Add --engine to allow overriding engine from command line

Make description of tool more consistentin readme, man page and
help information.

Better explain environment variables

Signed-off-by: Daniel J Walsh <[email protected]>

README.md

@@ -5,12 +5,17 @@
 The RamaLama project's goal is to make working with AI boring
 through the use of OCI containers.
 
-On first run RamaLama inspects your system for GPU support, falling back to CPU
-support if no GPUs are present. It then uses container engines like Podman or
-Docker to pull the appropriate OCI image with all of the software necessary to
-run an AI Model for your systems setup. This eliminates the need for the user
-to configure the system for AI themselves. After the initialization, RamaLama
-will run the AI Models within a container based on the OCI image.
+RamaLama tool facilitates local management and serving of AI Models.
+
+On first run RamaLama inspects your system for GPU support, falling back to CPU support if no GPUs are present.
+
+RamaLama uses container engines like Podman or Docker to pull the appropriate OCI image with all of the software necessary to run an AI Model for your systems setup.
+
+Running in containers eliminates the need for users to configure the host system for AI. After the initialization, RamaLama runs the AI Models within a container based on the OCI image.
+
+RamaLama then pulls AI Models from model registires. Starting a chatbot or a rest API service from a simple single command. Models are treated similarly to how Podman and Docker treat container images.
+
+When both Podman and Docker are installed, RamaLama defaults to Podman, The `RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE=docker` environment variable can override this behaviour. When neather are installed RamaLama will attempt to run the model with software on the local system.
 
 RamaLama supports multiple AI model registries types called transports.
 Supported transports:

docs/ramalama.1.md

@@ -9,20 +9,17 @@ ramalama - Simple management tool for working with AI Models
 ## DESCRIPTION
 RamaLama : The goal of RamaLama is to make AI boring.
 
-On first run RamaLama inspects your system for GPU support, falling back to CPU
-support if no GPUs are present. RamaLama uses container engines like Podman or
-Docker to pull the appropriate OCI image with all of the software necessary to
-run an AI Model for your systems setup. This eliminates the need for the user
-to configure the system for AI themselves. After the initialization, RamaLama
-will run the AI Models within a container based on the OCI image.
+RamaLama tool facilitates local management and serving of AI Models.
 
-RamaLama first pulls AI Models from model registires. It then start a chatbot
-or a service as a rest API from a simple single command. Models are treated
-similarly to the way that Podman or Docker treat container images.
+On first run RamaLama inspects your system for GPU support, falling back to CPU support if no GPUs are present.
 
-If you have both Podman and Docker installed, RamaLama defaults to Podman, use
-the `RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE=docker` environment variable to override this
-behaviour.
+RamaLama uses container engines like Podman or Docker to pull the appropriate OCI image with all of the software necessary to run an AI Model for your systems setup.
+
+Running in containers eliminates the need for users to configure the host system for AI. After the initialization, RamaLama runs the AI Models within a container based on the OCI image.
+
+RamaLama then pulls AI Models from model registires. Starting a chatbot or a rest API service from a simple single command. Models are treated similarly to how Podman and Docker treat container images.
+
+When both Podman and Docker are installed, RamaLama defaults to Podman, The `RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE=docker` environment variable can override this behaviour. When neather are installed RamaLama will attempt to run the model with software on the local system.
 
 RamaLama supports multiple AI model registries types called transports. Supported transports:
 
@@ -82,6 +79,10 @@ use environment variable "RAMALAMA_IN_CONTAINER=false" to change default.
 #### **--dryrun**
 show container runtime command without executing it (default: False)
 
+#### **--engine**
+run RamaLama using the specified container engine.
+use environment variable RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE to modify the default behaviour.
+
 #### **--help**, **-h**
 show this help message and exit
 

ramalama/cli.py

@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-from argparse import ArgumentParser
 from pathlib import Path
 import argparse
 import glob
@@ -68,11 +67,42 @@ def use_container():
     return True
 
 
+class ArgumentParserWithDefaults(argparse.ArgumentParser):
+    def add_argument(self, *args, help=None, default=None, **kwargs):
+        if help == "==SUPPRESS==":
+            return
+        if help is not None:
+            kwargs['help'] = help
+        if default is not None and args[0] != '-h':
+            kwargs['default'] = default
+            if help is not None:
+                kwargs['help'] += ' (Default: {})'.format(default)
+        super().add_argument(*args, **kwargs)
+
+
 def init_cli():
-    parser = ArgumentParser(
+    description = """\
+RamaLama tool facilitates local management and serving of AI Models.
+
+On first run RamaLama inspects your system for GPU support, falling back to CPU support if no GPUs are present.
+
+RamaLama uses container engines like Podman or Docker to pull the appropriate OCI image with all of the software \
+necessary to run an AI Model for your systems setup.
+
+Running in containers eliminates the need for users to configure the host system for AI. After the initialization, \
+RamaLama runs the AI Models within a container based on the OCI image.
+
+RamaLama then pulls AI Models from model registires. Starting a chatbot or a rest API service from a simple single \
+command. Models are treated similarly to how Podman and Docker treat container images.
+
+When both Podman and Docker are installed, RamaLama defaults to Podman, The `RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE=docker` \
+environment variable can override this behaviour. When neather are installed RamaLama will attempt to run the model \
+with software on the local system.
+"""
+    parser = ArgumentParserWithDefaults(
         prog="ramalama",
-        formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter,
-        description="Simple management tool for working with AI Models.",
+        description=description,
+        formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter,
     )
     parser.add_argument("--store", default=get_store(), help="store AI Models in the specified directory")
     parser.add_argument(
@@ -84,7 +114,16 @@ def init_cli():
         dest="container",
         default=use_container(),
         action="store_true",
-        help="run RamaLama in the default container",
+        help="""run RamaLama in the default container.
+The RAMALAMA_IN_CONTAINER environment variable modifies default behaviour.""",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--engine",
+        dest="engine",
+        default=container_manager(),
+        action="store_true",
+        help="""run RamaLama using the specified container engine.
+The RAMALAMA_CONTAINER_ENGINE environment variable modifies default behaviour.""",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--image",
@@ -96,7 +135,8 @@ def init_cli():
         dest="container",
         default=False,
         action="store_false",
-        help="do not run RamaLama in the default container",
+        help="""do not run RamaLama in the default container.
+The RAMALAMA_IN_CONTAINER environment variable modifies default behaviour.""",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--runtime",
@@ -240,7 +280,7 @@ def containers_parser(subparsers):
 
 
 def _list_containers(args):
-    conman = container_manager()
+    conman = args.engine
     if conman == "":
         raise IndexError("no container manager (Podman, Docker) found")
 
@@ -435,7 +475,7 @@ def stop_parser(subparsers):
 def _stop_container(args, name):
     if not name:
         raise IndexError("must specify a container name")
-    conman = container_manager()
+    conman = args.engine
     if conman == "":
         raise IndexError("no container manager (Podman, Docker) found")
 
@@ -533,7 +573,7 @@ def run_container(args):
     if in_container():
         return False
 
-    conman = container_manager()
+    conman = args.engine
     if conman == "":
         return False
 

ramalama/model.py

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import os
 import sys
-from ramalama.common import container_manager, exec_cmd, default_image, in_container
+from ramalama.common import exec_cmd, default_image, in_container
 
 
 file_not_found = """\
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ class Model:
     """Model super class"""
 
     model = ""
-    conman = container_manager()
     type = "Model"
     common_params = ["-c", "2048"]