feat: add configurable app directory with --appdir flag by shwetha-s-poojary · Pull Request #670 · IBM/project-ai-services

shwetha-s-poojary · 2026-04-24T11:20:46Z

What does this PR include?

Add --basedir flag to catalog configure and application create commands
Introduce constants.DefaultBaseDir as single source of truth for default path
Add early permission validation before any operations
Update all templates to use dynamic baseDir from values
Set AI_SERVICES_BASE_DIR environment variable for runtime path resolution
Update vars.ModelDirectory dynamically based on baseDir
Modify application templates to use {{ .Values.baseDir }}
Update test files to use constants.GetApplicationsPath()

Fixes: #625

Enables: Users to specify custom storage locations for AI services data

Results:

# ls /root
go  project-ai-services  shubham  test_no_write_perm
# ai-services catalog configure --basedir /root/shwetha --runtime podman
Enter admin password:
Confirm admin password:
No existing pods found for application: ai-services

 Executing Layer 1/3: [catalog-secret.yaml.tmpl]
-------
Processing template: catalog-secret.yaml.tmpl
⠹ Deploying catalog service...-------
-------

 Executing Layer 2/3: [catalog-db.yaml.tmpl]
-------
Processing template: catalog-db.yaml.tmpl
⠴ Deploying catalog service...'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db': Starting Pod Readiness check...
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db': Performing Containers Creation check for pod...
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db': Waiting for Containers Creation... Timeout set: 5m0s
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db': Containers creation check for pod is completed
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db', '3199f9b3e939-infra': Performing Container Readiness check...
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db', '3199f9b3e939-infra': Waiting for Container Readiness... Timeout set: 2m0s
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db', '3199f9b3e939-infra': Readiness Check for the container is completed!
-------
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db', 'ai-services--db-postgresql': Performing Container Readiness check...
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db', 'ai-services--db-postgresql': Waiting for Container Readiness... Timeout set: 2m30s
⠴ Deploying catalog service...'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db', 'ai-services--db-postgresql': Readiness Check for the container is completed!
-------
'catalog-db.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--db': Pod has been successfully deployed and ready!
-------
-------
-------

 Executing Layer 3/3: [catalog.yaml.tmpl]
-------
Processing template: catalog.yaml.tmpl
⠇ Deploying catalog service...'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog': Starting Pod Readiness check...
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog': Performing Containers Creation check for pod...
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog': Waiting for Containers Creation... Timeout set: 5m0s
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog': Containers creation check for pod is completed
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'e9fc9d787ec1-infra': Performing Container Readiness check...
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'e9fc9d787ec1-infra': Waiting for Container Readiness... Timeout set: 2m0s
⠏ Deploying catalog service...'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'e9fc9d787ec1-infra': Readiness Check for the container is completed!
-------
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'ai-services--catalog-ui': Performing Container Readiness check...
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'ai-services--catalog-ui': Waiting for Container Readiness... Timeout set: 2m10s
⠏ Deploying catalog service...'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'ai-services--catalog-ui': Readiness Check for the container is completed!
-------
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'ai-services--catalog-backend': Performing Container Readiness check...
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'ai-services--catalog-backend': Waiting for Container Readiness... Timeout set: 2m0s
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog', 'ai-services--catalog-backend': Readiness Check for the container is completed!
-------
'catalog.yaml.tmpl', 'ai-services--catalog': Pod has been successfully deployed and ready!
-------
-------
-------
✔ Catalog service deployed successfully
-------
Next Steps:
-------
- Access the Catalog UI at http://10.20.186.34:45691
# ai-services application ps --runtime podman
 APPLICATION NAME    POD NAME                STATUS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 ai-services         ai-services--db         Running (healthy)
                     ai-services--catalog    Running (healthy)
# ls /root/shwetha/ai-services/
db

shwetha-s-poojary · 2026-04-29T06:05:35Z

The requirement was to add custom basedir support. We implemented it for CLI application create first (via --params baseDir=/custom/path) since that's currently supported, and also made catalog configure configurable with --basedir. However, catalog implementation is still in progress and can't be fully tested yet.

The CLI approach has a critical flaw: application create sets AI_SERVICES_BASE_DIR env var locally, but application delete reads from the current environment's AI_SERVICES_BASE_DIR If the env var isn't set during delete, it uses the default path and fails to find/clean up application data created with a custom basedir.

