Skip to content
Open
Changes from all commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension

Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
138 changes: 138 additions & 0 deletions content/en/docs/next/operations/gpu-container-workloads.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
---
title: "Running Containerized GPU Workloads"
linkTitle: "GPU Containers"
description: "Run CUDA pods and other containerized GPU workloads on Cozystack management nodes that ship the NVIDIA driver and container toolkit via the distro package manager."
weight: 160
---

This page covers running GPU workloads in regular Kubernetes pods (CUDA, ML training, inference) on Cozystack management cluster nodes. It targets the typical Linux GPU node shape — `apt`-installed NVIDIA driver plus `nvidia-container-toolkit` on Ubuntu/Debian — and uses the `container` variant of the `cozystack.gpu-operator` package. Other distros with an equivalent driver + toolkit package layout should work the same way but are not regularly tested.

If instead you want to pass whole GPUs to KubeVirt VMs, see [GPU Passthrough](/docs/next/virtualization/gpu/) and [GPU Sharing with HAMi](/docs/next/kubernetes/gpu-sharing/) (HAMi provides fractional sharing in tenant Kubernetes clusters; stacking it directly on the `container` variant on the management cluster is not a supported combination yet — see [Fractional GPU sharing](#fractional-gpu-sharing) below).

## When to pick this variant

The `cozystack.gpu-operator` package exposes three architectural variants. Pick `container` when **all** of the following are true:

- The host already runs the NVIDIA driver, installed via the distro package manager (`apt install nvidia-driver-*` on Ubuntu/Debian; other distros with an equivalent driver package should work the same way but are not regularly tested). The operator must not load its own kernel module.
- The host already has `nvidia-container-toolkit` installed (`apt install nvidia-container-toolkit`) and registered with containerd. The operator must not deploy its own toolkit DaemonSet — that would overwrite the `/etc/containerd/config.toml` the host configured (via `nvidia-ctk runtime configure`), breaking the host runtime wiring.
- You want GPUs exposed to containers as `nvidia.com/gpu`, not passed through to KubeVirt VMs.

The other two variants exist for the opposite host shape: `default` (passthrough) unbinds the host driver and binds `vfio-pci` for VM passthrough, and `vgpu` requires the proprietary NVIDIA vGPU host driver plus a license server. Neither path produces a working setup on a host that already ships the driver and container toolkit through apt — the operator and the host install fight each other.

## Prerequisites

- A Cozystack management cluster with at least one GPU-enabled node.
- The GPU node runs Ubuntu or Debian with the NVIDIA driver installed via the distro package manager (other distros with an equivalent driver + toolkit package layout should work the same way but are not regularly tested). Verify with `nvidia-smi` over SSH or `kubectl debug node/<node-name>` — it must enumerate the physical GPUs and report a working driver version.
- `nvidia-container-toolkit` installed on the same node and registered with containerd. `apt install nvidia-container-toolkit` lays down binaries only — it does not configure containerd. Register the runtime explicitly:

```bash
sudo nvidia-ctk runtime configure --runtime=containerd
sudo systemctl restart containerd
grep nvidia /etc/containerd/config.toml # must show the runtime entry
```

- The GPU node must not carry a `nvidia.com/gpu.workload.config` label left over from the passthrough setup (`kubectl label node <node-name> nvidia.com/gpu.workload.config-` to remove). The `container` variant relies on the upstream default `container` workload for unlabeled nodes; a leftover `vm-passthrough` label overrides that per-node and the device plugin will not serve the GPU.
- `kubectl` configured against the management cluster.

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Minor gotcha worth one prerequisite line: the container variant relies on the upstream default workload container for unlabeled nodes. A node still carrying nvidia.com/gpu.workload.config=vm-passthrough from the GPU Passthrough guide overrides that per-node and the device plugin won't serve it — a likely trip-up when migrating a node off the passthrough setup.

- The GPU node must not carry a `nvidia.com/gpu.workload.config` label left over from the
  passthrough setup (`kubectl label node <node-name> nvidia.com/gpu.workload.config-` to remove).


With `driver.enabled=false` the operator uses the pre-installed host driver at its standard location, so on a stock Ubuntu/Debian install no `hostPaths.driverInstallDir` override is needed. Talos installs the driver under a non-standard prefix, so the operator does not find it at the default location and requires a different starting point — see `packages/system/gpu-operator/examples/values-native-talos.yaml` in the [cozystack repo](https://github.com/cozystack/cozystack) for a working reference with the compat DaemonSet and the matching `driverInstallDir` override.

## 1. Install the GPU Operator (container variant)

**Do not** add `cozystack.gpu-operator` to `bundles.enabledPackages` for this variant. The platform Helm chart's optional-package template hardcodes `spec.variant: default` for every name in `enabledPackages` and reconciles the resulting `Package` CR under Helm ownership — any user `Package` CR with `variant: container` is overwritten on the next reconcile. Apply the `Package` CR directly instead; the cozystack platform controller installs it without the bundle entry.

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

The stated reason here is incorrect, though the practical advice is right. gpu-operator in the iaas bundle does not go through the cozystack.platform.package.optional.default helper and does not hardcode spec.variant: default. iaas.yaml renders it via cozystack.platform.package with $gpuVariant = bundles.iaas.gpuOperatorVariant | default "default", and immediately fails the Helm render if that value is anything other than "default" or "vgpu":

{{- if not (or (eq $gpuVariant "default") (eq $gpuVariant "vgpu")) -}}
{{- fail (printf "bundles.iaas.gpuOperatorVariant must be \"default\" or \"vgpu\", got %q" $gpuVariant) -}}
{{- end -}}

So "container" via the bundle path causes a hard Helm render failure, not a silent overwrite — the user Package CR is never touched because the chart never renders. Suggested replacement:

Do not add cozystack.gpu-operator to bundles.enabledPackages for this variant. The iaas bundle template only accepts bundles.iaas.gpuOperatorVariant: default or vgpu; any other value — including container — causes a hard Helm render failure (packages/core/platform/templates/bundles/iaas.yaml). Apply the Package CR directly instead; the platform controller installs it without a bundle entry and without the variant restriction.


Apply a `Package` CR with `variant: container`:

```yaml
apiVersion: cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: Package
metadata:
name: cozystack.gpu-operator
spec:
variant: container
Comment on lines +46 to +51

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

medium

The Package resource needs to be created in the cozy-system namespace for the Cozystack operator to detect and reconcile it. Adding namespace: cozy-system to the metadata ensures it is applied to the correct namespace.

Suggested change
apiVersion: cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: Package
metadata:
name: cozystack.gpu-operator
spec:
variant: container
apiVersion: cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: Package
metadata:
name: cozystack.gpu-operator
namespace: cozy-system
spec:
variant: container

```

```bash
kubectl apply -f gpu-operator-container.yaml
```

The platform controller resolves the variant against the `PackageSource` (`packages/core/platform/sources/gpu-operator.yaml`), pulls `values.yaml` + `values-container.yaml` from the OCI repository, and installs the chart into `cozy-gpu-operator`.

## 2. Verify the operator is healthy

All pods in the `cozy-gpu-operator` namespace should reach `Running`:

```bash
kubectl get pods --namespace cozy-gpu-operator
```

Example output (pod names will vary):

```console
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
gpu-feature-discovery-7jpzv 1/1 Running 0 2m
gpu-operator-7976b5b8fb-xqg2z 1/1 Running 0 3m
nvidia-cuda-validator-tjkfh 0/1 Completed 0 2m
nvidia-dcgm-exporter-rmpfg 1/1 Running 0 2m
nvidia-device-plugin-daemonset-cqj9w 1/1 Running 0 2m
nvidia-operator-validator-q5n4k 1/1 Running 0 3m
```

The `container` variant does **not** spawn `nvidia-driver-daemonset`, `nvidia-container-toolkit-daemonset`, or `nvidia-vfio-manager` — all three are pinned off by design.

The node should advertise `nvidia.com/gpu` as an allocatable resource:

```bash
kubectl describe node <node-name>
```

```console
...
Capacity:
...
nvidia.com/gpu: 2
...
Allocatable:
...
nvidia.com/gpu: 2
...
```

## 3. Run a sample CUDA pod

Create a pod that requests one GPU and runs `nvidia-smi`:

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
name: cuda-smoke
spec:
restartPolicy: OnFailure
containers:
- name: cuda
image: nvcr.io/nvidia/cuda:12.4.1-base-ubuntu22.04
command: ["nvidia-smi"]
resources:
limits:
nvidia.com/gpu: 1
```

```bash
kubectl apply -f cuda-smoke.yaml
kubectl wait --for=jsonpath='{.status.phase}'=Succeeded pod/cuda-smoke --timeout=5m
kubectl logs cuda-smoke

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Run back-to-back, kubectl logs errors while the (large) CUDA base image is still pulling. Add a wait:

kubectl apply -f cuda-smoke.yaml
kubectl wait --for=jsonpath='{.status.phase}'=Succeeded pod/cuda-smoke --timeout=5m
kubectl logs cuda-smoke

```

The output should enumerate the GPU(s) visible to the pod and report the driver version that the host runs.

## Fractional GPU sharing

The `container` variant exposes whole GPUs through the upstream NVIDIA device plugin. For fractional sharing (per-pod memory and compute quotas), see [GPU Sharing with HAMi](/docs/next/kubernetes/gpu-sharing/) — currently documented for tenant Kubernetes clusters, where enabling HAMi automatically disables the GPU Operator's built-in device plugin to avoid resource-registration conflicts. Stacking the `cozystack.hami` package directly on top of the `container` variant on the management cluster is not a supported combination yet: this variant pins the NVIDIA device plugin on, and HAMi ships its own device plugin, so the two would both register `nvidia.com/gpu`. The `cozystack.hami` PackageSource only declares `dependsOn: cozystack.gpu-operator` for install ordering — it does not disable the operator's device plugin the way the tenant `kubernetes` app chart does.

## Variant comparison

| Workload shape | Variant | Host driver | Host container toolkit | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Containers (CUDA pods, ML) | `container` | required | required | This page |
| Whole GPU to one VM | `default` | must NOT be loaded — operator binds `vfio-pci` | not used | [GPU Passthrough](/docs/next/virtualization/gpu/) |
| Sliced GPU to multiple VMs | `vgpu` | proprietary NVIDIA vGPU host driver | not used | Requires NVIDIA vGPU license + a Delegated License Service endpoint |