Guides setup and operation of Lambda Labs GPU instances for machine learning training and inference. Covers SSH access, persistent storage, API automation, and multi-GPU or multi-node training, including how to retain checkpoints and terminate idle instances.
Reserved and on-demand GPU cloud instances for ML training and inference. Use when you need dedicated GPU instances with simple SSH access, persistent filesystems, or high-performance multi-node clusters for large-scale training.
Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.
Comprehensive guide to running ML workloads on Lambda Labs GPU cloud with on-demand instances and 1-Click Clusters.
Use Lambda Labs when:
Key features:
Use alternatives instead:
# Get instance IP from console
ssh ubuntu@<INSTANCE-IP>
# Or with specific key
ssh -i ~/.ssh/lambda_key ubuntu@<INSTANCE-IP>
| GPU | VRAM | Price/GPU/hr | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| B200 SXM6 | 180 GB | $4.99 | Largest models, fastest training |
| H100 SXM | 80 GB | $2.99-3.29 | Large model training |
| H100 PCIe | 80 GB | $2.49 | Cost-effective H100 |
| GH200 | 96 GB | $1.49 | Single-GPU large models |
| A100 80GB | 80 GB | $1.79 | Production training |
| A100 40GB | 40 GB | $1.29 | Standard training |
| A10 | 24 GB | $0.75 | Inference, fine-tuning |
| A6000 | 48 GB | $0.80 | Good VRAM/price ratio |
| V100 | 16 GB | $0.55 | Budget training |
8x GPU: Best for distributed training (DDP, FSDP)
4x GPU: Large models, multi-GPU training
2x GPU: Medium workloads
1x GPU: Fine-tuning, inference, development
All instances come with Lambda Stack pre-installed:
# Included software
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
- NVIDIA drivers (latest)
- CUDA 12.x
- cuDNN 8.x
- NCCL (for multi-GPU)
- PyTorch (latest)
- TensorFlow (latest)
- JAX
- JupyterLab
# Check GPU
nvidia-smi
# Check PyTorch
python -c "import torch; print(torch.cuda.is_available())"
# Check CUDA version
nvcc --version
pip install lambda-cloud-client
import os
import lambda_cloud_client
# Configure with API key
configuration = lambda_cloud_client.Configuration(
host="https://cloud.lambdalabs.com/api/v1",
access_token=os.environ["LAMBDA_API_KEY"]
)
with lambda_cloud_client.ApiClient(configuration) as api_client:
api = lambda_cloud_client.DefaultApi(api_client)
# Get available instance types
types = api.instance_types()
for name, info in types.data.items():
print(f"{name}: {info.instance_type.description}")
from lambda_cloud_client.models import LaunchInstanceRequest
request = LaunchInstanceRequest(
region_name="us-west-1",
instance_type_name="gpu_1x_h100_sxm5",
ssh_key_names=["my-ssh-key"],
file_system_names=["my-filesystem"], # Optional
name="training-job"
)
response = api.launch_instance(request)
instance_id = response.data.instance_ids[0]
print(f"Launched: {instance_id}")
instances = api.list_instances()
for instance in instances.data:
print(f"{instance.name}: {instance.ip} ({instance.status})")
from lambda_cloud_client.models import TerminateInstanceRequest
request = TerminateInstanceRequest(
instance_ids=[instance_id]
)
api.terminate_instance(request)
from lambda_cloud_client.models import AddSshKeyRequest
# Add SSH key
request = AddSshKeyRequest(
name="my-key",
public_key="ssh-rsa AAAA..."
)
api.add_ssh_key(request)
# List keys
keys = api.list_ssh_keys()
# Delete key
api.delete_ssh_key(key_id)
curl -u $LAMBDA_API_KEY: \
https://cloud.lambdalabs.com/api/v1/instance-types | jq
curl -u $LAMBDA_API_KEY: \
-X POST https://cloud.lambdalabs.com/api/v1/instance-operations/launch \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"region_name": "us-west-1",
"instance_type_name": "gpu_1x_h100_sxm5",
"ssh_key_names": ["my-key"]
}' | jq
curl -u $LAMBDA_API_KEY: \
-X POST https://cloud.lambdalabs.com/api/v1/instance-operations/terminate \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"instance_ids": ["<INSTANCE-ID>"]}' | jq
Filesystems persist data across instance restarts:
# Mount location
/lambda/nfs/<FILESYSTEM_NAME>
# Example: save checkpoints
python train.py --checkpoint-dir /lambda/nfs/my-storage/checkpoints
Filesystems must be attached at instance launch time:
file_system_names in launch request# Store on filesystem (persists)
/lambda/nfs/storage/
├── datasets/
├── checkpoints/
├── models/
└── outputs/
# Local SSD (faster, ephemeral)
/home/ubuntu/
└── working/ # Temporary files
# Generate key locally
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/lambda_key
# Add public key to Lambda console
# Or via API
# On instance, add more keys
echo 'ssh-rsa AAAA...' >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
# On instance
ssh-import-id gh:username
# Forward Jupyter
ssh -L 8888:localhost:8888 ubuntu@<IP>
# Forward TensorBoard
ssh -L 6006:localhost:6006 ubuntu@<IP>
# Multiple ports
ssh -L 8888:localhost:8888 -L 6006:localhost:6006 ubuntu@<IP>
# On instance
jupyter lab --ip=0.0.0.0 --port=8888
# From local machine with tunnel
ssh -L 8888:localhost:8888 ubuntu@<IP>
# Open http://localhost:8888
# SSH to instance
ssh ubuntu@<IP>
# Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/user/project
cd project
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Train
python train.py --epochs 100 --checkpoint-dir /lambda/nfs/storage/checkpoints
# train_ddp.py
import torch
import torch.distributed as dist
from torch.nn.parallel import DistributedDataParallel as DDP
def main():
dist.init_process_group("nccl")
rank = dist.get_rank()
device = rank % torch.cuda.device_count()
model = MyModel().to(device)
model = DDP(model, device_ids=[device])
