Installing Watson Speech services

A project administrator can install Watson Speech services on IBM Cloud Pak® for Data.

What permissions do you need to complete this task?
The permissions that you need depend on which tasks you must complete:
  • To install the Watson Speech services operators, you must have the appropriate permissions to create operators and you must be an administrator of the project where the Cloud Pak for Data operators are installed. This project is identified by the ${PROJECT_CPD_OPS} environment variable.
  • To install Watson Speech services, you must be an administrator of the project where you will install Watson Speech services. This project is identified by the ${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} environment variable.
When do you need to complete this task?
If you didn't install Watson Speech services when you installed the platform, you can complete this task to add Watson Speech services to your environment.

If you want to install all of the Cloud Pak for Data components at the same time, follow the process in Installing the platform and services instead.

Important: All of the Cloud Pak for Data components in a deployment must be installed at the same release.

Information you need to complete this task

Review the following information before you install Watson Speech services:

Environment variables
The commands in this task use environment variables so that you can run the commands exactly as written.
  • If you don't have the script that defines the environment variables, see Setting up installation environment variables.
  • To use the environment variables from the script, you must source the environment variables before you run the commands in this task, for example:
    source ./cpd_vars.sh
Speech custom resource environment variable
Many commands and procedures refer to the Watson Speech services custom resource. To avoid the need to specify the name of the Speech custom resource whenever it is used, append the following lines to the cpd_vars.sh script, and source the script to use the variable in your environment. 

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Watson Speech services
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Set the following variable to the name of your Speech services custom resource (CR).
# The variable is set to the default name of the custom resource for new installations.

export CUSTOM_RESOURCE_SPEECH=speech-cr

As of version 4.5.x, the default recommended name of the Speech custom resource is speech-cr. For older versions, the default recommended name was speech-prod-cr. Using the ${CUSTOM_RESOURCE_SPEECH} variable lets the commands and procedures work as written for all users.

Security context constraint requirements
Watson Speech services uses the restricted security context constraint (SCC).
Installation location
Watson Speech services must be installed in the same project (namespace) as the Cloud Pak for Data control plane. This project is identified by the ${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} environment variable.
Common core services
Watson Speech services requires the Cloud Pak for Data common core services.

If the common core services are not installed in the project where you plan to install Watson Speech services, the common core services are automatically installed when you install Watson Speech services. This increases the amount of time the installation takes to complete.

Load balancer timeout settings
Watson Speech services require that you change the load balancer timeout settings for both the server and client to 300 seconds. These settings ensure that long-running speech recognition requests, those with long or difficult audio, have sufficient time to complete. For more information, see Changing load balancer timeout settings.
Storage requirements
You must tell Watson Speech services what storage to use. The following storage classes are recommended. However, if you don't use these storage classes on your cluster, ensure that you specify a storage class with an equivalent definition.
Storage Notes Storage classes
OpenShift® Data Foundation When you install the service, specify file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ocs-storagecluster-cephfs
  • Block storage: ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd
IBM® Storage Fusion When you install the service, specify the same storage class for both file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
  • Block storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
IBM Storage Scale Container Native When you install the service, specify the same storage class for both file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
  • Block storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
Portworx When you install the service, the --storage_vendor=portworx option ensures that the service uses the correct storage classes.
  • File storage: portworx-shared-gp3
  • Block storage: portworx-db-gp3-sc
NFS Not supported. Not applicable.
Amazon Elastic storage When you install the service, specify file storage and block storage.

File storage is provided by Amazon Elastic File System. Block storage is provided by Amazon Elastic Block Store.
  • File storage: efs-nfs-client
  • Block storage: gp2-csi or gp3-csi
IBM Cloud storage When you install the service, specify file storage and block storage.

File storage is provided by IBM Cloud File Storage. Block storage is provided by IBM Cloud Block Storage.
  • File storage: ibmc-file-gold-gid or ibm-file-custom-gold-gid
  • Block storage: ibmc-block-gold
NetApp Trident When you install the service, specify the same storage class for both file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ontap-nas
  • Block storage: ontap-nas

Before you begin

This task assumes that the following prerequisites are met:

Prerequisite Where to find more information
The cluster meets the minimum requirements for installing Watson Speech services. If this task is not complete, see System requirements.
The workstation from which you will run the installation is set up as a client workstation and includes the following command-line interfaces:
  • Cloud Pak for Data CLI: cpd-cli
  • OpenShift CLI: oc
 If this task is not complete, see Setting up a client workstation.
The Cloud Pak for Data control plane is installed. If this task is not complete, see Installing the platform and services.
For environments that use a private container registry, such as air-gapped environments, the Watson Speech services software images are mirrored to the private container registry. If this task is not complete, see Mirroring images to a private container registry.

