Create an AI-optimized G2 instance

General GPUs

This document describes the steps to create standalone virtual machine (VM) instances that use the G2 machine series. To learn more about these accelerator-optimized machine types, see G2 series.

To learn about other ways to create VMs or clusters, see Deployment options overview.

Limitations

When you create a standalone G2 VM, the following limitations apply:

• You don't receive sustained use discounts and flexible committed use discounts for instances that use a G2 machine type.
• You can only use a G2 machine type in certain regions and zones.
• The G2 machine type is only available on the Cascade Lake platform.
• Standard Persistent Disk (pd-standard) isn't supported on instances that use the G2 machine type. For supported disk types, see Supported disk types for G2.
• You can't create Multi-Instance GPUs on an instance that uses a G2 machine type.
• If you need to change the machine type of a G2 instance, review Modify accelerator-optmized instances.
• You can't use Deep Learning VM Images as boot disks for instances that use the G2 machine type.
• The current default driver for Container-Optimized OS doesn't support L4 GPUs running on G2 machine types. Also, Container-Optimized OS only supports a select set of drivers. If you want to use Container-Optimized OS on G2 machine types, review the following notes:
  • Use a Container-Optimized OS version that supports the minimum recommended NVIDIA driver version 525.60.13 or later. For more information, review the Container-Optimized OS release notes.
  • When you install the driver, specify the latest available version that works for the L4 GPUs. For example, sudo cos-extensions install gpu -- -version=525.60.13.
• You must use the Google Cloud CLI or REST to create G2 instances for the following scenarios:
  • You want to specify custom memory values.
  • You want to customize the number of visible CPU cores.

If you want to use a compact placement policy, then review the restrictions for placement policies.

Before you begin

Before creating VMs, if you haven't already done so, complete the following steps:

1. Choose a consumption option: your choice of consumption option determines how you get and use GPU resources. To learn more, see Choose a consumption option.
2. Obtain capacity: the process to obtain capacity differs for each consumption option. To learn about the process to obtain capacity for your chosen consumption option, see Capacity overview.

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

Install the Google Cloud CLI, and then sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity. After signing in, initialize the Google Cloud CLI by running the following command:

gcloud init

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, and then sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

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 specify a subnet for your VM: compute.subnetworks.use on the project or on the chosen subnet
• 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 VPC network: compute.subnetworks.useExternalIp on the project or on the chosen subnet
• To assign a legacy network to the VM: compute.networks.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 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.

Overview

Creating an instance with the G2 machine type includes the following steps:

1. Optional: Create a compact placement policy
2. Create an instance
3. Install GPU drivers

Optional: Create a compact placement policy

Tip: Decide whether to create a compact placement policy as follows:

• If you only need one VM for your workload, then skip this step.
• If you want to place your VMs in single or adjacent blocks, then specify VM placement by creating a compact placement policy and applying it when you create VMs.

You can specify VM placement by creating a compact placement policy. When you apply a compact placement policy to your VMs, Compute Engine makes best-effort attempts to create VMs that are as close to each other as possible. If your application is latency-sensitive and requires maximum compactness, then specify the maxDistance field (Preview) when you create a compact placement policy. A lower maxDistance value ensures closer VM placement, but it also increases the chance that some VMs won't be created.

To create a compact placement policy, select one of the following options:

gcloud

To create a compact placement policy, use the gcloud beta compute resource-policies create group-placement command:

gcloud beta compute resource-policies create group-placement POLICY_NAME \
    --collocation=collocated \
    --max-distance=MAX_DISTANCE \
    --region=REGION

Replace the following:

• POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.
• MAX_DISTANCE: the maximum distance configuration for your VMs, which can either be specified (Preview, recommended) or unspecified (remove the --max-distance flag). Ensure that the maximum distance configuration supports the machine series and number of VMs that you plan to create. For more information, see About compact placement policies in the Compute Engine documentation. For example, a maximum distance of 3 places VMs in adjacent blocks and 2 places VMs in the same block.
• REGION: the region where you want to create the compact placement policy. Specify the region that contains the zone where you plan to create instances, and verify that the machine type that you want to use is available in that region. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.

REST

To create a compact placement policy, make a POST request to the beta resourcePolicies.insert method. In the request body, include the collocation field set to COLLOCATED, and the maxDistance field.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/beta/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/resourcePolicies
  {
    "name": "POLICY_NAME",
    "groupPlacementPolicy": {
      "collocation": "COLLOCATED",
      "maxDistance": MAX_DISTANCE
    }
  }

Replace the following:

• PROJECT_ID: your project ID.
• POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.
• MAX_DISTANCE: the maximum distance configuration for your VMs, which can either be specified (Preview, recommended) or unspecified (remove the maxDistance field). Ensure that the maximum distance configuration supports the machine series and number of VMs that you plan to create. For more information, see About compact placement policies in the Compute Engine documentation. For example, a maximum distance of 3 places VMs in adjacent blocks and 2 places VMs in the same block.
• REGION: the region where you want to create the compact placement policy. Specify the region that contains the zone where you plan to create instances, and verify that the machine type that you want to use is available in that region. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.

Create a G2 VM

To create a G2 VM, use one of the following methods.

The following commands also set the access scope for your instances. To simplify permissions management, Google recommends that you set the access scope on an instance to cloud-platform access and then use IAM roles to define what services the instance can access. For more information, see Scopes best practice.

Console

Important: If you choose to use a compact placement policy or if you want to use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS) for graphics-intensive workloads, then you must use Google Cloud CLI or REST to create the VM.

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 create a VM. See the list of available GPU regions and zones.

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

   1. To use the G2 machine series, in the GPU type list, select NVIDIA L4.
   2. In the Number of GPUs list, select a number of GPUs.
   3. In the Machine type list, select a machine type.

5. Based on the consumption option that you want to use, select one of the following options and complete the following steps.

   Reservation

   G2 instances support the following types of reservations:

   • On-demand reservations
   • Standard future reservations

   To consume these types of reservations, an instance must use the standard provisioning model. For example, use the following creation parameters.

   1. In the Provisioning model section, in the VM provisioning model list, select Standard. (This option is selected by default.)

   2. To configure which reservations this VM uses, complete the following steps:

      1. In the navigation menu, click Advanced.

      2. For Reservations, select one of the following options:

         • To optionally use reservation capacity, select Use automatic selection. (This option is selected by default.)

           The instance tries to use capacity from an automatically consumed reservation, which only happens if matching reservation capacity is available. Otherwise, the instance uses on-demand capacity.

           Caution: When matching reservation capacity is unavailable, the instance uses the on-demand consumption option instead, which has different billing and capacity assurance. For more information, see Choose a consumption option.

         • To require reservation capacity, select Choose a reservation, and then click Choose reservation to specify which reservation to use.

           The instance is required to use capacity from a specifically targeted reservation and isn't allowed to use on-demand capacity. If reservation capacity is unavailable, then the instance creation fails.

   On-demand

   1. In the Provisioning model section, in the VM provisioning model list, select Standard. (This option is selected by default.)

   2. Optional: To configure whether or not this VM uses reservations, complete the following steps:

      1. In the navigation menu, click Advanced.

      2. For Reservations, select one of the following options:

         • To optionally use reservation capacity, select Use automatic selection. (This option is selected by default.)

           The instance tries to use capacity from an automatically consumed reservation, which only happens if matching reservation capacity is available. Otherwise, the instance uses on-demand capacity.

           Note: If you want using reservation capacity to be required, then follow the Reservation steps instead.

         • To require on-demand capacity, select Don't use a reservation.

           The instance is blocked from using any reservation capacity.

   Flex-start

   1. In the Provisioning model section, in the VM provisioning model list, select Flex-start.

   2. In the Enter number of hours field, enter the maximum amount of time that you want the VM to run. The value must be between 46 seconds (0.01) and seven days (168, or 168 hours).

   3. Select Set a wait time for VM creation.

      Based on the zonal requirements for your workload, specify one of the following durations to help increase your chances that your VM creation request succeeds:

      • Workloads with strict zonal requirements: if your workload requires you to create the VM in a specific zone, then specify a duration between 90 seconds and 2 hours. Longer durations give you higher chances of obtaining resources.
      • Workloads without strict zonal requirements: if the VM can run in any zone within the region, then specify a duration of 0 seconds or clear the Set a wait time for VM creation checkbox. This action specifies that Compute Engine only allocates resources if they are immediately available. If the VM creation request fails because resources are unavailable, then retry the request in a different zone.

   4. In the On VM termination field, select whether to stop or delete the VM at the end of its run duration:

      • To delete the VM, select Delete.
      • To stop the VM, select Stop.

   Spot

   1. In the Provisioning model section, select Spot from the VM provisioning model list.

   2. Optional: To select the termination action that happens when Compute Engine preempts the VM, complete the following steps:

      1. Expand the VM provisioning model advanced settings section.
      2. In the On VM termination list, select one of the following options:
         • To stop the VM during preemption, select Stop (default).
         • To delete the VM during preemption, select Delete.

6. 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. Optional: To configure the boot disk size, see either the Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.

   4. To confirm your boot disk options, click Select.

   5. Optional: If you want to add Local SSD disks, then complete the following steps:

      1. Click Add local SSD. The Configure local SSD pane opens.
      2. In the Configure local SSD pane, configure the options for the Local SSD disks. For more information, see Add a Local SSD disk to your compute instance in the Compute Engine documentation.
      3. To confirm your boot disk options, click Save.

      After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

7. Configure the service account and access scopes as follows. Workloads running on the instance use the attached service account to authorize requests to other Google Cloud services.

   1. In the navigation menu, click Security.
   2. In the Service account list, select a service account to use.
   3. For Access scopes, select the Allow full access to all Cloud APIs option. This best practice lets you manage access by adding or removing IAM roles from the service account. For more information, see Attaching a service account to an instance.

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

gcloud

To create the VM, use the gcloud compute instances create command.

The parameters that you need to specify depend on the consumption option that you are using for this deployment. Select the tab that corresponds to your consumption option.

Reservation

G2 instances support the following types of reservations:

• On-demand reservations
• Standard future reservations

To consume these types of reservations, an instance must use the standard provisioning model. For example, use the following creation parameters.

Before you run the command, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional flags.

gcloud compute instances create INSTANCE_NAME  \
    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \
    --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY \
    --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT \
    --zone=ZONE \
    --boot-disk-type=DISK_TYPE \
    --boot-disk-size=DISK_SIZE \
    --scopes=cloud-platform \
    --provisioning-model=STANDARD \
    --maintenance-policy=TERMINATE \
    --reservation-affinity=RESERVATION_AFFINITY \
    --reservation=RESERVATION

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
   • IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. To specify a compact placement policy, use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.

   • RESERVATION_AFFINITY: which reservations the instance is allowed to consume, if possible. Specify one of the following:

     • any (Reservation capacity is optional): this is the default option. The instance tries to use capacity from an automatically consumed reservation, which only happens if matching reservation capacity is available. Otherwise, the instance uses on-demand capacity.

     Caution: When matching reservation capacity is unavailable, the instance uses the on-demand consumption option instead, which has different billing and capacity assurance. For more information, see Choose a consumption option.

     • specific (Reservation capacity is required): Require the instance to use capacity from a specifically targeted reservation. The instance isn't allowed to use on-demand capacity. If reservation capacity is unavailable, then the instance creation fails.

   • RESERVATION: the reservation to use. Specify one of the following based on the value you specified for RESERVATION_AFFINITY:

     • If you specified any, then replace RESERVATION with an empty string (""). Alternatively, you can remove the --reservation flag entirely.

     • If you specified specific, then replace RESERVATION with the following:

       projects/RESERVATION_OWNER_PROJECT_ID/reservations/RESERVATION_NAME

       Replace the following:

       • RESERVATION_OWNER_PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where the reservation was created.
       Tip: If the reservation exists in the current project, then you can omit projects/RESERVATION_OWNER_PROJECT_ID/reservations/ from the RESERVATION value.
       • RESERVATION_NAME: the name of the reservation.

2. By default, the instance automatically restarts if it crashes or Compute Engine stops it for a programmed stop, such as a maintenance event. If you want to disable automatic restart, then add the following flag:

   --no-restart-on-failure

3. Optional: To use a compact placement policy, add the following flag:

     --resource-policies=POLICY_NAME
   

   Replace the following:

   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

4. Optional: To attach Local SSD disks, then add the following --local-ssd flag for each Local SSD disk.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

   --local-ssd interface=INTERFACE_TYPE
   

   Replace the following:

   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

5. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following flag.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   --accelerator=type=nvidia-l4-vws,count=VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

6. Run the command.

On-demand

Before you run the command, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional flags.

gcloud compute instances create INSTANCE_NAME  \
    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \
    --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY \
    --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT \
    --zone=ZONE \
    --boot-disk-type=DISK_TYPE \
    --boot-disk-size=DISK_SIZE \
    --scopes=cloud-platform \
    --provisioning-model=STANDARD \
    --maintenance-policy=TERMINATE \
    --reservation-affinity=RESERVATION_AFFINITY

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
   • IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. To specify a compact placement policy, use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.

   • RESERVATION_AFFINITY: which reservations the instance is allowed to consume, if possible. Specify one of the following:

     • any (Reservation capacity is optional): this is the default option. The instance tries to use capacity from an automatically consumed reservation, which only happens if matching reservation capacity is available. Otherwise, the instance uses on-demand capacity.

     Note: If you want using reservation capacity to be required, then follow the Reservation steps instead.

     • none (On-demand capacity is required): Block the instance from using any reservation capacity.

2. By default, the instance automatically restarts if it crashes or Compute Engine stops it for a programmed stop, such as a maintenance event. If you want to disable automatic restart, then add the following flag:

   --no-restart-on-failure

3. Optional: To use a compact placement policy, add the following flag:

     --resource-policies=POLICY_NAME
   

   Replace the following:

   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

4. Optional: To attach Local SSD disks, then add the following --local-ssd flag for each Local SSD disk.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

   --local-ssd interface=INTERFACE_TYPE
   

   Replace the following:

   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

5. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following flag.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   --accelerator=type=nvidia-l4-vws,count=VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

6. Run the command.

Flex-start

Before you run the command, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional flags.

gcloud compute instances create INSTANCE_NAME  \
    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \
    --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY \
    --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT \
    --zone=ZONE \
    --boot-disk-type=DISK_TYPE \
    --boot-disk-size=DISK_SIZE \
    --scopes=cloud-platform \
    --reservation-affinity=none \
    --provisioning-model=FLEX_START \
    --request-valid-for-duration=REQUEST_VALID_FOR_DURATION \
    --max-run-duration=MAX_RUN_DURATION \
    --instance-termination-action=TERMINATION_ACTION \
    --maintenance-policy=TERMINATE

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
   • IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. To specify a compact placement policy, use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.

   • REQUEST_VALID_FOR_DURATION: how long the request to create the VM remains valid. You must format the value as the number of days, hours, minutes, or seconds followed by d, h, m, and s respectively. For example, specify 30m for 30 minutes or 1h2m3s for one hour, two minutes, and three seconds.

     Based on the zonal requirements for your workload, specify one of the following durations to help increase your chances that your VM creation request succeeds:

     • Workloads with strict zonal requirements: if your workload requires you to create the VM in a specific zone, then specify a duration between 90 seconds (90s) and two hours (2h). Longer durations give you higher chances of obtaining resources.
     • Workloads without strict zonal requirements: if the VM can run in any zone within the region, then specify a duration of zero seconds (0s). This action specifies that Compute Engine only allocates resources if they are immediately available. If the VM creation request fails because resources are unavailable, then retry the request in a different zone.

   • MAX_RUN_DURATION: how long you want the requested VMs to run. You must format the value as the number of days, hours, minutes, or seconds followed by d, h, m, and s respectively. The value must be between 10 minutes and seven days.

   • TERMINATION_ACTION: whether Compute Engine stops (STOP) or deletes (DELETE) the VM at the end of its run duration.

2. Optional: To use a compact placement policy, add the following flag:

     --resource-policies=POLICY_NAME
   

   Replace the following:

   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

3. Optional: To attach Local SSD disks, then add the following --local-ssd flag for each Local SSD disk.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

   --local-ssd interface=INTERFACE_TYPE
   

   Replace the following:

   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

4. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following flag.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   --accelerator=type=nvidia-l4-vws,count=VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

5. Run the command.

Spot

Before you run the command, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional flags.

gcloud compute instances create INSTANCE_NAME  \
    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \
    --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY \
    --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT \
    --zone=ZONE \
    --boot-disk-type=DISK_TYPE \
    --boot-disk-size=DISK_SIZE \
    --scopes=cloud-platform \
    --provisioning-model=SPOT \
    --instance-termination-action=TERMINATION_ACTION \
    --maintenance-policy=TERMINATE \
    --no-restart-on-failure

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
   • IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. To specify a compact placement policy, use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.

   • TERMINATION_ACTION: the action to take when Compute Engine preempts the instance, either STOP (default) or DELETE.

     Important: Make sure your application can handle preemption. For example, handle preemption by specifying a shutdown script during instance creation. Learn how to handle preemption with a shutdown script.

2. Optional: To use a compact placement policy, add the following flag:

     --resource-policies=POLICY_NAME
   

   Replace the following:

   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

3. Optional: To attach Local SSD disks, then add the following --local-ssd flag for each Local SSD disk.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

   --local-ssd interface=INTERFACE_TYPE
   

   Replace the following:

   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

4. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following flag.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   --accelerator=type=nvidia-l4-vws,count=VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

5. Run the command.

REST

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

The parameters that you need to specify depend on the consumption option that you are using for this deployment. Select the tab that corresponds to your consumption option.

Reservation

G2 instances support the following types of reservations:

• On-demand reservations
• Standard future reservations

To consume these types of reservations, an instance must use the standard provisioning model. For example, use the following creation parameters.

Before you submit the request, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional fields.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instances
{
  "machineType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/machineTypes/MACHINE_TYPE",
  "name": "INSTANCE_NAME",
  "disks": [
    {
      "boot": true,
      "initializeParams": {
        "diskSizeGb": "DISK_SIZE",
        "diskType": "DISK_TYPE",
        "sourceImage": "projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY"
      },
      "mode": "READ_WRITE",
      "type": "PERSISTENT"
    }
  ],
  "serviceAccounts": [
    {
      "email": "default",
      "scopes": [
        "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "scheduling": {
    "provisioningModel": "STANDARD",
    "onHostMaintenance": "TERMINATE",
    "automaticRestart": AUTOMATIC_RESTART
  },
  "reservationAffinity": {
    "consumeReservationType": "RESERVATION_AFFINITY",
    "key": "compute.googleapis.com/reservation-name",
    "values": [
      "RESERVATION"
    ]
  }
}

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where you want to create the VM.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. If you want to specify a compact placement policy, then you must use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • 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 all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.

   • AUTOMATIC_RESTART: if your instance automatically restarts if it crashes or Compute Engine stops it for a programmed stop, such as a maintenance event. Specify either true to enable automatic restart (default) or false to disable automatic restart.

   • RESERVATION_AFFINITY: which reservations the instance is allowed to consume, if possible. Specify one of the following:

     • ANY_RESERVATION (Reservation capacity is optional): this is the default option. The instance tries to use capacity from an automatically consumed reservation, which only happens if matching reservation capacity is available. Otherwise, the instance uses on-demand capacity.

     Caution: When matching reservation capacity is unavailable, the instance uses the on-demand consumption option instead, which has different billing and capacity assurance. For more information, see Choose a consumption option.

     • SPECIFIC_RESERVATION (Reservation capacity is required): Require the instance to use capacity from a specifically targeted reservation. The instance isn't allowed to use on-demand capacity. If reservation capacity is unavailable, then the instance creation fails.

   • RESERVATION: the reservation to use. Specify one of the following based on the value you specified for RESERVATION_AFFINITY:

     • If you specified ANY_RESERVATION, then delete RESERVATION so that the value is an empty string (""). Alternatively, you can remove the key and values fields entirely.

     • If you specified SPECIFIC_RESERVATION, then replace RESERVATION with the following:

       projects/RESERVATION_OWNER_PROJECT_ID/reservations/RESERVATION_NAME

       Replace the following:

       • RESERVATION_OWNER_PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where the reservation was created.
       Tip: If the reservation exists in the current project, then you can omit projects/RESERVATION_OWNER_PROJECT_ID/reservations/ from the RESERVATION value.
       • RESERVATION_NAME: the name of the reservation.

2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following field to the request body:

     "resourcePolicies": [
       "projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/resourcePolicies/POLICY_NAME"
     ]
   

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the compact placement policy.
   • REGION: the region of the compact placement policy.
   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

3. Optional: To use Local SSD disks, add the following field to the disks[] field for each Local SSD disk. Separate each disks[] subfield (including the boot disk) with a comma.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

       {
          "type": "SCRATCH",
          "initializeParams": {
             "diskType": "zones/ZONE/diskTypes/local-ssd"
          },
          "autoDelete": true,
          "interface": "INTERFACE_TYPE"
       }
   

   Replace the following:

   • ZONE: your specified zone.
   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

4. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following field.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   "guestAccelerators":
     [
       {
         "acceleratorCount": VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT,
         "acceleratorType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/acceleratorTypes/nvidia-l4-vws"
       }
     ]
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

5. Submit the request.

On-demand

Before you submit the request, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional fields.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instances
{
  "machineType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/machineTypes/MACHINE_TYPE",
  "name": "INSTANCE_NAME",
  "disks": [
    {
      "boot": true,
      "initializeParams": {
        "diskSizeGb": "DISK_SIZE",
        "diskType": "DISK_TYPE",
        "sourceImage": "projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY"
      },
      "mode": "READ_WRITE",
      "type": "PERSISTENT"
    }
  ],
  "serviceAccounts": [
    {
      "email": "default",
      "scopes": [
        "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "scheduling": {
    "provisioningModel": "STANDARD",
    "onHostMaintenance": "TERMINATE",
    "automaticRestart": AUTOMATIC_RESTART
  },
  "reservationAffinity": {
    "consumeReservationType": "RESERVATION_AFFINITY"
  }
}

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where you want to create the VM.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. If you want to specify a compact placement policy, then you must use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • 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 all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.

   • AUTOMATIC_RESTART: if your instance automatically restarts if it crashes or Compute Engine stops it for a programmed stop, such as a maintenance event. Specify either true to enable automatic restart (default) or false to disable automatic restart.

   • RESERVATION_AFFINITY: which reservations the instance is allowed to consume, if possible. Specify one of the following:

     • ANY_RESERVATION (Reservation capacity is optional): this is the default option. The instance tries to use capacity from an automatically consumed reservation, which only happens if matching reservation capacity is available. Otherwise, the instance uses on-demand capacity.

