Create a VM

Preview

This product is subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of the Service Specific Terms. Pre-GA products are available "as is" and might have limited support. For more information, see the launch stage descriptions.

This document describes the steps to create individual A3 Ultra VMs that are deployed on Hypercompute Cluster. For more information about Hypercompute Cluster, see Hypercompute Cluster.

After you have requested capacity, you can create VMs on your reserved blocks of capacity.

To learn about other ways to create VMs or clusters, see the Overview page.

Before you begin

Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:

Console

When you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.

gcloud

In the Google Cloud console, activate Cloud Shell.

Activate Cloud Shell

At the bottom of the Google Cloud console, a Cloud Shell session starts and displays a command-line prompt. Cloud Shell is a shell environment with the Google Cloud CLI already installed and with values already set for your current project. It can take a few seconds for the session to initialize.

REST

To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.

Install the Google Cloud CLI, then initialize it by running the following command:

gcloud init

For more information, see Authenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

Required roles

To get the permissions that you need to create VMs, ask your administrator to grant you the Compute Instance Admin (v1) (roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1) IAM role on the project. For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

This predefined role contains the permissions required to create VMs. To see the exact permissions that are required, expand the Required permissions section:

Required permissions

The following permissions are required to create VMs:

• compute.instances.create on the project
• To use a custom image to create the VM: compute.images.useReadOnly on the image
• To use a snapshot to create the VM: compute.snapshots.useReadOnly on the snapshot
• To use an instance template to create the VM: compute.instanceTemplates.useReadOnly on the instance template
• To assign a legacy network to the VM: compute.networks.use on the project
• To specify a static IP address for the VM: compute.addresses.use on the project
• To assign an external IP address to the VM when using a legacy network: compute.networks.useExternalIp on the project
• To specify a subnet for your VM: compute.subnetworks.use on the project or on the chosen subnet
• To assign an external IP address to the VM when using a VPC network: compute.subnetworks.useExternalIp on the project or on the chosen subnet
• To set VM instance metadata for the VM: compute.instances.setMetadata on the project
• To set tags for the VM: compute.instances.setTags on the VM
• To set labels for the VM: compute.instances.setLabels on the VM
• To set a service account for the VM to use: compute.instances.setServiceAccount on the VM
• To create a new disk for the VM: compute.disks.create on the project
• To attach an existing disk in read-only or read-write mode: compute.disks.use on the disk
• To attach an existing disk in read-only mode: compute.disks.useReadOnly on the disk

You might also be able to get these permissions with custom roles or other predefined roles.

Create VPC networks

Tip: If you are setting up a quick test, you can skip this step and specify a single NIC --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC during the VM creation.

A3 Ultra VMs have ten NICs: two for the host machine and eight for the GPUs. To use these multi-NICs, you need to create three Virtual Private Cloud networks as follows:

• 2 gVNIC networks, each with a subnetwork: these are used for host to host communication. For more information about GVNIC, see Using Google Virtual NIC.
• 1 RDMA network with 8 subnetworks: these are designed for GPU to GPU communication by using the NVIDIA ConnectX-7 NICs that are available with your A3 Ultra VMs. For more information about the RDMA network profile, see RDMA network profiles.

To set up the networks, you can either use the following instruction guides or use the provided script.

Instruction guides

To create the networks, you can use the following instructions:

• To create the host networks, see Create and manage Virtual Private Cloud networks.
• To create the GPU networks, see Create a Virtual Private Cloud network for RDMA NICs.

Script

To create the networks, you can use the following script.

  #!/bin/bash

  # Create standard VPCs (network and subnets) for the GVNICs
  for N in $(seq 0 1); do
    gcloud beta compute networks create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-$N \
      --subnet-mode=custom

    gcloud beta compute networks subnets create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-$N \
      --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-$N \
      --region=REGION \
      --range=10.$N.0.0/16

    gcloud beta compute firewall-rules create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-internal-$N \
      --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-$N \
      --action=ALLOW \
      --rules=tcp:0-65535,udp:0-65535,icmp \
      --source-ranges=10.0.0.0/8
  done

  # Create SSH firewall rules
  gcloud beta compute firewall-rules create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-ssh \
    --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0 \
    --action=ALLOW \
    --rules=tcp:22 \
    --source-ranges=IP_RANGE

  # Assumes that an external IP is only created for vNIC 0
  gcloud beta compute firewall-rules create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-allow-ping-net-0 \
    --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0 \
    --action=ALLOW \
    --rules=icmp \
    --source-ranges=IP_RANGE

  # List and make sure network profiles exist
  gcloud beta compute network-profiles list

  # Create network for CX-7
  gcloud beta compute networks create RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma \
    --network-profile=ZONE-vpc-roce \
    --subnet-mode custom

  # Create subnets.
  for N in $(seq 0 7); do
    gcloud beta compute networks subnets create RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-$N \
      --network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma \
      --region=REGION \
      --range=10.$((N+2)).0.0/16  # offset to avoid overlap with gvnics
  done
  

Replace the following:

• GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the standard Virtual Private Cloud networks and subnets that use GVNIC NICs.
• RDMA_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the Virtual Private Cloud networks and subnets that use RDMA NICs.
• ZONE: the zone where you want to create the networks. For the preview, the only supported zone is europe-west1-b.
• REGION: the region where you want to create the networks. This must correspond to the zone specified. For example, if your zone is europe-west1-b, then your region is europe-west1.
• IP_RANGE: the IP range to use for the SSH firewall rules.