In my opinion it's better to keep custom basedir support only for catalog configure. Remove it from CLI application create because:

CLI has gaps requiring explicit env var management across operations.Not worth fixing CLI gaps for a workflow we're deprecating.
We're migrating to catalog-based workflow anyway.
Catalog backend maintains AI_SERVICES_BASE_DIR consistently across all operations which is read via GetBaseDir()

Wdyt @mkumatag @mayuka-c @Shubhamag12

mkumatag · 2026-04-29T06:10:52Z

In my opinion it's better to keep custom basedir support only for catalog configure. Remove it from CLI application create because:

CLI has gaps requiring explicit env var management across operations.Not worth fixing CLI gaps for a workflow we're deprecating.

We're migrating to catalog-based workflow anyway.

Catalog backend maintains AI_SERVICES_BASE_DIR consistently across all operations which is read via GetBaseDir()

make sense, the other enhancement will impact this

- Add --appdir flag to catalog configure and application create commands - Introduce constants.DefaultAppDir as single source of truth for default path - Add early permission validation before any operations - Update all templates to use dynamic appDir from values - Set AI_SERVICES_APP_DIR environment variable for runtime path resolution - Update vars.ModelDirectory dynamically based on appDir - Modify application templates to use {{ .Values.appDir }} - Update test files to use constants.GetApplicationsPath() Fixes: Hardcoded /var/lib/ai-services path throughout codebase Enables: Users to specify custom storage locations for AI services data Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

…bdirectory - Rename validateAppDir to validateBaseDir (moved to utils) - Change all appDir references to baseDir in code, comments, and YAML - Convert application create --basedir flag to --params baseDir - Create ai-services/ subdirectory to isolate data - Fix GetBaseDir() to process custom path Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

- Move path utilities from constants to utils package - Remove ModelDirectory global variable - Simplify baseDir configuration in values.yaml - Update documentation and test expectations Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

…dateBaseDir Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

shwetha-s-poojary force-pushed the configure_app_dir branch from 0467e36 to 1bb7716 Compare April 24, 2026 11:23

shwetha-s-poojary requested a review from Shubhamag12 April 24, 2026 11:23

shwetha-s-poojary added the work-in-progress label Apr 24, 2026

mkumatag reviewed Apr 24, 2026

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Comment thread ai-services/cmd/ai-services/cmd/application/create.go Outdated

mayuka-c reviewed Apr 27, 2026

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shwetha-s-poojary force-pushed the configure_app_dir branch 4 times, most recently from 9476ae4 to 884921e Compare April 28, 2026 13:36

shwetha-s-poojary force-pushed the configure_app_dir branch 2 times, most recently from 5d432a5 to 88ac007 Compare April 29, 2026 12:23

mayuka-c reviewed Apr 29, 2026

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Shubhamag12 reviewed Apr 29, 2026

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Comment thread ai-services/cmd/ai-services/cmd/application/create.go Outdated

Comment thread ai-services/internal/pkg/utils/util.go Outdated

Comment thread ai-services/tests/e2e/cli/output.go Outdated

yussufsh requested changes Apr 29, 2026

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mayuka-c reviewed Apr 29, 2026

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Comment thread ai-services/tests/e2e/cli/output.go Outdated

shwetha-s-poojary force-pushed the configure_app_dir branch from 1cb074d to 9506b5f Compare April 29, 2026 17:27

yussufsh reviewed Apr 30, 2026

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Comment thread ai-services/cmd/ai-services/cmd/application/create.go Outdated

shwetha-s-poojary force-pushed the configure_app_dir branch from 9cb8f92 to a3ab079 Compare April 30, 2026 08:57

yussufsh requested changes Apr 30, 2026

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shwetha-s-poojary added 7 commits April 30, 2026 09:55

fix: resolve linter issues

30b432b

Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

Make baseDir configurable only via catalog configure for consistency

b37f77b

Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

fix: prevent double /ai-services suffix by centralizing logic in Vali…

7859d98

…dateBaseDir Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

refactor: define basedir under globalParams

df93f4b

Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

shwetha-s-poojary force-pushed the configure_app_dir branch from a3ab079 to c94f400 Compare April 30, 2026 13:56

code cleanup

9dbba61

Signed-off-by: shwetha-s-poojary <shwetha.s-pooojary@ibm.com>

shwetha-s-poojary force-pushed the configure_app_dir branch from c94f400 to 9dbba61 Compare April 30, 2026 14:20

shwetha-s-poojary removed the work-in-progress label Apr 30, 2026

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shwetha-s-poojary commented Apr 24, 2026 •

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