     Note: If you want using reservation capacity to be required, then follow the Reservation steps instead.

     • NO_RESERVATION (On-demand capacity is required): Block the instance from using any reservation capacity.

2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following field to the request body:

     "resourcePolicies": [
       "projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/resourcePolicies/POLICY_NAME"
     ]
   

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the compact placement policy.
   • REGION: the region of the compact placement policy.
   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

3. Optional: To use Local SSD disks, add the following field to the disks[] field for each Local SSD disk. Separate each disks[] subfield (including the boot disk) with a comma.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

       {
          "type": "SCRATCH",
          "initializeParams": {
             "diskType": "zones/ZONE/diskTypes/local-ssd"
          },
          "autoDelete": true,
          "interface": "INTERFACE_TYPE"
       }
   

   Replace the following:

   • ZONE: your specified zone.
   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

4. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following field.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   "guestAccelerators":
     [
       {
         "acceleratorCount": VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT,
         "acceleratorType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/acceleratorTypes/nvidia-l4-vws"
       }
     ]
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

5. Submit the request.

Flex-start

Before you submit the request, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional fields.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instances
{
  "machineType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/machineTypes/MACHINE_TYPE",
  "name": "INSTANCE_NAME",
  "disks": [
    {
      "boot": true,
      "initializeParams": {
        "diskSizeGb": "DISK_SIZE",
        "diskType": "DISK_TYPE",
        "sourceImage": "projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY"
      },
      "mode": "READ_WRITE",
      "type": "PERSISTENT"
    }
  ],
  "serviceAccounts": [
    {
      "email": "default",
      "scopes": [
        "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "reservationAffinity": {
    "consumeReservationType": "NO_RESERVATION",
  },
  "scheduling": {
    "provisioningModel": "FLEX_START",
    "requestValidForDuration": {
      "seconds": REQUEST_VALID_FOR_DURATION
    },
    "maxRunDuration": {
      "seconds": MAX_RUN_DURATION
    },
    "instanceTerminationAction": "TERMINATION_ACTION",
    "onHostMaintenance": "TERMINATE",
  }
}

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where you want to create the VM.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. If you want to specify a compact placement policy, then you must use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • 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 all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.

   • REQUEST_VALID_FOR_DURATION: the duration, in seconds, that the request to create the VM remains valid.

     Based on the zonal requirements for your workload, specify one of the following durations to help increase your chances that your VM creation request succeeds:

     • Workloads with strict zonal requirements: if your workload requires you to create the VM in a specific zone, then specify a duration between 90 seconds (90) and two hours (7200). Longer durations give you higher chances of obtaining resources.
     • Workloads without strict zonal requirements: if the VM can run in any zone within the region, then specify a duration of zero seconds (0). This action specifies that Compute Engine only allocates resources if they are immediately available. If the VM creation request fails because resources are unavailable, then retry the request in a different zone.

   • MAX_RUN_DURATION: the duration you want the requested VMs to run. You must format the value as the number of seconds. For example, specify 86400 for 86,400 seconds (24 hours). The value must be between 10 minutes and seven days.

   • TERMINATION_ACTION: whether Compute Engine stops (STOP) or deletes (DELETE) the VM at the end of its run duration.

2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following field to the request body:

     "resourcePolicies": [
       "projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/resourcePolicies/POLICY_NAME"
     ]
   

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the compact placement policy.
   • REGION: the region of the compact placement policy.
   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

3. Optional: To use Local SSD disks, add the following field to the disks[] field for each Local SSD disk. Separate each disks[] subfield (including the boot disk) with a comma.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

       {
          "type": "SCRATCH",
          "initializeParams": {
             "diskType": "zones/ZONE/diskTypes/local-ssd"
          },
          "autoDelete": true,
          "interface": "INTERFACE_TYPE"
       }
   

   Replace the following:

   • ZONE: your specified zone.
   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

4. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following field.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   "guestAccelerators":
     [
       {
         "acceleratorCount": VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT,
         "acceleratorType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/acceleratorTypes/nvidia-l4-vws"
       }
     ]
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

5. Submit the request.

Spot

Before you submit the request, review all of the following steps to determine whether to include additional fields.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instances
{
  "machineType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/machineTypes/MACHINE_TYPE",
  "name": "INSTANCE_NAME",
  "disks": [
    {
      "boot": true,
      "initializeParams": {
        "diskSizeGb": "DISK_SIZE",
        "diskType": "DISK_TYPE",
        "sourceImage": "projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY"
      },
      "mode": "READ_WRITE",
      "type": "PERSISTENT"
    }
  ],
  "serviceAccounts": [
    {
      "email": "default",
      "scopes": [
        "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "scheduling":
  {
    "provisioningModel": "SPOT",
    "instanceTerminationAction": "TERMINATION_ACTION",
    "onHostMaintenance": "TERMINATE",
    "automaticRestart": false
  }
}

Complete the following steps:

1. Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where you want to create the VM.
   • ZONE: the zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. If you want to specify a compact placement policy, then you must use a zone in the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU availability by regions and zones.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. For more information, see GPU machine types in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB. For more information, see either Google Cloud Hyperdisk size limits or Persistent Disk size limits based on the type of disk.
   • DISK_TYPE: the type of the boot disk. For more information about the supported disk types for your machine type, see GPU machines in accelerator-optimized machine family in the Compute Engine documentation.
   • 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 all supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.

   • TERMINATION_ACTION: the action to take when Compute Engine preempts the instance, either STOP (default) or DELETE.

     Important: Make sure your application can handle preemption. For example, handle preemption by specifying a shutdown script during instance creation. Learn how to handle preemption with a shutdown script.

2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following field to the request body:

     "resourcePolicies": [
       "projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/resourcePolicies/POLICY_NAME"
     ]
   

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the compact placement policy.
   • REGION: the region of the compact placement policy.
   • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.

3. Optional: To use Local SSD disks, add the following field to the disks[] field for each Local SSD disk. Separate each disks[] subfield (including the boot disk) with a comma.

   Ensure that the number of Local SSD disks that you attach is allowed for your machine type; for details, see About Local SSD disks in the Compute Engine documentation.

       {
          "type": "SCRATCH",
          "initializeParams": {
             "diskType": "zones/ZONE/diskTypes/local-ssd"
          },
          "autoDelete": true,
          "interface": "INTERFACE_TYPE"
       }
   

   Replace the following:

   • ZONE: your specified zone.
   • INTERFACE_TYPE: the disk interface type that you want to use for the Local SSD disk. If your boot disk image has optimized NVMe drivers, then specify NVME. Specify SCSI for other images.

   After creating a VM with Local SSD disks, you must format and mount each device before you can use it.

4. Optional: To use NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS), add the following field.

   When you create an instance that uses NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation, Compute Engine automatically adds a vWS license. For information about pricing for virtual workstations, see the GPU pricing page.

   "guestAccelerators":
     [
       {
         "acceleratorCount": VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT,
         "acceleratorType": "projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/acceleratorTypes/nvidia-l4-vws"
       }
     ]
   

   Replace VWS_ACCELERATOR_COUNT with the number of virtual GPUs that you want.

5. Submit the request.

Install GPU drivers

After you create an instance, the instance can't use its GPUs unless the correct GPU drivers are already installed. The driver that you need to install depends on whether the instance enabled NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation (vWS). Use one of the following options:

• If you enabled vWS, then see Install drivers for NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstations (vWS) in the Compute Engine documentation.

• Otherwise, use the default GPU drivers as follows:

  • If you specified an OS image that includes GPU drivers, then no action is required.
  • If the OS image doesn't include GPU drivers, then see Install GPU drivers in the Compute Engine documentation.

What's next

• View the details of a VM
• Verify reservation consumption
• Troubleshoot reservation consumption