FPGA AI Suite Handbook

ID 863373
Date 11/21/2025
Public
Document Table of Contents

4.1.3. Containerized FPGA AI Suite Docker* Image Quick-Start Tutorial

The FPGA AI Suite Docker* images contain all the necessary dependencies to follow the FPGA AI Suite Quick Start Tutorial. However, there are some prerequisite steps and container-specific restrictions for following the tutorial in a containerized environment:
  1. Setting up Python virtual environment for the OpenVINO™ Model Zoo.

    Before you can follow the instructions in Preparing OpenVINO Model Zoo for the PCIe Design Example, you must set up a Python virtual environment in your FPGA AI Suite Docker* container.

    To set up the Python virtual environment in your FPGA AI Suite Docker* container, run the following commands from within the container:
    mkdir ~/build-openvino-dev && cd ~/build-openvino-dev 
    
    python3.12 -m venv openvino_env 
    
    source openvino_env/bin/activate 
    
    python -m pip install --upgrade pip 
    
    pip install "openvino-dev[<frameworks>]==2024.6.0" 

    Where <frameworks> is a comma-separated list of the deep learning frameworks that you want your OpenVINO™ development tools to support. The following values are supported: caffe, kaldi, onnx, pytorch, tensorflow, tensorflow2.

    For the Quick Start Tutorial, only tensorflow is needed.

    For more details about installing OpenVINO™ , refer to Installing OpenVINO Toolkit.

  2. Setting Up Prerequisites for the Agilex™ 7 PCIe-Attach Design Example

    The FPGA AI Suite Docker* images do not support using the Docker* container as the host machine for the FPGA, so running inference within the container for the Agilex™ 7 PCIe-Attach design example is unsupported. You can skip this step in the Quick Start Tutorial or set up the prerequisites of a different design example.

  3. Programming the FPGA devices.

    Because the Docker container does not support programming the bitstream to an FPGA device from within the container, you cannot follow the instructions in Programming the FPGA Device.

    To program an FPGA device from within the Docker container:
    1. Move the .sof bitstream file from the container to your host machine with the docker cp command. For example,
      docker cp  container_id:/path/in/container/bitstream.sof \
                 /destination/in/host/ \
                 /bitstream.sof
    2. Program the FPGA device with a command similar to the following:
      quartus_pgm -c 1 -m jtag -o P;/path/to/bitstream.sof@1
  4. Building an FPGA Bitstream for the PCIe design example
    To follow the instructions in Building an FPGA Bitstream for the PCIe Design Example, you must use the FPGA AI Suite with Quartus® Prime Docker* image. You must set the LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable to point to your Quartus® Prime license:
    export LM_LICENSE_FILE=... 
    For the Agilex™ 7 PCIe design example, install the patch utility the container:
    apt install patch
  5. If you are using the Terasic* DE10-Agilex Development Board, you must install the Terasic* Kernel Driver Software Prerequisites as outlined in Additional Software Prerequisites for the FPGA AI Suite PCIe Design Example for Agilex 7 Devices.