Files
Claude dd77232b16 Add 12 AI infrastructure and LLM operations skills
New skills covering hot-topic AI engineering subjects:

Local AI Infrastructure:
- vllm-server: High-throughput LLM serving with PagedAttention, tensor parallelism, quantization
- llm-inference-scaling: KEDA-based GPU autoscaling for LLM inference on Kubernetes
- rag-infrastructure: Production RAG with hybrid search, reranking, and embedding pipelines
- llm-fine-tuning: QLoRA/LoRA fine-tuning with Axolotl, DeepSpeed ZeRO-3, and DPO alignment

Infrastructure:
- gpu-server-management: NVIDIA driver setup, MIG partitioning, DCGM monitoring
- vector-database-ops: Qdrant, Weaviate, pgvector for production AI search
- llm-gateway: LiteLLM-based API gateway with rate limiting, virtual keys, fallback routing

DevOps/AI:
- llm-cost-optimization: Model right-sizing, prompt/semantic caching, batch API, break-even analysis
- llm-caching: Multi-layer exact + semantic + provider caching to cut costs 30-70%
- ai-pipeline-orchestration: Prefect/Airflow/Dagster for RAG ingestion and training workflows

Orchestration:
- model-serving-kubernetes: KServe + Triton with canary deployments and GPU autoscaling

Security:
- ai-security-hardening: Prompt injection defense, PII scrubbing, model weight verification

https://claude.ai/code/session_011MN1C4PrkCeg2Qmi7q1ZUe
2026-03-02 01:18:29 +00:00

