Setup & Installation

Prerequisites

Ubuntu 22.04
Internet access

QIDK Repository

Clone QIDK into your Ubuntu 22.04 workspace.

git clone https://github.com/quic/qidk.git

QAIRT SDK

The Docker setup automatically installs QAIRT SDK v2.47.0.260601 by default.

To use a different version, download it from the Qualcomm AI Runtime Community portal, extract the package, and set QAIRT_SDK_ROOT before running the script:

export QAIRT_SDK_ROOT=<absolute_path_to_extracted_sdk>

Docker Setup and Installation

The run_qairt_docker.sh script provides a ready-to-use development environment with the QAIRT SDK, Android NDK, and Python ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, ONNX) pre-installed and configured.

Navigate to the Docker directory inside the cloned repository:

cd qidk/Tools/qairt_docker

Run the setup script

./run_qairt_docker.sh

The script handles everything automatically:

First run: builds the Docker image, downloading QAIRT SDK v2.47.0.260601 and Android NDK r26c. Takes 30+ minutes depending on internet speed.
Subsequent runs: detects the existing image and skips the build. Starts in seconds.
Version change: if the QAIRT SDK version is updated in the dockerfile, the script detects the mismatch and rebuilds automatically.

Script options:

-i, --image     NAME    Docker image name          (default: qairt)
-c, --container NAME    Docker container name      (default: qairt_container)
-m, --mount     PATH    Host directory to expose   (default: /local/)
-t, --target    PATH    Path inside container      (default: /local/)
--rebuild               Force rebuild of the image
--no-cache              Force full rebuild with no Docker layer cache

Inside the Container

The shell opens automatically in the qidk/ directory with the environment fully activated — no manual steps needed:

Python virtual environment is active
QAIRT_SDK_ROOT points to the installed QAIRT SDK
ANDROID_NDK_ROOT points to Android NDK r26c
All QAIRT tools are available on PATH

Verify the setup:

echo $QAIRT_SDK_ROOT
qnn-net-run --version

Type exit to leave the container. Run ./run_qairt_docker.sh again at any time to re-enter.

Installing Additional Python Packages

Each model solution may require additional Python packages. Install them inside the container based on the requirements of the model you are working with:

pip install <package_name>

Stopping and Removing the Container (Optional)

These steps are optional and only required if you want to clean up Docker resources.

List all containers

docker ps -a

Stop a container

docker stop <CONTAINER_ID>

Remove the container

docker rm <CONTAINER_ID>

Removing the Docker Image (Optional)

List all images

docker images

Remove the image

docker rmi -f <IMAGE_ID>