Procedure

Complete the following tasks to install Watson Speech services:

  1. Logging in to the cluster
  2. Installing the operator
  3. Specifying additional installation options
  4. Installing the service
  5. Validating the installation
  6. What to do next

Logging in to the cluster

To run cpd-cli manage commands, you must log in to the cluster.

To log in to the cluster:

  1. Run the cpd-cli manage login-to-ocp command to log in to the cluster as a user with sufficient permissions to complete this task. For example:
    cpd-cli manage login-to-ocp \
--username=${OCP_USERNAME} \
--password=${OCP_PASSWORD} \
--server=${OCP_URL}
    Tip: The login-to-ocp command takes the same input as the oc login command. Run oc login --help for details.

Installing the operator

The Watson Speech services operator simplifies the process of managing the Watson Speech services service on Red Hat® OpenShift Container Platform.

To install Watson Speech services, you must install the Watson Speech services operator and create the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) objects, such as the catalog source and subscription, for the operator.

Who needs to complete this task?
You must be a cluster administrator (or a user with the appropriate permissions to install operators) to create the OLM objects.
When do you need to complete this task?
Complete this task if the Watson Speech services operator and other OLM artifacts have not been created for the current release.

If you complete this task and the OLM artifacts already exist on the cluster, the cpd-cli detects that you already have the OLM objects for the components at the specified release, the cpd-cli does not attempt to create the OLM objects again.

To install the operator:

  1. Create the OLM objects for Watson Speech services:
    cpd-cli manage apply-olm \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_operator_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_OPS} \
--components=watson_speech
    • If the command succeeds, it returns [SUCCESS]... The apply-olm command ran successfully.
    • If the command fails, it returns [ERROR] and includes information about the cause of the failure.

What to do next: Install the Watson Speech services service.

Specifying additional installation options

When you install Watson Speech services, you indicate the microservices, models, and voices that are to be installed. You also indicate the size of the initial installation. The following table describes the options that are available for installation, including the default values that are used if you omit an option.

Keep in mind the following usage notes when installing the Watson Speech services:

  • You must install at least one of the microservices when you install the Watson Speech services. By default, the Speech to Text runtime (watson_speech_enable_stt_runtime) and Text to Speech runtime (watson_speech_enable_tts_runtime) microservices are both installed.

  • You cannot uninstall individual microservices once they are installed. This limitation applies when you make updates to the Speech installation and when you upgrade to a new version of the Watson Speech services. To remove any of the following microservices, you must uninstall the Watson Speech services in their entirety and reinstall only the microservices that you need:

    • Speech to Text runtime (watson_speech_enable_stt_runtime)
    • Speech to Text asynchronous HTTP (watson_speech_enable_stt_async)
    • Speech to Text customization (watson_speech_enable_stt_customization)
    • Text to Speech runtime (watson_speech_enable_tts_runtime)
    • Text to Speech customization (watson_speech_enable_tts_customization)

  • You can change any of the other values later by editing the custom resource that is created during installation. The custom resource allows you to modify many aspects of your Watson Speech services installation an configuration. For more information about all properties of the custom resource, see Using the Watson Speech services custom resource.

  • Speech to Text models (watson_speech_models) and Text to Speech voices (watson_speech_voices) are installed only if their corresponding runtimes (watson_speech_enable_stt_runtime and watson_speech_enable_tts_runtime) are installed.

Option Type Description
watson_speech_enable_stt_runtime boolean

Speech to Text runtime, the base microservice for speech recognition. If true, enables the /v1/recognize interfaces (synchronous HTTP and WebSocket). Enabling either of the other Speech to Text microservices automatically enables the Speech to Text runtime. The default is

watson_speech_enable_stt_runtime: true
watson_speech_enable_stt_async boolean

Speech to Text asynchronous HTTP. If true, enables the /v1/recognitions interface. The default is

watson_speech_enable_stt_async: false
watson_speech_enable_stt_customization boolean

Speech to Text customization. If true, enables the /v1/customizations and /v1/acoustic_customizations interfaces for language model and acoustic model customization. (The sttAMPatcher microservice, the backend service for acoustic model customization, is automatically installed with the watson_speech_enable_stt_customization microservice.) The default is

watson_speech_enable_stt_customization: false
watson_speech_enable_tts_runtime boolean

