OpenVINO Integration with Ubuntu Snap#

A snap is a way to containerize applications and embed them on Linux devices. Currently, OpenVINO supports this form of deployment for Ubuntu. Building a snap package involves several steps, including setting up your development environment, creating the necessary configuration files, and using the snapcraft tool to build the Snap. This article will show you how to integrate OpenVINO toolkit with your application snap:

Method 1: User Application Snap based on OpenVINO Sources#

OpenVINO libraries can be built using the CMake plugin (https://snapcraft.io/docs/cmake-plugin). To build and install it to the application snap image, you need to configure the new part in the application snapcraft.yaml:

openvino-build:
  plugin: cmake
  source-type: git
  source: https://github.com/openvino.git
  source-branch: master
  cmake-generator: Ninja
  cmake-parameters:
    - -DENABLE_SAMPLES:BOOL=OFF
    - -DENABLE_TESTS:BOOL=OFF
  build-environment:
    - CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL: ${SNAPCRAFT_PARALLEL_BUILD_COUNT}
    - CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE: Release
  build-packages:
    - build-essential
    - ninja-build
    - pkg-config
    - gzip

Method 2: Separate OpenVINO and User Application Snaps#

This approach means that OpenVINO libraries and user applications will be distributed as separate snaps. It involves three steps:

  1. Configure the OpenVINO snapcraft.yaml.

    Add the part to build and install OpenVINO as described in the 1st Method:

    openvino-build:
  plugin: cmake
  source-type: git
  source: https://github.com/openvino.git
  source-branch: master
  cmake-generator: Ninja
  cmake-parameters:
    - -DENABLE_SAMPLES:BOOL=OFF
    - -DENABLE_TESTS:BOOL=OFF
  build-environment:
    - CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL: ${SNAPCRAFT_PARALLEL_BUILD_COUNT}
    - CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE: Release
  build-packages:
    - build-essential
    - ninja-build
    - pkg-config
    - gzip

    Define the slots provided by the OpenVINO Snap. Slots are the interfaces your Snap exposes for other Snaps to connect to:

    slots:
  openvino-libs:
    interface: content
    content: openvino-libs
    read:
      - $SNAP/usr/local/li
  openvino-3rdparty-libs:
    interface: content
    content: openvino-extra-libs
    read:
      - $SNAP/usr/local/runtime/3rdparty/tbb/lib

  2. Configure the application’s snapcraft.yaml:

    Edit your snapcraft.yaml file to include OpenVINO plugs.

    plugs:
  openvino-libs:
    interface: content
    content: openvino-libs
    target: $SNAP/openvino-libs
    default-provider: openvino-libs-test

  openvino-3rdparty-libs:
    interface: content
    content: openvino-extra-libs
    target: $SNAP/openvino-extra-libs
    default-provider: openvino-libs-test

    Add OpenVINO snap to build-snaps:

    parts:
  app-build:
    build-snaps:
      - openvino-libs-test

    Set the OpenVINO environment in the build part:

    parts:
 app-build:
   build-environment:
     - OpenVINO_DIR: /snap/openvino-libs/current/usr/local/runtime/cmake
     - LD_LIBRARY_PATH: $LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/snap/openvino-libs/current/usr/local/runtime/3rdparty/tbb/lib

    Set the OpenVINO environment in the apps section:

    apps:
  app:
    command: usr/local/app
    environment:
      LD_LIBRARY_PATH: $LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$SNAP/openvino-libs:$SNAP/openvino-extra-libs

  3. Install snaps and Connect plugs. Snaps can be connected automatically only if they are published by the same user, otherwise you need to manually connect Application plugs with OpenVINO slots after installation:

    snap connect app:openvino-libs openvino-libs:openvino-libs
snap connect app:openvino-3rdparty-libs openvino-libs:openvino-3rdparty-libs