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    Run TPU workloads in a Docker container

    Docker containers make configuring applications easier by combining your code and all needed dependencies in one distributable package. You can run Docker containers within TPU VMs to simplify configuring and sharing your Cloud TPU applications. This document describes how to set up a Docker container for each ML framework supported by Cloud TPU.

    Train a PyTorch model in a Docker container

    TPU device

    1. Create Cloud TPU VM

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
create  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--accelerator-type = 
 v2-8 
  
 \ 
--version = 
tpu-ubuntu2204-base

    2. Connect to the TPU VM using SSH

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a

    3. Make sure your Google Cloud user has been granted the Artifact Registry Reader role. For more information, see Granting Artifact Registry roles .

    4. Start a container in the TPU VM using the nightly PyTorch/XLA image

      sudo  
docker  
run  
--net = 
host  
-ti  
--rm  
--name  
your-container-name  
--privileged  
us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/tpu-pytorch-releases/docker/xla:r2.6.0_3.10_tpuvm_cxx11  
 \ 
bash

    5. Configure TPU runtime

      There are two PyTorch/XLA runtime options: PJRT and XRT. We recommend you use PJRT unless you have a reason to use XRT. To learn more about the different runtime configurations, see the PJRT runtime documentation .

      PJRT

       export 
  
 PJRT_DEVICE 
 = 
TPU

      XRT

       export 
  
 XRT_TPU_CONFIG 
 = 
 "localservice;0;localhost:51011"

    6. Clone the PyTorch XLA repository

      git  
clone  
--recursive  
https://github.com/pytorch/xla.git

    7. Train ResNet50

      python3  
xla/test/test_train_mp_imagenet.py  
--fake_data  
--model = 
resnet50  
--num_epochs = 
 1

    When the training script completes, make sure you clean up the resources.

    1. Type exit to exit from the Docker container
    2. Type exit to exit from the TPU VM

    3. Delete the TPU VM

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
delete  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a

    TPU slice

    When you run PyTorch code on a TPU slice, you must run your code on all TPU workers at the same time. One way to do this is to use the gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm ssh command with the --worker=all and --command flags. The following procedure shows you how to create a Docker image to make setting up each TPU worker easier.

    1. Create a TPU VM

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
create  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 us-central2-b 
  
 \ 
--accelerator-type = 
 v4-32 
  
 \ 
--version = 
 tpu-ubuntu2204-base

    2. Add the current user to the Docker group

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 us-central2-b 
  
 \ 
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--command = 
 'sudo usermod -a -G docker $USER'

    3. Clone the PyTorch XLA repository

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 us-central2-b 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 "git clone --recursive https://github.com/pytorch/xla.git"

    4. Run the training script in a container on all TPU workers

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 us-central2-b 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 "docker run --rm --privileged --net=host  -v ~/xla:/xla -e PJRT_DEVICE=TPU us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/tpu-pytorch-releases/docker/xla:r2.6.0_3.10_tpuvm_cxx11 python /xla/test/test_train_mp_imagenet.py --fake_data --model=resnet50 --num_epochs=1"

      Docker command flags:

      • --rm removes the container after its process terminates.
      • --privileged exposes the TPU device to the container.
      • --net=host binds all of the container's ports to the TPU VM to allow communication between the hosts in the pod.
      • -e sets environment variables.

    When the training script completes, make sure you clean up the resources.

    Delete the TPU VM using the following command:

    gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
delete  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 us-central2-b

    Train a JAX model in a Docker container

    TPU device

    1. Create the TPU VM

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
create  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--accelerator-type = 
 v2-8 
  
 \ 
--version = 
 tpu-ubuntu2204-base

    2. Connect to the TPU VM using SSH

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a

    3. Start Docker daemon in TPU VM

      sudo  
systemctl  
start  
docker

    4. Start Docker container

      sudo  
docker  
run  
--net = 
host  
-ti  
--rm  
--name  
 your-container-name 
  
 \ 
--privileged  
us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/tpu-pytorch-releases/docker/xla:r2.6.0_3.10_tpuvm_cxx11  
 \ 
bash

    5. Install JAX

      pip  
install  
jax [ 
tpu ]

    6. Install FLAX

      pip  
install  
--upgrade  
clu
git  
clone  
https://github.com/google/flax.git
pip  
install  
--user  
-e  
flax

    7. Install tensorflow and tensorflow-dataset packages

      pip  
install  
tensorflow
pip  
install  
tensorflow-datasets

    8. Run the FLAX MNIST training script

       cd 
  
flax/examples/mnist
python3  
main.py  
--workdir = 
/tmp/mnist  
 \ 
--config = 
configs/default.py  
 \ 
--config.learning_rate = 
 0 
.05  
 \ 
--config.num_epochs = 
 5

    When the training script completes, make sure you clean up the resources.

    1. Type exit to exit from the Docker container
    2. Type exit to exit from the TPU VM

    3. Delete the TPU VM

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
delete  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a

    TPU slice

    When you run JAX code on a TPU slice, you must run your JAX code on all TPU workers at the same time. One way to do this is to use the gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm ssh command with the --worker=all and --command flags. The following procedure shows you how to create a Docker image to make setting up each TPU worker easier.

    1. Create a file named Dockerfile in your current directory and paste the following text

      FROM  
python:3.10
RUN  
pip  
install  
jax [ 
tpu ] 
RUN  
pip  
install  
--upgrade  
clu
RUN  
git  
clone  
https://github.com/google/flax.git
RUN  
pip  
install  
--user  
-e  
flax
RUN  
pip  
install  
tensorflow
RUN  
pip  
install  
tensorflow-datasets
WORKDIR  
./flax/examples/mnist

    2. Prepare an Artifact Registry

      gcloud  
artifacts  
repositories  
create  
 your-repo 
  
 \ 
--repository-format = 
docker  
 \ 
--location = 
europe-west4  
--description = 
 "Docker repository" 
  
 \ 
--project = 
 your-project 
gcloud  
artifacts  
repositories  
list  
 \ 
--project = 
 your-project 
gcloud  
auth  
configure-docker  
europe-west4-docker.pkg.dev

    3. Build the Docker image

      docker  
build  
-t  
 your-image-name 
  
.

    4. Add a tag to your Docker image before pushing it to the Artifact Registry. For more information on working with Artifact Registry, see Work with container images .

      docker  
tag  
 your-image-name 
  
europe-west4-docker.pkg.dev/ your-project 
/ your-repo 
/ your-image-name 
: your-tag

    5. Push your Docker image to the Artifact Registry

      docker  
push  
europe-west4-docker.pkg.dev/ your-project 
/ your-repo 
/ your-image-name 
: your-tag

    6. Create a TPU VM

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
create  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--accelerator-type = 
 v2-8 
  
 \ 
--version = 
 tpu-ubuntu2204-base

    7. Pull the Docker image from the Artifact Registry on all TPU workers

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 'sudo usermod -a -G docker ${USER}' 

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 "gcloud auth configure-docker europe-west4-docker.pkg.dev --quiet" 

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 "docker pull europe-west4-docker.pkg.dev/ your-project 
/ your-repo 
/ your-image-name 
: your-tag 
"

    8. Run the container on all TPU workers

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 "docker run -ti -d --privileged --net=host --name your-container-name 
europe-west4-docker.pkg.dev/ your-project 
/ your-repo 
/ your-image-name 
: your-tag 
bash"

    9. Run the training script on all TPU workers

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 "docker exec --privileged your-container-name 
python3 main.py --workdir=/tmp/mnist \ 
 --config=configs/default.py \ 
 --config.learning_rate=0.05 \ 
 --config.num_epochs=5"

    When the training script completes, make sure you clean up the resources.

    1. Shut down the container on all workers

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
ssh  
 your-tpu-name 
  
--worker = 
all  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a 
  
 \ 
--command = 
 "docker kill your-container-name 
"

    2. Delete the TPU VM

      gcloud  
compute  
tpus  
tpu-vm  
delete  
 your-tpu-name 
  
 \ 
--zone = 
 europe-west4-a

    Train a JAX model in a Docker container using JAX Stable Stack

    You can build the MaxText and MaxDiffusion Docker images using the JAX Stable Stack base image.

    JAX Stable Stack provides a consistent environment for MaxText and MaxDiffusion by bundling JAX with core packages like orbax , flax , optax , and libtpu.so . These libraries are tested to ensure compatibility and provide a stable foundation to build and run MaxText and MaxDiffusion. This eliminates potential conflicts due to incompatible package versions.

    JAX Stable Stack includes a fully released and qualified libtpu.so , the core library that drives TPU program compilation, execution, and ICI network configuration. The libtpu release replaces the nightly build previously used by JAX and ensures consistent functionality of XLA computations on TPU with PJRT-level qualification tests in HLO/StableHLO IRs.

    To build the MaxText and MaxDiffusion Docker image with JAX Stable Stack, when you run the docker_build_dependency_image.sh script, set the MODE variable to stable_stack and set the BASEIMAGE variable to the base image you want to use.

    docker_build_dependency_image.sh is located in the MaxDiffusion GitHub repo and in the MaxText GitHub repo . Clone the repository you want to use and run the docker_build_dependency_image.sh script from that repository to build the Docker image.

    git  
clone  
https://github.com/AI-Hypercomputer/maxdiffusion.git
git  
clone  
https://github.com/AI-Hypercomputer/maxtext.git

    The following command generates a Docker image for use with MaxText and MaxDiffusion using us-docker.pkg.dev/cloud-tpu-images/jax-stable-stack/tpu:jax0.4.35-rev1 as the base image.

    sudo  
bash  
docker_build_dependency_image.sh  
 MODE 
 = 
stable_stack  
 BASEIMAGE 
 = 
 us-docker.pkg.dev/cloud-tpu-images/jax-stable-stack/tpu:jax0.4.35-rev1

    For a list of available JAX Stable Stack base images, see JAX Stable Stack images in Artifact Registry .

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