Text to Speech runtime, the base microservice for speech synthesis. If true, enables the /v1/synthesize interfaces (HTTP and WebSocket). Enabling the Text to Speech customization microservice automatically enables the Text to Speech runtime. The default is

watson_speech_enable_tts_runtime: true
watson_speech_enable_tts_customization boolean

Text to Speech customization. If true, enables the /v1/customizations interface for customization. The default is

watson_speech_enable_tts_customization: false
watson_speech_models string[]

Speech to Text models that are to be installed. The models are installed only if the Speech to Text runtime is installed. By default, the following US English models are installed:

watson_speech_models: ["enUsBroadbandModel", "enUsNarrowbandModel", "enUsShortFormNarrowbandModel", "enUsTelephony", "enUsMultimedia"]
watson_speech_voices string[]

Text to Speech voices that are to be installed. The voices are installed only if the Text to Speech runtime is installed. By default, the following US English voices are installed:

watson_speech_voices: ["enUSAllisonV3Voice", "enUSLisaV3Voice", "enUSMichaelV3Voice"]
watson_speech_stt_scale_config string

Indicates the size of the Speech to Text configuration. Specify one of the following values: "xsmall", "small", "medium", or "large". The default is

watson_speech_stt_scale_config: "xsmall"
watson_speech_tts_scale_config string

Indicates the size of the Text to Speech configuration. Specify one of the following values: "xsmall", "small", "medium", or "large". The default is

watson_speech_stt_scale_config: "xsmall"

To specify the advanced installation options for the Speech services, perform the following steps:

  1. Create a file named install-options.yml in the working directory for the Cloud Pak for Data command-line interface, cpd-cli-workspace/olm-utils-workspace/work.

  2. In the file, specify the Watson Speech services options and values that you want to install, as described in the previous table. For example, the following example file duplicates the default values from the table. (Because it uses the default values, the example simply duplicates the default behavior if it is included.)

    watson_speech_enable_stt_runtime: true
watson_speech_enable_stt_async: false
watson_speech_enable_stt_customization: false
watson_speech_enable_tts_runtime: true
watson_speech_enable_tts_customization: false

watson_speech_models: ["enUsBroadbandModel", "enUsNarrowbandModel", "enUsShortFormNarrowbandModel", "enUsTelephony", "enUsMultimedia"]
watson_speech_voices: ["enUSAllisonV3Voice", "enUSLisaV3Voice", "enUSMichaelV3Voice"]

watson_speech_stt_scale_config: "xsmall"
watson_speech_tts_scale_config: "xsmall"
    Tip: You can use the same file to provide input for multiple services. Each name is prefixed with the name of the Watson Speech services.

  3. Add the following line of input before the --license_acceptance entry of the ./cpd-cli apply-cr command:

    --param-file=/tmp/work/install-options.yml

Installing the service

After the Watson Speech services operator is installed, you can install Watson Speech services.

Who needs to complete this task?
You must be an administrator of the project where you will install Watson Speech services.
When do you need to complete this task?
Complete this task if you want to add Watson Speech services to your environment.

To install the service:

  1. Create the custom resource for Watson Speech services.

    The command that you run depends on the storage on your cluster:

    Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=watson_speech \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    IBM Storage Fusion storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use IBM Storage Fusion storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class, typically ibm-spectrum-scale-sc.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=watson_speech \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    IBM Storage Scale Container Native storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use IBM Storage Scale Container Native storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class, typically ibm-spectrum-scale-sc.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=watson_speech \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    Portworx storage 
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=watson_speech \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--storage_vendor=portworx \
--license_acceptance=true
    AWS with EFS and EBS storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=watson_speech \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    IBM Cloud with IBM Cloud File Storage and IBM Cloud Block Storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=watson_speech \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    NetApp Trident

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use NetApp Trident storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=watson_speech \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    Remember: To specify advanced installation options for Watson Speech services add the following line before the --license_acceptance entry:
    --param-file=/tmp/work/install-options.yml \

Validating the installation

Watson Speech services is installed when the apply-cr command returns [SUCCESS]... The apply-cr command ran successfully.

However, you can optionally run the cpd-cli manage get-cr-status command if you want to confirm that the custom resource status is Completed:

cpd-cli manage get-cr-status \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--components=watson_speech

What to do next

After you complete the installation and provision service instances, the Speech services are ready to use with the specified installation and configuration settings. For more information about the Speech to Text service, see the following documentation:

If you also installed the Watson Text to Speech service, see the following documentation for more information: