Add model parameters to Estimator, and bump library version to 1.13.0

CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 CHANGELOG
 =========
 
+1.13.0
+======
+
+* feature: Estimator: add input mode to training channels
+* feature: Estimator: add model_uri and model_channel_name parameters
+
 1.12.0
 ======
 

README.rst

@@ -263,6 +263,66 @@ A few important notes:
 - Local Mode requires Docker Compose and `nvidia-docker2 <https://github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-docker>`__ for ``local_gpu``.
 - Distributed training is not yet supported for ``local_gpu``.
 
+Incremental Training
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Incremental training allows you to bring a pre-trained model into a SageMaker training job and use it as a starting point for a new model.
+There are several situations where you might want to do this:
+
+- You want to perform additional training on a model to improve its fit on your data set.
+- You want to import a pre-trained model and fit it to your data.
+- You want to resume a training job that you previously stopped.
+
+To use incremental training with SageMaker algorithms, you need model artifacts compressed into a ``tar.gz`` file. These
+artifacts are passed to a training job via an input channel configured with the pre-defined settings Amazon SageMaker algorithms require.
+
+To use model files with a SageMaker estimator, you can use the following parameters:
+
+* ``model_uri``: points to the location of a model tarball, either in S3 or locally. Specifying a local path only works in local mode.
+* ``model_channel_name``: name of the channel SageMaker will use to download the tarball specified in ``model_uri``. Defaults to 'model'.
+
+This is converted into an input channel with the specifications mentioned above once you call ``fit()`` on the predictor.
+In bring-your-own cases, ``model_channel_name`` can be overriden if you require to change the name of the channel while using
+the same settings.
+
+If your bring-your-own case requires different settings, you can create your own ``s3_input`` object with the settings you require.
+
+Here's an example of how to use incremental training:
+
+.. code:: python
+    # Configure an estimator
+    estimator = sagemaker.estimator.Estimator(training_image,
+                                              role,
+                                              train_instance_count=1,
+                                              train_instance_type='ml.p2.xlarge',
+                                              train_volume_size=50,
+                                              train_max_run=360000,
+                                              input_mode='File',
+                                              output_path=s3_output_location)
+
+    # Start a SageMaker training job and waits until completion.
+    estimator.fit('s3://my_bucket/my_training_data/')
+
+    # Create a new estimator using the previous' model artifacts
+    incr_estimator = sagemaker.estimator.Estimator(training_image,
+                                                  role,
+                                                  train_instance_count=1,
+                                                  train_instance_type='ml.p2.xlarge',
+                                                  train_volume_size=50,
+                                                  train_max_run=360000,
+                                                  input_mode='File',
+                                                  output_path=s3_output_location,
+                                                  model_uri=estimator.model_data)
+
+    # Start a SageMaker training job using the original model for incremental training
+    incr_estimator.fit('s3://my_bucket/my_training_data/')
+
+Currently, the following algorithms support incremental training:
+
+- Image Classification
+- Object Detection
+- Semantics Segmentation
+
 
 MXNet SageMaker Estimators
 --------------------------

src/sagemaker/__init__.py

@@ -35,4 +35,4 @@
 from sagemaker.session import s3_input  # noqa: F401
 from sagemaker.session import get_execution_role  # noqa: F401
 
-__version__ = '1.12.0'
+__version__ = '1.13.0'

src/sagemaker/amazon/amazon_estimator.py

@@ -70,17 +70,19 @@ def data_location(self, data_location):
         self._data_location = data_location
 
     @classmethod
-    def _prepare_init_params_from_job_description(cls, job_details):
+    def _prepare_init_params_from_job_description(cls, job_details, model_channel_name=None):
         """Convert the job description to init params that can be handled by the class constructor
 
         Args:
             job_details: the returned job details from a describe_training_job API call.
+            model_channel_name (str): Name of the channel where pre-trained model data will be downloaded.
 
         Returns:
              dictionary: The transformed init_params
 
         """
-        init_params = super(AmazonAlgorithmEstimatorBase, cls)._prepare_init_params_from_job_description(job_details)
+        init_params = super(AmazonAlgorithmEstimatorBase, cls)._prepare_init_params_from_job_description(
+            job_details, model_channel_name)
 
         # The hyperparam names may not be the same as the class attribute that holds them,
         # for instance: local_lloyd_init_method is called local_init_method. We need to map these

src/sagemaker/chainer/estimator.py

@@ -134,17 +134,18 @@ def create_model(self, model_server_workers=None, role=None, vpc_config_override
                             vpc_config=self.get_vpc_config(vpc_config_override))
 
     @classmethod
-    def _prepare_init_params_from_job_description(cls, job_details):
+    def _prepare_init_params_from_job_description(cls, job_details, model_channel_name=None):
         """Convert the job description to init params that can be handled by the class constructor
 
         Args:
             job_details: the returned job details from a describe_training_job API call.
+            model_channel_name (str): Name of the channel where pre-trained model data will be downloaded.
 
         Returns:
              dictionary: The transformed init_params
 
         """
-        init_params = super(Chainer, cls)._prepare_init_params_from_job_description(job_details)
+        init_params = super(Chainer, cls)._prepare_init_params_from_job_description(job_details, model_channel_name)
 
         for argument in [Chainer._use_mpi, Chainer._num_processes, Chainer._process_slots_per_host,
                          Chainer._additional_mpi_options]: