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Bacalhau FAQs

Can I use multiple data sources in the same job?​

You can use the --input or -i flag multiple times with multiple different CIDs, URLs or S3 objects, and give each of them a path to be mounted at.

For example, doing bacalhau run cat/main.wasm -i ipfs://CID1:/input1 -i ipfs://CID2:/input2 will result in both the input1 and input2 folders being available to your running WASM with the CID contents. You can use -i as many times as you need.

How can I submit Job requests through CLI to communicate with my Node directly?​

To ensure the CLI can communicate with our node directly (bacalhau --api-host <MY_NODE_PUBLIC_IP> version), you need to make sure the 1234 port is open.

Why does my API server listening on /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/5001 when I invoke IPFS Daemon when fetching an IPFS Multiaddress?​

Bacalhau communicates with IPFS via it's API port and not the swarm port which is why it's 5001 and not 4001.

The key thing is whether the IPFS node is running on the same host as the Bacalhau daemon. If it is, then 127.0.0.1 is enough to route traffic between the two (because they are both on the same node). If IPFS is running on a different node than Bacalhau, then we need to replace 127.0.0.1 with the IP that the IPFS server is running on.

What to do when I get error connection refused when running Bacalhau API?​

Problem​

When running bacalhau --api-host <MY_NODE_PUBLIC_IP> version and you get this error message:

Error running version: publicapi: after posting request: Post "http://127.0.0.1:1234/version": dial tcp 127.0.0.1:1234: connect: connection refused

What to do​

First, you'll need to check that the bacalhau server is up and running on the same host then it should be connecting using 127.0.0.1. This can be checked by running telnet 127.0.0.1 1234. If telnet is not connecting to 127.0.0.1 1234 on the machine that bacalhau is running then one of 3 things:

  • Bacalhau is running on a different machine
  • it's running on a different port
  • it's not running

Can I run Bacalhau in a containerized setup (nested containers)?​

We don't support this as it will result in the classic Dind(Docker In Docker) problem.

Can I run non Docker jobs?​

Yes! You can run programs using WebAssembly instead. See the onboarding WebAssembly for information on how to do that.

How do I run a script that requires installing packages from a package repository like pypi or apt?​

Networking is supported by Bacalhau which enables one to run a script that requires packages from external repository. This is only for Docker workloads

How do I see a job’s progress while it’s running?​

If your job writes to stdout, or stderr, while it is running, you can view the output with the logs command.

How do I get an IPFS peer if I want to start Bacalhau Server?​

A viable option is to run your own IPFS daemon and fetch your multiaddress as explained here.

How can I download and query SQLite when it complains about being in read-only directory?​

When downloading content to run your code against, it is written to a read-only directory. Unfortunately, by default, SQLite requires the directory to be writable so that it can create utility files during its use.

If you run your command with the immutable setting set to 1, then it will work. From the sqlite3 command you can use .open 'file:/inputs/database.db?immutable=1' where you should replace "database.db" with your downloaded database filename.

Can I run bacalhau serve on my home machine? What are the requirements?​

You can run bacalhau serve on any machine that fits the prerequisites listed here.

tip

The walkthrough in the docs has been tested only on Ubuntu 22, bacalhau is being developed on Linux/macOS environments and therefore should work fine there as well. However, Windows hosts are supported with limitations.

Can I stop a running job?​

Yes. Given a valid job ID, you can use the cancel command to cancel the job, and stop it from running.