Get Started#

This guide covers the rapid deployment of the Live Video Alert Agent system using Docker.

Prerequisites#

  • Docker and Docker Compose

  • Internet connection (for initial VLM model download)

Initial Setup#

  1. Clone the repository:

    # Clone the latest on mainline
git clone https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-ai-suites.git edge-ai-suites
# Alternatively, clone a specific release branch
git clone https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-ai-suites.git edge-ai-suites -b <release-tag>

    Note: Adjust the repo link appropriately in case of forked repo.

  2. Navigate to the Directory:

    cd edge-ai-suites/metro-ai-suite/live-video-analysis/live-video-alert

  3. Configure Image Registry and Tag:

    export REGISTRY="intel/"
export TAG="latest"

    Skip this step if you prefer to build the sample application from source. For detailed instructions, refer to How to Build from Source guide for details.

  4. Configure Environment:

    Optional environment variables:

    # Optional: Pre-configure a video stream (can also add streams via UI)
export RTSP_URL=rtsp://<camera-ip>:<port>/stream

# Use a different VLM model (default: Phi-3.5-vision-instruct-int4-ov)
# Example: Use InternVL2-2B model instead
export OVMS_SOURCE_MODEL=OpenVINO/InternVL2-2B-int4-ov
export MODEL_NAME=InternVL2-2B

# Change application port (default: 9000)
export PORT=9001

# Enable debug logging
export LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG

Note: All environment variables are optional. Streams can be added dynamically through the web UI after startup.

  1. Start the Application: Run the following command from the project root:

    docker compose up -d

    Note:

    • First run downloads the VLM model (~2GB, 5-10 minutes)

    • An init container runs briefly to set up volume permissions.

    • Subsequent runs start instantly

  2. Verify Deployment: Check that containers are running:

    docker ps

    View application logs:

    docker logs agentic-nvr

  3. Access the Dashboard: Open your browser and navigate to:

    http://localhost:9000

    (Replace localhost with your server IP if accessing remotely)

Using the Application#

Adding Video Streams#

  1. In the sidebar under Stream Configuration, enter:

    • Stream Name: A descriptive name (e.g., “Lobby Camera”)

    • RTSP URL: Your camera’s RTSP stream URL

  2. Click Add New Stream

Configuring Alerts#

  1. Under AI Agent Alerts section:

    • Click Create New Alert (up to 4 alerts supported)

    • Enter an Alert Name (e.g., “Person Detection”)

    • Write a Prompt describing the condition (e.g., “Is there a person?”)

  2. Click Save to activate

Viewing Results#

  • The dashboard shows the live stream with analysis results below

  • Use the dropdown to filter alerts: “All Alerts” or individual alert types

  • Results update automatically via Server-Sent Events (SSE)

Managing the Application#

Stopping Services#

To stop all services:

docker compose down

Restarting After Changes#

# Restart both services
docker compose restart

# Restart only the application (VLM service keeps running)
docker compose restart agentic-nvr

Viewing Logs#

# Follow all logs
docker compose logs -f

# VLM service logs
docker logs -f ovms-vlm

# Application logs
docker logs -f agentic-nvr

Clearing Model Cache#

If you need to re-download the model or switch models:

# Remove everything including model cache
docker compose down -v

# Set environment and start fresh
export RTSP_URL=rtsp://<camera-ip>:<port>/stream
docker compose up -d

Troubleshooting#

Permission Issues#

Problem: OVMS fails with “permission denied” on /models.

Solution: An init container (ovms-init) automatically sets permissions. It will show as Exited (0) - this is normal.

Verify:

docker ps -a --filter "name=ovms-init"  # Should show: Exited (0)
docker exec ovms-vlm ls -lah /models    # Should be owned by ovms

Other Issues#

# Check status
docker compose ps

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

# Clean restart
docker compose down -v
export RTSP_URL=<your-url>
docker compose up -d