Create the VM

To create the VM, use one of the following methods:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Create an instance page.

   Go to Create an instance

2. Specify a Name for your VM. See Resource naming convention.

3. Select the Region and Zone where you want to reserve capacity. See the list of available GPU regions and zones.

4. Click the GPUs tab, and then complete the following steps:

   1. In the GPU type list, select NVIDIA H200 141GB.
   2. In the Number of GPUs list, select 8.

5. In the navigation menu, click OS and storage, and then complete the following steps:

   1. Click Change. The Boot disk configuration pane opens.
   2. On the Public images tab, select a recommended image. For a list of recommended images, see Operating systems.
   3. To confirm your boot disk options, click Select.

6. To create a multi-NIC VM, complete the following steps. Otherwise, to create a single-NIC VM, skip these steps.

   1. In the navigation menu, click Networking.

   2. In the Network interfaces section, complete the following steps:

      1. Delete the default network interface. To delete the interface, click Delete.
      2. Click Add a network interface. Use this option to add the gVNIC and RDMA networks that you created in the previous section. When you add the networks, remember the following:
         • Specify your host networks in the Network and Subnetwork lists, and set the Network interface card list to gVNIC.
         • Specify your GPU networks in the Network and Sub-network lists, and set the Network interface card list to MRDMA for these networks.

7. In the navigation menu, click Advanced and then click Choose a reservation. This action opens a pane with a list of available reservations within your selected zone. From the reservation list, complete the following steps:

   1. Select the reservation that you want to use for the VM. You can also select a specific block within the reservation.
   2. Click Choose.

8. To create and start the VM, click Create.

gcloud

To create the VM, use the gcloud beta compute instances create command:

gcloud beta compute instance create VM_NAME  \
    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \
    --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY \
    --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT \
    --reservation-affinity=specific \
    --reservation=RESERVATION \
    --provisioning-model=RESERVATION_BOUND \
    --instance-termination-action=DELETE \
    --zone=ZONE \
    --boot-disk-type=hyperdisk-balanced \
    --boot-disk-size=DISK_SIZE \
    --scopes=cloud-platform \
    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC,network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0,subnet=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-0 \
    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC,network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-1,subnet=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-1,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-0,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-1,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-2,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-3,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-4,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-5,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-6,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-7,no-address

Replace the following:

• VM_NAME: the name of the vm.
• MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For this preview, the only supported machine type is a3-ultragpu-8g.
• IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
• IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
• RESERVATION: for this value, you can either specify the reservation name or a specific block within a reservation. To get the reservation name or the available blocks, see View capacity. Choose one of the following:

  Reservation value	When to use
  RESERVATION_NAME For example: exr-5010-01	If you are using a placement policy. The placement policy will be applied to the reservation and the VMs are placed on a single block. If you aren't using a placement policy and are ok with VMs placed anywhere in your reservation.
  RESERVATION_NAME/reservationBlocks/RESERVATION_BLOCK_NAME For example: exr-5010-01/reservationBlocks/exr-5010-01-block-1	If you aren't using a placement policy and want your VMs to be placed in a specific block.

• ZONE: the zone where you want to create the VM. For the preview, the only supported zone is europe-west1-b.
• DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB.

REST

To create the VM, make a POST request to the instances.insert method as follows:

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/beta/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/
{
  {
    "machineType":"projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/machineTypes/MACHINE_TYPE",
    "name":"VM_NAME",
    "disks":[
        {
          "boot":true,
          "initializeParams":{
              "diskSizeGb":"DISK_SIZE",
              "diskType":"hyperdisk-balanced",
              "sourceImage":"projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY"
          },
          "mode":"READ_WRITE",
          "type":"PERSISTENT"
        }
    ],
    "networkInterfaces": [
      {
        "accessConfigs": [
          {
            "name": "external-nat",
            "type": "ONE_TO_ONE_NAT"
          }
        ],
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0",
        "nicType": "GVNIC",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-0"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-1",
        "nicType": "GVNIC",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-1"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-0"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-1"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-2"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-3"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-4"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-5"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-6"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-7"
      }
      ],
    "reservationAffinity":{
        "consumeReservationType":"SPECIFIC_RESERVATION",
        "key":"compute.googleapis.com/reservation-name",
        "values":[
          "RESERVATION"
        ],
        "scheduling":{
          "provisioningModel":"RESERVATION_BOUND",
          "instanceTerminationAction":"DELETE",
          "automaticRestart":true
        }
    }
  }
}

Replace the following:

• PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where you want to create the VM.
• ZONE: the zone where you want to create the VM. For the preview, the only supported zone is europe-west1-b.
• MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For this preview, the only supported machine type is a3-ultragpu-8g.
• VM_NAME: the name of the VM.
• DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB.
• IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
• IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
• RESERVATION: for this value, you can either specify the the reservation name or a specific block within a reservation. To get the reservation name or the available blocks, see View capacity. Choose one of the following:

  Reservation value	When to use
  RESERVATION_NAME For example: exr-5010-01	If you are using a placement policy. The placement policy will be applied to the reservation and the VMs are placed on a single block. If you aren't using a placement policy and are ok with VMs placed anywhere in your reservation.
  RESERVATION_NAME/reservationBlocks/RESERVATION_BLOCK_NAME For example: exr-5010-01/reservationBlocks/exr-5010-01-block-1	If you aren't using a placement policy and want your VMs to be placed in a specific block.

What's next

• View VMs topology
• Run workloads overview
• Troubleshoot reservation consumption