Runtime Parameters for Speech NIM Containers

When you run a Speech NIM container with docker run, the following flags and environment variables are commonly used. Service-specific examples are in the ASR, TTS, and NMT tutorials.

Common Flags and Variables

Flag or variable	Description
-it	Interactive + TTY (refer to Docker docs).
--rm	Remove the container when it stops (refer to Docker docs).
--name=<container-name>	Name for the container. Use any value you prefer; often set using CONTAINER_ID.
--runtime=nvidia	Make NVIDIA drivers available inside the container.
--gpus '"device=0"'	Expose GPU 0. On multi-GPU hosts, specify the device. Refer to GPU enumeration.
--shm-size=8GB	Shared memory for multi-GPU communication.
-e NGC_API_KEY	Token for downloading models and resources from NGC. Refer to NGC Access Setup.
-e NIM_HTTP_API_PORT=<port>	HTTP API port inside the container. Default 9000. Avoid 8000.
-e NIM_GRPC_API_PORT=<port>	gRPC API port inside the container. Default 50051.
-p 9000:9000	Map host port (left) to container HTTP port (right).
-p 50051:50051	Map host port (left) to container gRPC port (right).
-e NIM_TAGS_SELECTOR=<key=value,...>	Select a model/profile. Key-value pairs, for example, name=parakeet-1-1b-ctc-en-us,mode=all. Refer to the support matrix and service tutorials.

Optional: TLS/mTLS

Some NIMs support HTTPS using environment variables:

Variable	When required	Description
NIM_SSL_MODE	Optional	DISABLED (default), TLS (server-side only), or MTLS (client cert required).
NIM_SSL_KEY_PATH	When SSL is enabled	Path to the server TLS private key.
NIM_SSL_CERTS_PATH	When SSL is enabled	Path to the server certificate.
NIM_SSL_CA_CERTS_PATH	When NIM_SSL_MODE=MTLS	Path to the CA certificate.

Check the support matrix and service docs for which images support SSL.