# Training loop...
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
# Launch with torchrun (8 GPUs)
torchrun --nproc_per_node=8 train_ddp.py
import os
checkpoint_dir = "/lambda/nfs/my-storage/checkpoints"
os.makedirs(checkpoint_dir, exist_ok=True)
# Save checkpoint
torch.save({
'epoch': epoch,
'model_state_dict': model.state_dict(),
'optimizer_state_dict': optimizer.state_dict(),
'loss': loss,
}, f"{checkpoint_dir}/checkpoint_{epoch}.pt")
High-performance Slurm clusters with:
# On Slurm cluster
srun --nodes=4 --ntasks-per-node=8 --gpus-per-node=8 \
torchrun --nnodes=4 --nproc_per_node=8 \
--rdzv_backend=c10d --rdzv_endpoint=$MASTER_ADDR:29500 \
train.py
# Find private IP
ip addr show | grep 'inet '
# 1. Launch 8x H100 instance with filesystem
# 2. SSH and setup
ssh ubuntu@<IP>
pip install transformers accelerate peft
# 3. Download model to filesystem
python -c "
from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM
model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained('meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-hf')
model.save_pretrained('/lambda/nfs/storage/models/llama-2-7b')
"
# 4. Fine-tune with checkpoints on filesystem
accelerate launch --num_processes 8 train.py \
--model_path /lambda/nfs/storage/models/llama-2-7b \
--output_dir /lambda/nfs/storage/outputs \
--checkpoint_dir /lambda/nfs/storage/checkpoints
# 1. Launch A10 instance (cost-effective for inference)
# 2. Run inference
python inference.py \
--model /lambda/nfs/storage/models/fine-tuned \
--input /lambda/nfs/storage/data/inputs.jsonl \
--output /lambda/nfs/storage/data/outputs.jsonl
| Task | Recommended GPU |
|---|---|
| LLM fine-tuning (7B) | A100 40GB |
| LLM fine-tuning (70B) | 8x H100 |
| Inference | A10, A6000 |
| Development | V100, A10 |
| Maximum performance | B200 |
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Instance won't launch | Check region availability, try different GPU |
| SSH connection refused | Wait for instance to initialize (3-15 min) |
| Data lost after terminate | Use persistent filesystems |
| Slow data transfer | Use filesystem in same region |
| GPU not detected | Reboot instance, check drivers |
No reviews yet. Tell others what you thought.
No login needed. Share how it worked for you, ask a question, or note where it did not run.
No comments yet. Be the first to write one.
Create interactive 3D scenes for websites, including product views and scroll-driven animations. Covers choosing Three.js, React Three Fiber, or Spline, preparing lightweight models, showing loading progress, and adapting experiences for mobile devices.
Plan A/B tests that compare page or product changes, with clear hypotheses, sample sizes, success metrics, and traffic allocation. Get a structured test plan and guidance for interpreting results and deciding what to try next.
Prepare an academic CV for faculty, postdoctoral, or research applications. Organize publications, grants, teaching, and research experience, with section order and formatting adapted to the role and academic field.
Audit and improve web accessibility using WCAG 2.1 guidelines. Covers image descriptions, color contrast, keyboard controls, forms, and screen reader support, with code examples and automated and manual checks to guide fixes.
Audit websites for accessibility barriers and improve image descriptions, color contrast, forms, keyboard navigation, and screen reader support. Provides code examples and automated and manual testing guidance for work toward WCAG 2.1 AA or AAA accessibility standards.
Design autonomous agents for Claude Code plugins, including when they should run, what tools they may use, and how they should respond. Provides configuration templates, prompt guidance, and validation steps for creating agent files.