Export PyTorch model

Export PyTorch model with custom ONNX operators

This document explains the process of exporting PyTorch models with custom ONNX Runtime ops. The aim is to export a PyTorch model with operators that are not supported in ONNX, and extend ONNX Runtime to support these custom ops.

Currently, a torch op can be exported as a custom operator using our custom op (symbolic) registration API. We can use this API to register custom ONNX Runtime ops under “com.microsoft” domain.

Export a Custom Op
Extend ONNX Runtime with Custom Ops
ONNX Runtime Tests
Test model Export End to End

Export a Custom Op

In this example, we take Inverse operator as an example. To enable export of torch.inverse, a symbolic function can be created and registered as part of custom ops:

from torch.onnx import register_custom_op_symbolic

def my_inverse(g, self):
    return g.op("com.microsoft::Inverse", self)

# register_custom_op_symbolic('<namespace>::inverse', my_inverse, <opset_version>)
register_custom_op_symbolic('::inverse', my_inverse, 1)

<namespace> is a part of the torch operator name. For standard torch operators, namespace can be omitted.

com.microsoft should be used as the custom opset domain for ONNX Runtime ops. You can choose the custom opset version during op registration.

All symbolics for ONNX Runtime custom ops are defined in tools/python/register_custom_ops_pytorch_exporter.py.

If you are adding a symbolic function for a new custom op, add the function to this file.

Extend ONNX Runtime with Custom Ops

The next step is to add op schema and kernel implementation in ONNX Runtime. Consider the Inverse custom op as an example added in: https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/pull/3485

Custom op schema and shape inference function should be added in https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/core/graph/contrib_ops/contrib_defs.cc using ONNX_CONTRIB_OPERATOR_SCHEMA.

ONNX_CONTRIB_OPERATOR_SCHEMA(Inverse)
    .SetDomain(kMSDomain) // kMSDomain = "com.microsoft"
    .SinceVersion(1) // Same version used at op (symbolic) registration
    ...

To comply with ONNX guideline for new operators, a new operator should have complete reference implementation tests and shape inference tests.

Reference implementation python tests should be added in: https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/test/python/contrib_ops E.g.: https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/test/python/contrib_ops/onnx_test_trilu.py

Shape inference C++ tests should be added in: https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/test/contrib_ops E.g.: https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/test/contrib_ops/trilu_shape_inference_test.cc

The operator kernel should be implemented using Compute function under contrib namespace in https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/contrib_ops/cpu/<operator>.cc for CPU and https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/contrib_ops/cuda/<operator>.cc for CUDA.

namespace onnxruntime {
namespace contrib {

class Inverse final : public OpKernel {
 public:
  explicit Inverse(const OpKernelInfo& info) : OpKernel(info) {}
  Status Compute(OpKernelContext* ctx) const override;

 private:
 ...
};

ONNX_OPERATOR_KERNEL_EX(
    Inverse,
    kMSDomain,
    1,
    kCpuExecutionProvider,
    KernelDefBuilder()
        .TypeConstraint("T", BuildKernelDefConstraints<float, double, MLFloat16>()),
    Inverse);

Status Inverse::Compute(OpKernelContext* ctx) const {
... // kernel implementation
}

}  // namespace contrib
}  // namespace onnxruntime

Operator kernel should be registered in https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/contrib_ops/cpu_contrib_kernels.cc for CPU and https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/contrib_ops/cuda_contrib_kernels.cc for CUDA.

Now you should be able to build and install ONNX Runtime to start using your custom op.

ONNX Runtime Tests

ONNX Runtime custom op kernel tests should be added in: https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/tree/master/onnxruntime/test/contrib_ops/_test.cc

namespace onnxruntime {
namespace test {

// Add a comprehensive set of unit tests for custom op kernel implementation

TEST(InverseContribOpTest, two_by_two_float) {
  OpTester test("Inverse", 1, kMSDomain); // custom opset version and domain
  test.AddInput<float>("X", {2, 2}, {4, 7, 2, 6});
  test.AddOutput<float>("Y", {2, 2}, {0.6f, -0.7f, -0.2f, 0.4f});
  test.Run();
}

...

}  // namespace test
}  // namespace onnxruntime

Test model Export End to End

Once the custom op is registered in the exporter and implemented in ONNX Runtime, you should be able to export it as part of you ONNX model and run it with ONNX Runtime.

Below you can find a sample script for exporting and running the inverse operator as part of a model.

The exported model includes a combination of ONNX standard ops and the custom ops.

This test also compares the output of PyTorch model with ONNX Runtime outputs to test both the operator export and implementation.

import torch
import onnxruntime
import io
import numpy


class CustomInverse(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        return torch.inverse(x) + x

x = torch.randn(3, 3)

# Export model to ONNX
f = io.BytesIO()
torch.onnx.export(CustomInverse(), (x,), f)

model = CustomInverse()
pt_outputs = model(x)

# Run the exported model with ONNX Runtime
ort_sess = onnxruntime.InferenceSession(f.getvalue())
ort_inputs = dict((ort_sess.get_inputs()[i].name, input.cpu().numpy()) for i, input in enumerate((x,)))
ort_outputs = ort_sess.run(None, ort_inputs)

# Validate PyTorch and ONNX Runtime results
numpy.testing.assert_allclose(pt_outputs.cpu().numpy(), ort_outputs[0], rtol=1e-03, atol=1e-05)

By default, the opset version will be set to 1 for custom opsets. If you’d like to export your custom op to a higher opset version, you can specify the custom opset domain and version using the custom_opsets argument when calling the export API. Note that this is different than the opset version associated with default ONNX domain.

torch.onnx.export(CustomInverse(), (x,), f, custom_opsets={"com.microsoft": 5})

Note that you can export a custom op to any version >= the opset version used at registration.

We have a set of tests for export and output validation of ONNX models with ONNX Runtime custom ops in tools/test/test_test_custom_ops_pytorch_exporter.py. If you’re adding a new custom operator, please make sure to include tests in this file.

You can run these tests using the command:

PYTHONPATH=<path_to_onnxruntime/tools> pytest -v test_custom_ops_pytorch_exporter.py