Deploy the build container

This is the production box that runs nornir-build against volumes on a NAS. It is not the programmer Dev Container and not the Cursor worker. Host checks are in Host requirements. Variable tables, open-file limits, and the troubleshooting list stay in Remote build appliance.

One-time setup

  1. Install Docker Desktop with WSL2. Load the CIFS module in WSL (modprobe cifs) if this machine will mount NAS shares. Install an NVIDIA driver only when you want the GPU image. Git is required to clone the scripts.

  2. Clone the monorepo with submodules. The container images are pulled from GHCR. You do not build them on this machine. If the pull asks you to log in:

    docker login ghcr.io -u <github-user>

    The token needs read:packages.

  3. From the monorepo, run the initializer once. It creates the local Docker layout, pulls the images, and starts the dashboard:

    .\nornir-docker\Initialize-NornirBuildAppliance.ps1

    Press Enter to use the parent of nornir-docker as the monorepo root, or pass -MonorepoRoot.

  4. Edit only the site files under NORNIR_DOCKER_USER_ROOT (default C:\Docker; many lab machines set D:\Docker):

    • Run\nornir-net-mounts\net-mounts\nas-mounts.tsv — which shares to mount

    • Run\nornir-net-mounts\secrets\net-creds\*.cred — credentials for those shares

    • Run\nornir-net-mounts\.run.nornir-net-mounts.env — only when a host path is not the default

    The committed template is nornir-docker/example.nornir-net-mounts.run.env.

Every session

& "$env:NORNIR_DOCKER_USER_ROOT\Builds\nornir-build\start-nornir-build.ps1"

The launcher probes the GPU. A usable NVIDIA GPU selects nornir:cupy. Otherwise it selects the CPU image nornir:prod. It mounts the shares from inside the container and opens a shell.

Confirm the shell before starting a build:

  • echo "$NORNIR_NET_MOUNTS" prints 1.

  • findmnt -t cifs lists the shares from nas-mounts.tsv.

  • The dashboard is at http://127.0.0.1:8087.

  • TEMImport, TEMBuild, TEMBuild-import, and TEMAlign are on PATH.

Those four commands are the lab build. What each stage does is TEM build scripts.

To refresh images later without re-running the initializer:

.\nornir-docker\docker-pull.ps1 -IncludeDashboard -ContinueOnError

Pass -PreferVersioned to pin the pull to the monorepo VERSION.