# Set up Qualcomm AI Runtime SDK

Prerequisites:

- Host OS: **Ubuntu 22.04 LTS**

Note

If the host computer uses Windows or Mac OS,
[install a virtual machine](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-80022-41/).

Subsequent steps must be run in the virtual machine running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

1. Enable SSH in Permissive mode to securely sign in to the host device.
For instructions, see How to [SSH](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-80022-254/topic/how_to.html#use-ssh)
2. For the rest of the document, the `QAIRT_ROOT` environment variable
represents the full path to the Qualcomm AI Runtime SDK root directory.

    - If installed using the direct download method, `${QAIRT_ROOT}` is the
path to the unzipped SDK.

unzip v2.43.0.260128.zip
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cd qairt/2.43.0.260128
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export QAIRT_ROOT=`pwd`
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    - If installed using QPM, the SDK is installed
under `/opt/qcom/aistack/qairt/<version>`

export QAIRT_ROOT=/opt/qcom/aistack/qairt/2.43.0.260128/
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3. Python: **v3.10**

    If Python is already installed, ensure that the environment path is
updated with the Python 3.10 path. If Python 3.10 isn’t installed on
your system, you may install it with the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
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sudo apt-get install python3.10 python3-distutils libpython3.10
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4. System Dependencies:

Note

Run the following command as administrator/root to install
the system libraries. The command takes time to fully complete.

sudo bash ${QAIRT_ROOT}/bin/check-linux-dependency.sh
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5. Virtual environment (VENV)

Note

`<venv_path>` is the path for new the virtual environment.

sudo apt-get install python3.10-venv
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python3.10 -m venv "<venv_path>"
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source <venv_path>/bin/activate
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6. Run the following script to check and install missing dependencies:

python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
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${QAIRT_ROOT}/bin/check-python-dependency
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Summary:
        
        Package              Recommended    Installed
        ~~~~~~~              ~~~~~~~~~~~    ~~~~~~~~~
        absl-py              2.1.0          2.1.0
        attrs                23.2.0         23.2.0
        dash                 2.12.1         2.12.1
        decorator            4.4.2          4.4.2
        invoke               1.7.3          1.7.3
        joblib               1.4.0          1.4.0
        jsonschema           4.19.0         4.19.0
        Ixml                 5.2.1          5.2.1
        mako                 1.1.0          1.1.0
        matplotlib           3.3.4          3.3.4
        mock                 3.0.5          3.0.5
        numpy                1.26.4         1.26.4
        opencv-python        4.5.4.58       4.5.4.58
        optuna               3.3.0          3.3.0
        packaging            24.0           24.0
        pandas               2.0.1          2.0.1
        paramiko             3.4.0          3.4.0
        pathlib2             2.3.6          2.3.6
        pillow               10.2.0         10.2.0
        plotly               5.20.0         5.20.0
        protobuf             3.19.6         3.19.6
        psutil               5.6.4          5.6.4
        pytest               8.1.1          8.1.1
        pyyaml               5.3            5.3
        scikit-optimize      0.9.0          0.9.0
        scipy                1.10.1         1.10.1
        six                  1.16.0         1.16.0
        tabulate             0.9.0          0.9.0
        typing-extensions    4.10.0         4.10.0
        xlsxwriter           1.2.2          1.2.2
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## Setup ML Frameworks

To convert ML models trained on different frameworks into
intermediate representations consumable by the
Qualcomm AI Runtime SDK, you may need to download and install
the corresponding frameworks on your host computer.

This Qualcomm AI Runtime SDK release is verified to work with
the following versions of the ML training frameworks:

|  | **Version** |
| --- | --- |
| **TensorFlow** | 2.10.1 |
| **TFLite** | 2.3.0 |
| **PyTorch** | 1.13.1 |
| **ONNX** | 1.16.1 |

- Install TensorFlow

pip install tensorflow==2.10.1
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- Install TFLite

pip install tflite==2.3.0
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- Install PyTorch

pip install torch==1.13.1+cpu torchvision==0.14.1+cpu torchaudio==0.13.1 --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
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- Install ONNX

pip install onnx==1.16.1 onnxruntime==1.18.0 onnxsim==0.4.36
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## Setup Qualcomm AI Runtime SDK environment

Source the environment setup script provided by Qualcomm AI Runtime
SDK to ensure all necessary tools and libraries are available in `$PATH`
for the workflow.

source ${QAIRT_ROOT}/bin/envsetup.sh
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Last Published: Jun 23, 2026

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