Push or Pull a Model Image

Use mesheryctl to Push or Pull a Model Image

A Meshery [Model]({{< ref "concepts/logical/models/index.md" >}}) can be packaged as an OCI image - a portable, versioned artifact that bundles the model definition together with all of its components and relationships. Because the package is OCI-compliant, it can be moved between Meshery Servers and stored in any OCI-compatible image repository (Docker Hub, GitHub Container Registry, AWS ECR, and so on), exactly like a container image.

Package (build) a model image

Package model files that follow the [scaffold layout]({{< ref "guides/configuration-management/creating-models/index.md" >}}) ([model-name]/[model-version]) into an OCI artifact:

mesheryctl model build [model-name]/[model-version]

model build writes an OCI artifact named <model-name>-<version>.tar to your current directory (for example, mesheryctl model build digitalocean-icons/v0.1.0 produces digitalocean-icons-v0-1-0.tar). This command is local - it does not require a running Meshery Server.

Push a model image into a Meshery Server

"Pushing" a model into a Meshery Server means registering it into that server's [Registry]({{< ref "concepts/logical/registry.md" >}}). Import the packaged artifact (or the model directory) with:

mesheryctl model import -f digitalocean-icons-v0-1-0.tar

mesheryctl model import talks to the Meshery Server of your current context, so you must be logged in (see [mesheryctl system login]({{< ref "reference/references/mesheryctl/system/login.md" >}})). The file can be an OCI .tar, a compressed tar.gz, a model directory, or a remote URL - see [Importing Models]({{< ref "guides/configuration-management/importing-models/index.md" >}}) for the full list of supported sources.

Pull a model image from a Meshery Server

"Pulling" a model retrieves an already-registered model from a Meshery Server as an OCI image (or a compressed archive) so it can be inspected, versioned, or moved to another server:

mesheryctl model export [model-name] -o oci

Use -o to choose the output format (oci or tar), -t for the file type of the definitions inside the archive (yaml, the default, or json), and -l to choose the output directory (the directory must already exist). See [Exporting Models]({{< ref "guides/configuration-management/exporting-models/index.md" >}}) for details.

Push to or pull from an external OCI registry

Because the artifact produced by mesheryctl model build/model export is a standard OCI image, you can push it to - or pull it from - any OCI-compatible registry using your existing container tooling (for example ORAS or docker), then mesheryctl model import it into a server on the other side. This makes model images easy to share across teams and environments alongside your other OCI artifacts.