ramalama/ramalama.conf, $HOME/.config/ramalama/ramalama.conf)

RamaLama has builtin defaults for command line options. These defaults can be overridden using the ramalama.conf configuration files.

Distributions ship the /usr/share/ramalama/ramalama.conf file with their default settings. Administrators can override fields in this file by creating the /etc/ramalama/ramalama.conf file. Users can further modify defaults by creating the $HOME/.config/ramalama/ramalama.conf file. RamaLama merges its builtin defaults with the specified fields from these files, if they exist. Fields specified in the users file override the administrator's file, which overrides the distribution's file, which override the built-in defaults.

RamaLama uses builtin defaults if no ramalama.conf file is found.

If the RAMALAMA_CONFIG environment variable is set, then its value is used for the ramalama.conf file rather than the default.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

RamaLama default behaviour can also be overridden via environment variables, although the recommended way is to use the ramalama.conf file.
ENV Name | Description
RAMALAMA_CONFIG | specific configuration file to be used
RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE | container engine (Podman/Docker) to use
RAMALAMA_FORCE_EMOJI | define whether ramalama run uses EMOJI
RAMALAMA_IMAGE | container image to use for serving AI Model
RAMALAMA_IN_CONTAINER | Run RamaLama in the default container
RAMALAMA_STORE | location to store AI Models
RAMALAMA_TRANSPORT | default AI Model transport (ollama, huggingface, OCI)

SEE ALSO

podman(1), docker(1), ramalama.conf(5)

HISTORY

Aug 2024, Originally compiled by Dan Walsh ⟨dwalsh@redhat.com⟩