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RAG System Implementation

10 Modules
Chapter 10: Prerequisites -- RAG System Implementation100%

Prerequisites -- RAG System Implementation

Before You Begin

This afternoon session builds on the morning's Local AI Models workshop. Ensure you meet these requirements for a smooth experience.

Required Prior Knowledge

From the Morning Session

  • Ollama installed and running on your machine
  • At least one language model downloaded (llama3.3:8b recommended)
  • Basic experience running commands in a terminal
  • Understanding of what a language model does (generates text from a prompt)

General Skills

  • Basic Python familiarity: You do not need to be a programmer, but you should be comfortable running Python scripts and reading simple code. If you can understand what for item in list: print(item) does, you have enough.
  • Terminal / Command Line: Ability to navigate directories, run scripts, and install packages with pip.
  • File management: Comfortable creating folders, moving files, and working with text files.

Helpful but Not Required

  • Experience with Jupyter notebooks
  • Familiarity with JSON data format
  • Previous exposure to APIs (REST endpoints)
  • Understanding of databases at a conceptual level

Technical Requirements

Hardware Specifications

Minimum Requirements:

  • Processor: Dual-core CPU (2018 or newer)
  • RAM: 8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended)
  • Storage: 10 GB free disk space
    • ~5 GB for Python packages and embedding models
    • ~3 GB for the vector database
    • ~2 GB for working space
  • GPU: Not required but helpful. Ollama uses GPU if available.

Recommended Specifications:

  • RAM: 16 GB or more
  • Storage: 20 GB free
  • GPU: NVIDIA with 6+ GB VRAM (for faster embedding and generation)

Operating System

Supported:

  • Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) with Python 3.10+
  • macOS 12 (Monterey) or newer
  • Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, Fedora 36+

Administrator access is required to install Python packages.

Internet Connection

  • Required for setup: Downloading Python packages (~500 MB)
  • Optional during workshop: If using cloud embedding models (OpenAI)
  • Not needed: Once local models and packages are installed, the entire RAG pipeline runs offline

Software Prerequisites

Must Be Installed Before This Session

1. Python 3.10 or Later

# Check your version
python3 --version
# Must show 3.10 or higher

If not installed:

  • Windows: Download from python.org. Tick "Add Python to PATH" during installation.
  • macOS: brew install python (via Homebrew) or download from python.org
  • Linux: sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv (Debian/Ubuntu)

2. Ollama

# Check Ollama is running
ollama list
# Should show at least one model

If not installed, follow the morning session setup or visit ollama.com.

3. pip (Python Package Manager)

# Verify pip
pip --version
# or
pip3 --version

Installed During the Workshop

These are installed as part of the hands-on session -- no need to pre-install:

  • ChromaDB (vector database)
  • LangChain (RAG framework)
  • Sentence Transformers (embedding models)
  • PyPDF (PDF processing)

Recommended Ollama Models

# Language model for generation (from morning session)
ollama pull llama3.3:8b

# Embedding model (optional, pull during workshop)
ollama pull nomic-embed-text

Account Setup (Optional)

For Cloud Embeddings

If you want to try OpenAI embeddings (not required -- local models work fine):

  • OpenAI Account: platform.openai.com
    • API key required
    • Pay-as-you-go pricing
    • text-embedding-3-small costs approximately 0.02 USD per million tokens

Not Required

  • No paid subscriptions needed for the core workshop
  • No cloud accounts needed -- everything runs locally
  • No database servers -- ChromaDB runs in-process

Document Preparation

Bring Your Own Documents

The workshop is most valuable when you use your own documents. Prepare 5-10 files:

Ideal document types:

  • Company policies or handbooks
  • Project documentation or meeting notes
  • Research papers or reports
  • FAQs or knowledge base articles
  • Product documentation or user guides

Supported formats:

  • Markdown (.md)
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • PDF (.pdf)

Document size guidelines:

  • Each document: 1-50 pages (or 500-50,000 words)
  • Total collection: 5-100 documents for a good starting point
  • Larger collections work but take longer to index

If You Don't Have Documents

The workshop provides sample documents (company policies, project handbooks, annual reports). You can complete everything with these samples and add your own documents later.

Pre-Session Checklist

The Day Before

  • Python 3.10+ installed and verified
  • Ollama installed and running
  • At least one Ollama model downloaded (llama3.3:8b)
  • 10 GB free disk space confirmed
  • 5-10 documents gathered (or plan to use workshop samples)
  • Terminal / command line accessible

30 Minutes Before

  • Ollama server is running (ollama list works)
  • Python virtual environment can be created (python3 -m venv test_env)
  • Internet connection stable (for pip install)
  • Documents copied to a known folder
  • Other resource-heavy applications closed (free up RAM)

Troubleshooting Common Setup Issues

"Python not found" or Wrong Version

# Try different Python commands
python --version
python3 --version
python3.11 --version

# On Windows, try:
py --version
py -3 --version

"pip install fails" with Permission Error

# Use --user flag
pip install --user chromadb

# Or use a virtual environment (recommended)
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # Linux/macOS
# venv\Scripts\activate   # Windows
pip install chromadb

Ollama Not Responding

# Start the server manually
ollama serve

# Check if a model is loaded
ollama list

# If no models, download one
ollama pull llama3.3:8b

Low Disk Space

  • Remove unused Ollama models: ollama rm <model-name>
  • Use a smaller model: ollama pull phi3 (2.4 GB instead of 4.7 GB)
  • Clear pip cache: pip cache purge

Getting Help

During the Workshop

  1. Check this troubleshooting section first
  2. Ask your workshop neighbour -- they may have seen the same issue
  3. Raise your hand for facilitator help
  4. Note the issue for the Q&A break

After the Workshop

FAQ

"Do I need to know how to program?"

Not deeply. The workshop provides all code -- you copy, paste, and run it. Understanding basic Python syntax helps you customise the system, but is not required to complete the workshop.

"Can I use my work laptop with restricted permissions?"

You need the ability to run pip install and ollama. If your IT department restricts software installation, ask them to pre-approve Python, pip, and Ollama before the session. Alternatively, bring a personal laptop.

"What if I didn't attend the morning session?"

You can still follow along if you have Ollama and Python installed. The morning session covers local AI fundamentals -- review the Local AI Models introduction if you need background.

"How much does this cost?"

Nothing. All tools used in the core workshop are free and open source. Cloud embedding models (OpenAI) are optional and cost fractions of a penny per query.

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