Working Directory Structure
This page describes the “classic” working directory structure (WDS) as well as the “versioned” working directory structure. It also describes when the versioned structure is used. Additionally, it explains the migration processes that might happen on the first startup of an installation of Altair AI Studio.
In brief:
- The classic WDS is the
.RapidMinerworking directory (also known as RapidMiner user home), that is used in AI Studio in all versions before 2024.0 and in all other Altair RapidMiner applications (e.g. AI Hub). - The versioned WDS is an
.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studiofolder which contains a shared working directory as well as a versioned working directory for each installed version of AI Studio from 2024.0 onward. It is only used in AI Studio. No other applications are affected. - Launching a certain installation of AI Studio 2024.0+ for the first time will trigger a directory migration process, if you have used an older version before.
- Uninstalling a specific verison of AI Studio 2024.0+ will not remove the version specific working directory in case you need these files later. You can safely remove the versioned directory after having uninstalled the old version and launched a newer version at least once but not the
sharedor.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studiodirectory if you intend to use another version of AI Studio.
Classic and Versioned WDS in Detail
When the versioned WDS is used
The versioned WDS is a feature of AI Studio that applies only to versions 2024.0+. Older versions of AI Studio and any other Altair RapidMiner applications, such as the Job Agent or AI hub, continue to use the classic WDS.
Classic WDS
The classic working directory structure is the only one that existed before introducing the versioned one with AI Studio 2024.0. It behaves as follows (the behavior did not change):
- If a custom path is set via the starting parameter
rapidminer.user-home, this path is used as the working directory. - If no custom path is set, the setting
rapidminer.execution.working_directoryis read and used as the working directory, if it is set. - If the above setting is not set yet, it will be set to the path
~/.RapidMinerand this path is used as the working directory. This is the default in most cases.
All working directory content (e.g. caches, extensions, configs, logs, …) will be saved into the selected working directory. The working directory often is referred to as “RapidMiner user home”.
Versioned WDS
The versioned working directory structure takes into account the new installation process, which allows multiple installations of different AI Studio versions. To guarantee compatibility when running two different versions of AI Studio on the same machine, some files have to be kept as version-specific copies. This is realized by a new sub folder structure within a base working directory. The base working directory is the same as the classic working directory, only the default one is now called .AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio instead of .RapidMiner. This base working directory contains a shared and a versioned working directory (e.g. 2024.2.1). All contents from .RapidMiner are placed in either .AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/shared or .AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/2024.2.1, depending on its needs.
Migration Processes
When launching an AI Studio installation that uses the versioned WDS (i.e. a version 2024.0+) for the first time, it triggers a migration process. The exact process depends on your previous usage of AI Studio and on the version you are launching.
| New version X of AI Studio | Previous used versions Y and Z of AI Studio | Actions / Results | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| < 2024.0 | does not matter | ~/.RapidMiner will be created (if not existing already) and used as the working directory (~ may be replaced with a custom directory) |
This is referred to as the classic working directory structure. |
| >= 2024.0 (e.g. X = 2024.2.0) | none | ~/.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/shared and ~/.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/2024.2.0/ will be created and used as the working directories (~ may be replaced with a custom directory) |
This is referred to as the versioned working directory structure. |
| >= 2024.0 (e.g. X = 2024.2.0) | Y < 2024.0 | A base migration from ~/.RapidMiner to the versioned structure will be executed (details below) |
|
| >= 2024.0 (e.g. X = 2024.2.0) | 2024.0 <= Y < X (e.g. Y = 2024.1.0) | A versioned migration from ~/.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/2024.1.0/ to ~/.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/2024.2.0/ will be executed (details below) |
|
| >= 2024.0 (e.g. X = 2024.2.0) | X < Y (e.g. Y = 2024.3.0) | The versioned working directory ~/.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/2024.2.0/ will be created and files will be generated |
No migration at all to ensure compatibility. |
| >= 2024.0 (e.g. X = 2024.2.0) | Z < 2024.0 <= X < Y (e.g. Z = 10.2.0, Y = 2024.3.0) | The versioned working directory ~/.AltairRapidMiner/AI Studio/2024.2.0/ will be migrated from the classic ~/.RapidMiner |
This is a base migration only of the versioned content. |
Base Migration
If there is a classic working directory available, but the versioned one is needed, a base migration is triggered. It basically copies all files of the available working directory over into a newly created versioned working directory structure. All shared content is copied to the shared folder and everything else is copied to the current version folder. Other migration steps are:
- The
extensions.xml(previously found in.RapidMiner/managed) is moved to the version specific folder. - Paths in configuration files leading to the working directory are adjusted accordingly.
Versioned Migration
If there is already a versioned working directory structure available but the current version is launched for the first time and therefore there is no folder for that version, a version migration is started. It looks for the currently newest versioned directory (e.g. if there are directories for 2024.1.0 and 2024.2.0, the 2024.2.0 directory is picked) and copies that into a new folder for the current version.
This only happens, if there is a versioned directory below the currently launched version. If there is a versioned structure but no older versioned directory, the currently needed directory may be migrated from the classic structure, if available. Otherwise, it will be treated as a first launch of AI Studio in general (i.e. no migration process is triggered).