Manage TPU resources

This page describes how to create, list, stop, start, delete, and connect to Cloud TPUs using the Create Node API. The Create Node API is called when you run the gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm create command using the Google Cloud CLI and when you create a TPU using the Google Cloud console. When you use the Create Node API, your request is processed immediately. If there is not enough capacity to fulfill your request, then the request will fail.

The best practice is to create TPUs using queued resources instead of the Create Node API. When you request queued resources, the request is added to a queue maintained by the Cloud TPU service. When the requested resource becomes available, it's assigned to your Google Cloud project for your immediate exclusive use. For more information, see Manage queued resources.

When using Multislice, you must used queued resources. For more information, see Multislice introduction.

If you want to use Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) to manage TPU resources, you first have to create a GKE cluster. You then add node pools containing TPU slices to your cluster. For more information, see About TPUs in GKE.

Prerequisites

Before you run these procedures, you must install the Google Cloud CLI, create a Google Cloud project, and enable the Cloud TPU API. For instructions, see Set up the Cloud TPU environment.

If you are using the Google Cloud CLI, you can run commands using the Cloud Shell, a Compute Engine VM, or your local machine. The Cloud Shell lets you interact with Cloud TPUs without having to install any software. The Cloud Shell disconnects after a period of inactivity. If you're running long-running commands, we recommend installing the Google Cloud CLI on your local machine. For more information on the Google Cloud CLI, see the gcloud Reference.

Note: Billing begins as soon as the Cloud TPU is created, and continues until the time it is deleted. Check the Cloud TPU pricing page to estimate your costs. If you are using a dataset that requires a substantial download and processing phase, download the dataset first and then create the Cloud TPU.

Create a Cloud TPU using the Create Node API

You can create a Cloud TPU using gcloud, the Google Cloud console, or the Cloud TPU API.

When creating a Cloud TPU, you must specify the TPU VM image (also called TPU software version). To determine which VM image you should use, see TPU VM images.

You also need to specify the TPU configuration in terms of TensorCores or TPU chips. For more information, see the section for the TPU version you are using in System architecture.

gcloud

Note: To create a Cloud TPU using a reservation, use the --reserved flag when running the gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm create command. To create TPU Spot VMs, use the --spot flag. For more information, see the optional flags for the create command in the gcloud reference.

To create a TPU using the Create Node API, use the gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm create command.

The following command uses a TensorCore-based configuration:

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm create tpu-name \
  --zone=us-central2-b \
  --accelerator-type=v4-8 \
  --version=tpu-software-version

Command flag descriptions

zone

The zone where you plan to create your Cloud TPU.

accelerator-type

The accelerator type specifies the version and size of the Cloud TPU you want to create. For more information about supported accelerator types for each TPU version, see TPU versions.

version

The TPU software version.

shielded-secure-boot (optional)

Specifies that the TPU instances are created with secure boot enabled. This implicitly makes them Shielded VM instances. See What is Shielded VM? for more details.

The following command creates a TPU with a specific topology:

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm create tpu-name \
  --zone=us-central2-b \
  --type=v4 \
  --topology=2x2x1 \
  --version=tpu-software-version

Required flags

tpu-name

The name of the TPU VM you are creating.

zone

The zone where you are creating your Cloud TPU.

type

The TPU version you want to use. For more information, see TPU versions.

topology

The physical arrangement of TPU chips, specifying the number of chips in each dimension. For more information about supported topologies for each TPU version, see TPU versions.

version

The TPU software version you want to use. For more information, see TPU software versions.

For more information about all optional flags, see the gcloud reference documentation.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the TPUs page:

   Go to TPUs

2. Click Create TPU.

3. In the Name field, enter a name for your TPU.

4. In the Zone box, select the zone in which to create the TPU.

5. In the TPU type box, select an accelerator type. The accelerator type specifies the version and size of the Cloud TPU you want to create. For more information about supported accelerator types for each TPU version, see TPU versions.

6. In the TPU software version box, select a software version. When creating a Cloud TPU VM, the TPU software version specifies the version of the TPU runtime to install. For more information, see TPU VM images.

7. Click Create to create your resources.

curl

The following command uses curl to create a TPU.

$ curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{accelerator_type: 'v4-8', \
runtime_version:'tpu-vm-tf-2.17.0-pjrt', \
network_config: {enable_external_ips: true}, \
shielded_instance_config: { enable_secure_boot: true }}" \
https://tpu.googleapis.com/v2/projects/project-id/locations/us-central2-b/nodes?node_id=node_name

Required fields

runtime_version

The Cloud TPU runtime version that you want to use.

project

The name of your enrolled Google Cloud project.

zone

The zone where you're creating your Cloud TPU.

node_name

The name of the TPU VM you're creating.

Run a startup script

You can run a startup script on each TPU VM by specifying the --metadata startup-script flag when creating the TPU VM. The following command creates a TPU VM using a startup script.

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm create tpu-name \
    --zone=us-central2-b \
    --accelerator-type=tpu-type \
    --version=tpu-vm-tf-2.17.0-pjrt \
    --metadata startup-script='#! /bin/bash
      pip3 install numpy
      EOF'

Connect to a Cloud TPU

gcloud

Connect to your Cloud TPU using SSH:

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm ssh tpu-name --zone=zone

When you request a slice larger than a single host, Cloud TPU creates a TPU VM for each host. The number of TPU chips per host depends on the TPU version.

To install binaries or run code, connect to each TPU VM using the tpu-vm ssh command.

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm ssh tpu-name

To connect to a specific TPU VM using SSH, use the --worker flag which follows a 0-based index:

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm ssh tpu-name --worker=1

To run a command on all TPU VMs with a single command, use the --worker=all and --command flags:

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm ssh tpu-name \
  --project=your_project_ID \
  --zone=zone \
  --worker=all \
  --command='pip install "jax[tpu]==0.4.20" -f https://storage.googleapis.com/jax-releases/libtpu_releases.html'

For Multislice, you can run a command on a single VM using the enumerated TPU name, with each slice prefix and the number appended to it. To run a command on all TPU VMs in all slices, use the --node=all, --worker=all, and --command flags, with an optional --batch-size flag.

$ gcloud compute tpus queued-resources ssh ${QUEUED_RESOURCE_ID} \
  --project=project_ID \
  --zone=zone \
  --node=all \
  --worker=all \
  --command='pip install "jax[tpu]==0.4.20" -f https://storage.googleapis.com/jax-releases/libtpu_releases.html' \
  --batch-size=4

Note: When you connect to VMs using the Google Cloud CLI, Compute Engine creates a persistent SSH key for you.

Console

To connect to your TPUs in the Google Cloud console, use SSH-in-browser:

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the TPUs page:

   Go to TPUs

2. In the list of TPU VMs, click SSH in the row of the TPU VM that you want to connect to.

   Note: When you connect to TPU VMs using the Google Cloud console, Compute Engine creates an ephemeral SSH key for you.

List your Cloud TPU resources

You can list all of your Cloud TPUs in a specified zone.

gcloud

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm list --zone=zone

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the TPUs page:

Go to TPUs

Retrieve information about your Cloud TPU

You can retrieve information about a specified Cloud TPU.

gcloud

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm describe tpu-name \
  --zone=zone

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the TPUs page:

   Go to TPUs

2. Click the name of your Cloud TPU. The console displays the Cloud TPU detail page.

Stop your Cloud TPU resources

You can stop a single Cloud TPU to stop incurring charges without losing your VM's configuration and software.

Note: Stopping TPU Pods or TPUs allocated through the queued resources API is not supported. To stop incurring charges for TPUs allocated through the queued resources API, you must delete the TPU.

gcloud

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm stop tpu-name \
  --zone=zone

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the TPUs page:

   Go to TPUs

2. Select the checkbox next to your Cloud TPU.

3. Click Stop.

Start your Cloud TPU resources

You can start a Cloud TPU when it is stopped.

Note: Starting TPU Pods or TPUs allocated through the queued resources API is not supported.

gcloud

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm start tpu-name \
  --zone=zone

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the TPUs page:

   Go to TPUs

2. Select the checkbox next to your Cloud TPU.

3. Click Start.

Delete a Cloud TPU

Delete your TPU VM slices at the end of your session.

gcloud

$ gcloud compute tpus tpu-vm delete tpu-name \
  --project=project-id \
  --zone=zone \
  --quiet

Command flag descriptions

zone

The zone where you plan to delete your Cloud TPU.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the TPUs page:

   Go to TPUs

2. Select the checkbox next to your Cloud TPU.

3. Click Delete.