Configuring Non‑Root User

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This section summarizes the required system configuration, user permissions, and dependencies to run AI Services using a non-root user with sudo privileges.

Instructions

Download the latest AI Services binary from the releases page. Use the following curl command to download it.:

curl -Lo ./ai-services https://github.com/IBM/project-ai-services/releases/download/v0.3.0/ai-services-linux-ppc64le
chmod +x ai-services
mv ai-services /usr/local/bin/

Run the following command to add the user to the wheel group:
```
sudo usermod -aG wheel <username>
```
Before running the bootstrap command, enable lingering for the user:
```
sudo loginctl enable-linger <username>
```
Run the bootstrap command with sudo:
```
sudo ai-services bootstrap --runtime podman
```
Log out of the current shell session and log back in as the user to apply the new group membership. Alternatively, you can run:
```
su - <username>
```
Important: After modifying user group membership or privileges, you must log out of the current shell session and log back in for changes to take effect. Skipping this step can cause permission issues in later steps.
Apply configuration changes for the user:
1. Terminate the user session to apply group membership and resource limits (this logs the user out):
```
sudo loginctl terminate-user <username>
```
2. Log back in and enable lingering again:
```
sudo loginctl enable-linger <username>
```
While running ai-services catalog configure, use a non-privileged HTTPS port:
- Use --https-port 8443 instead of 443.
```
  ai-services catalog configure --runtime podman --https-port 8443
```
  You can also reuse the catalog configure command with additional flags to perform maintenance operations after deployment:
  - --reset-password – Rotate or change the admin password after the catalog has been deployed.
  - --reset-certificate – Renew expired certificates. Note: the domain name must remain the same.
  - --reset-podman-auth – Reconfigure authentication if you have performed a new podman login after deployment.

Next Steps

With the AI services successfully deployed, you can now proceed to create a Digital Assistant application using the Catalog UI that you have just deployed.

Alternatively, you can deploy the application using the CLI if you prefer a command-line workflow.

You can also explore deploying standalone services such as Digitize service and the Summarize service.