How to use the command 'dvc freeze' (with examples)

The dvc freeze command is used to freeze stages in the DVC pipeline. When a stage is frozen, DVC will no longer track changes in the stage dependencies or re-execute the stage until it is unfrozen. This can be useful in situations where you want to temporarily disable DVC tracking for certain stages.

Use case 1: Freeze 1 or more specified stages

Code:

dvc freeze stage_name_a [stage_name_b ...]

Motivation: Sometimes, you may want to freeze only specific stages in your DVC pipeline while allowing the rest of the stages to continue being tracked. This can be useful when you want to pause or skip the execution of certain stages without modifying the DVC pipeline configuration.

Explanation:

• dvc freeze is the command used to freeze stages in the DVC pipeline.
• stage_name_a, stage_name_b, ... are the names of the stages that you want to freeze. You can specify one or more stage names separated by spaces.

Example Output:

The specified stages have been frozen: stage_name_a, stage_name_b, ...

Use case 2: Freeze all stages in the DVC pipeline

Code:

dvc freeze

Motivation: There may be situations where you want to temporarily freeze all stages in your DVC pipeline. This can be useful when you want to prevent DVC from tracking any changes in stage dependencies or re-executing any stages for a period of time.

Explanation:

• dvc freeze is the command used to freeze stages in the DVC pipeline. When no stage names are specified, it freezes all stages in the pipeline.

Example Output:

All stages in the DVC pipeline have been frozen.

Conclusion:

The dvc freeze command provides a convenient way to freeze stages in the DVC pipeline. By specifying specific stage names or freezing all stages, you can temporarily disable DVC tracking and re-execution for the desired stages. This can be useful for pausing or skipping stages without modifying the pipeline configuration.