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The Golem SDK documentation
Introduction
Golem overview
Provider
Requestor
Requestor FAQ
Provider FAQ
Payments
Payments in Golem explained
Layer 2 payments
Using Golem on Mainnet
Mainnet / Polygon GLM Conversion
Provider tutorials
Becoming a provider
Provider CLI reference
Troubleshooting
Provider Troubleshooting
Requestor Troubleshooting
Developer tutorials
Requestor development: a quick primer
Golem application fundamentals
Task Model development
Service Model development
VM runtime
Creating a Docker image
Converting an image from Docker to Golem
Testing a Golem image
Uploading a Golem image
Self-hosted VM images
Frequently asked questions
Debugging with the use of log files
Interactive testing environment
yapapi - Python high-level API
Golem Python API Reference
yajsapi - JavaScript high-level API
Introduction to Golem's high-level Java Script API
Modules
Classes
Enumeration
Interfaces
Yagna Contributor Guide
How to a write payment driver
See also
Running the yagna daemon from sources
Terms
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VM runtime

Introduction

In this section we're going to take a closer look at Golem's primary execution environment - the virtual machine runtime.
This runtime allows provider nodes to run Docker-like images defined by Golem app developers.
Before we focus on specifics of the VM runtime let's first establish what we mean by "runtime" in Golem's context.
A runtime (also known as an execution unit, or exe-unit) is a binary used by the Golem daemon (yagna) on provider nodes.
A given runtime is responsible for running a certain type of an image (for example, we have separate runtimes for VMs and for WASM code).
In the case of Golem VMs, the runtime being used is ya-runtime-vm.

Preparing a VM image

1. Creating a Docker image

The first step is building a Docker image our VM will be based on. Usually this is achieved by defining a Dockerfile which describes what kind of a machine we need along with some custom configuration.
To learn more about creating such an image take a look here:

2. Converting to .gvmi format

Golem's VM runtime does not use Docker images directly. Instead, it uses .gvmi files - a format developed internally to greatly reduce image size compared to Docker.
Converting a Docker image to .gvmi is described here:

3. Testing and debugging

When developing a Golem application it's important to test the final .gvmi image rather than it's base Docker image. This is because there are some important differences between the two which may affect the application code.
To learn about running Golem VM images locally using ya-runtime-dbg take a look here:

4. Uploading and using the image

Once an image is ready to be used within the Golem network it needs to be uploaded to a publicly available location (eg. on Golem image repository) so that it can be downloaded by provider nodes.
The below section covers image uploading and how to refer to this image in requestor agent code:

5. Frequently asked questions

In case of issues or uncertainties around the Golem VM runtime or image development - make sure to take a look at this dedicated FAQ section:
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Creating a Docker image
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Outline
Introduction
Preparing a VM image
1. Creating a Docker image
2. Converting to .gvmi format
3. Testing and debugging
4. Uploading and using the image
5. Frequently asked questions