222 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
Raw Permalink Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
---
name: gpu-server-management
description: Set up and manage NVIDIA GPU servers for AI workloads — driver installation, CUDA toolkit, container toolkit, MIG partitioning, GPU health monitoring, and multi-GPU configuration for LLM inference and training.
license: MIT
metadata:
author: devops-skills
version: "1.0"
---
# GPU Server Management
Provision, configure, and monitor NVIDIA GPU servers for AI inference and training workloads.
## When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- Setting up a new GPU server for LLM inference or model training
- Installing or upgrading NVIDIA drivers and CUDA toolkit
- Configuring Docker with NVIDIA Container Toolkit for GPU workloads
- Partitioning A100/H100 GPUs with MIG for multi-tenant workloads
- Troubleshooting GPU errors, driver issues, or thermal throttling
## Prerequisites
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (recommended) or RHEL 8/9
- NVIDIA GPU (A10G, A100, H100, RTX 4090, or L40S recommended)
- Root or sudo access
- Internet access for package downloads
## Driver Installation (Ubuntu)
```bash
# Remove old drivers
sudo apt purge -y 'nvidia*' 'cuda*' 'libcuda*'
sudo apt autoremove -y
# Add NVIDIA package repository
distribution=$(. /etc/os-release; echo $ID$VERSION_ID)
curl -fsSL https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/gpgkey | \
sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-keyring.gpg
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/$distribution/libnvidia-container.list | \
sed 's#deb https://#deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-keyring.gpg] https://#g' | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-container-toolkit.list
sudo apt update
# Install latest driver (560.x as of 2025)
sudo apt install -y nvidia-driver-560 cuda-toolkit-12-6
# Install NVIDIA Container Toolkit (Docker GPU support)
sudo apt install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
sudo nvidia-ctk runtime configure --runtime=docker
sudo systemctl restart docker
# Verify
nvidia-smi
nvcc --version
docker run --rm --gpus all nvidia/cuda:12.6.0-base-ubuntu22.04 nvidia-smi
```
## Post-Install Configuration
```bash
# Enable persistence mode (reduces driver initialization latency)
sudo nvidia-smi -pm 1
# Set power limit (reduce heat/noise on inference servers)
sudo nvidia-smi -pl 350 # watts; check TDP for your GPU model
# Disable ECC on inference servers (frees ~6% VRAM, less safe)
sudo nvidia-smi --ecc-config=0 # requires reboot
# Enable P2P for multi-GPU NVLink training
sudo nvidia-smi topo -m # check NVLink topology
```
## GPU Health Monitoring
```bash
# Real-time monitoring (like htop for GPUs)
watch -n 1 nvidia-smi
# Detailed stats
nvidia-smi --query-gpu=index,name,temperature.gpu,utilization.gpu,\
utilization.memory,memory.used,memory.free,power.draw,clocks.current.graphics \
--format=csv --loop=1
# DCGM — production monitoring daemon (for clusters)
sudo apt install -y datacenter-gpu-manager
sudo systemctl start dcgm
dcgmi discovery -l # list GPUs
dcgmi diag -r 1 # quick health check
dcgmi diag -r 3 # full diagnostic (takes ~20 min)
# Check GPU errors (XID errors — important for stability)
sudo dmesg | grep -i "NVRM\|nvidia\|XID"
nvidia-smi --query-gpu=ecc.errors.corrected.volatile.total \
--format=csv,noheader
```
## Prometheus GPU Metrics (DCGM Exporter)
```bash
# Deploy DCGM Exporter for Prometheus scraping
docker run -d \
--name dcgm-exporter \
--gpus all \
--cap-add SYS_ADMIN \
-p 9400:9400 \
--restart unless-stopped \
nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s/dcgm-exporter:latest
# Key metrics exposed:
# DCGM_FI_DEV_GPU_UTIL - GPU utilization %
# DCGM_FI_DEV_MEM_COPY_UTIL - Memory bandwidth utilization
# DCGM_FI_DEV_FB_USED - Framebuffer memory used (MB)
# DCGM_FI_DEV_SM_CLOCK - SM clock speed (MHz)
# DCGM_FI_DEV_GPU_TEMP - Temperature (°C)
# DCGM_FI_DEV_POWER_USAGE - Power draw (W)
# DCGM_FI_DEV_XID_ERRORS - XID error count (0 = healthy)
```
## MIG Partitioning (A100/H100)
MIG (Multi-Instance GPU) allows slicing one GPU into isolated smaller GPUs.
```bash
# Enable MIG mode (requires reboot or restart of all processes)
sudo nvidia-smi -mig 1
sudo systemctl restart nvidia-persistenced
# List available MIG profiles (A100 80GB example)
nvidia-smi mig -lgip
# 1g.10gb — 1 slice, 10GB (max 7 instances)
# 2g.20gb — 2 slices, 20GB (max 3 instances)
# 3g.40gb — 3 slices, 40GB (max 2 instances)
# 7g.80gb — full GPU, 80GB (max 1 instance)
# Create MIG instances (e.g., 3× 2g.20gb + 1× 2g.20gb = multi-tenant)
sudo nvidia-smi mig -cgi 2g.20gb,2g.20gb,2g.20gb,2g.20gb -C
# List created instances
nvidia-smi mig -lgi
nvidia-smi mig -lcgi
# Use in Docker
docker run --gpus '"device=MIG-GPU-xxx/0/0"' ...
# Disable MIG
sudo nvidia-smi mig -i 0 -dci
sudo nvidia-smi mig -i 0 -dgi
sudo nvidia-smi -mig 0
```
## Kernel & OS Tuning for GPU Servers
```bash
# Increase file descriptor limits
echo '* soft nofile 1048576' | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf
echo '* hard nofile 1048576' | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf
# Disable transparent huge pages (reduces latency jitter)
echo never | sudo tee /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled
echo never | sudo tee /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/defrag
# Persist via rc.local or systemd unit:
cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee /etc/rc.local
#!/bin/bash
echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled
echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/defrag
nvidia-smi -pm 1
exit 0
EOF
sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.local
# PCIe performance mode
sudo nvidia-smi --auto-boost-default=0
sudo nvidia-smi --auto-boost-permission=0
```
## Multi-GPU Topology Check
```bash
# Check NVLink and PCIe topology
nvidia-smi topo -m
# Output shows interconnect type:
# NV4 = NVLink 4.0 (H100 SXM)
# NV2 = NVLink 2.0 (A100 SXM)
# PHB = PCIe bus (slower; avoid for tensor parallel training)
# PIX = same PCIe switch (fast)
# Bandwidth test between GPUs
/usr/local/cuda/samples/bin/x86_64/linux/release/p2pBandwidthLatencyTest
```
## Common Issues
| Issue | Cause | Fix |
|-------|-------|-----|
| `nvidia-smi: command not found` | Driver not installed | Follow driver installation steps above |
| Driver version mismatch | CUDA/driver incompatibility | Check compatibility matrix at developer.nvidia.com |
| GPU temperature >85°C | Poor airflow or fan failure | Check `nvidia-smi -q -d TEMPERATURE`; reseat cooler |
| XID 79 errors | GPU hardware error | Run `dcgmi diag -r 3`; may need GPU replacement |
| `failed to open device` in container | Container toolkit not configured | Run `nvidia-ctk runtime configure --runtime=docker` |
| Low PCIe bandwidth | Wrong slot or power limit | Check `nvidia-smi -q | grep PCIe`; use x16 slot |
## Best Practices
- Always enable persistence mode (`nvidia-smi -pm 1`) — reduces first-request latency.
- Monitor XID errors; persistent XID 79/94 indicates hardware failure.
- For training: use NVLink-connected GPUs; for inference: PCIe is usually fine.
- Set up DCGM alerts on temperature >80°C and power draw near TDP.
- Use MIG for multi-tenant inference to provide GPU isolation between models.
## Related Skills
- [vllm-server](../../local-ai/vllm-server/) - LLM inference on GPUs
- [llm-fine-tuning](../../local-ai/llm-fine-tuning/) - GPU training setup
- [linux-hardening](../../../security/hardening/linux-hardening/) - Secure the host OS
- [prometheus-grafana](../../../devops/observability/prometheus-grafana/) - Metrics dashboards