Create AI-optimized instances in bulk

This document explains how to create virtual machine (VM) instances in bulk that use A4 or A3 Ultra accelerator-optimized machine types.

For more information about creating VMs in bulk, see About bulk creation of VMs in the Compute Engine documentation.

To learn about other ways to create VMs or clusters, see the Overview page.

Before you begin

Before creating VMs in bulk, complete the following steps if you haven't already:

  1. Choose a consumption option: the option that you pick determines how you want to get and use GPU resources.

    2. To learn more, see Choose a consumption option.

  2. Obtain capacity: to learn how to obtain capacity for your consumption option.

    3. To learn more, see Obtain capacity.

  3. Optional: Create a placement policy: to place your VMs in a single block or sub-block and minimize network latency, you can optionally use a compact placement policy. This approach is useful for workloads that require fast communication among VMs. However, if you need to place your VMs on a specific block to meet particular hardware or network requirements, skip this step and specify the block name when you create the instance template.

    4. For instructions, see Create a compact placement policy.

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

In the Google Cloud console, activate Cloud Shell.

Activate Cloud Shell

At the bottom of the Google Cloud console, a Cloud Shell session starts and displays a command-line prompt. Cloud Shell is a shell environment with the Google Cloud CLI already installed and with values already set for your current project. It can take a few seconds for the session to initialize.

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.

    After installing the Google Cloud CLI, initialize it by running the following command: 

    gcloud init

    If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first 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 in bulk, 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 in bulk. To see the exact permissions that are required, expand the Required permissions section:

Required permissions

The following permissions are required to create VMs in bulk:

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

Create VPC networks

Based on the machine type that you want to use and the number of network interfaces in the machine type, you need to create Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks as follows:

Machine type Physical NIC count* Network interfaces† Number of VPC networks to create
a4-highgpu-8g 10
  • 2 gVNIC network interfaces used for host to host communication
  • 1 RDMA network interface (attached to a network with 8 subnets) for GPU to GPU communication
 3
a3-ultragpu-8g 10
  • 2 gVNIC network interfaces used for host to host communication.
  • 1 RDMA network interface (attached to a network with 8 subnets) for GPU to GPU communication.
 3
*For more information about NIC arrangement, see Review network bandwidth and NIC arrangement.
†For more information about the network interfaces, see Using Google Virtual NIC and RDMA network profiles.

Set up the networks either manually by following the instruction guides or automatically by using the provided script.

Instruction guides

To create the networks, you can use the following instructions:

Script

To create the networks, you can use the following script.

  #!/bin/bash

  # Create standard VPCs (network and subnets) for the gVNICs
  for N in $(seq 0 1); do
    gcloud compute networks create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-$N \
      --subnet-mode=custom

    gcloud compute networks subnets create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-$N \
      --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-$N \
      --region=REGION \
      --range=10.$N.0.0/16

    gcloud compute firewall-rules create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-internal-$N \
      --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-$N \
      --action=ALLOW \
      --rules=tcp:0-65535,udp:0-65535,icmp \
      --source-ranges=10.0.0.0/8
  done

  # Create SSH firewall rules
  gcloud compute firewall-rules create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-ssh \
    --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0 \
    --action=ALLOW \
    --rules=tcp:22 \
    --source-ranges=IP_RANGE

  # Assumes that an external IP is only created for vNIC 0
  gcloud compute firewall-rules create GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-allow-ping-net-0 \
    --network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0 \
    --action=ALLOW \
    --rules=icmp \
    --source-ranges=IP_RANGE

  # List and make sure network profiles exist
  gcloud compute network-profiles list

  # Create network for CX-7
  gcloud compute networks create RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma \
    --network-profile=ZONE-vpc-roce \
    --subnet-mode custom

  # Create subnets.
  for N in $(seq 0 7); do
    gcloud compute networks subnets create RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-$N \
      --network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma \
      --region=REGION \
      --range=10.$((N+2)).0.0/16  # offset to avoid overlap with gVNICs
  done

Replace the following:

  • GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the standard VPC networks and subnets that use gVNIC NICs.
  • RDMA_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the VPC networks and subnets that use RDMA NICs.
  • ZONE: specify a zone in which the machine type that you want to use is available. For information about regions, see GPU regions and zones.
  • REGION: the region where you want to create the subnets. This region must correspond to the zone specified. For example, if your zone is europe-west1-b, then your region is europe-west1.
  • IP_RANGE: the IP range to use for the SSH firewall rules.

Create VMs

To create your VMs in bulk, use one of the following methods:

gcloud

To create VMs in bulk, use the gcloud compute instances bulk 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's provisioning model.

Reservation-bound

Before running the command, optionally add the flag for a compact placement policy.

gcloud compute instances bulk create \
    --name-pattern=NAME_PATTERN \
    --count=COUNT \
    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \
    --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY \
    --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT \
    --region=REGION \
    --boot-disk-type=hyperdisk-balanced \
    --boot-disk-size=DISK_SIZE \
    --scopes=cloud-platform \
    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC,network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0,subnet=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-0 \
    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC,network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-1,subnet=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-1,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-0,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-1,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-2,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-3,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-4,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-5,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-6,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-7,no-address \
    --reservation-affinity=specific \
    --reservation=RESERVATION \
    --provisioning-model=RESERVATION_BOUND \
    --instance-termination-action=DELETE \
    --maintenance-policy=TERMINATE

Complete the following steps:

  1. Replace the following:

    • NAME_PATTERN: the name pattern of the VMs. For example, using vm-# for the name pattern generates VMs with names such as vm-1 and vm-2, up to the number of VMs specified by --count.
    • COUNT: the number of VMs to create.
    • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. Specify either an A4 or A3 Ultra machine type. For more information, see GPU machine types.
    • IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
    • IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
    • REGION: specify a region 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 the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU regions and zones.
    • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB.
    • GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the standard VPC networks and subnets that use gVNIC NICs.
    • RDMA_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the VPC networks and subnets that use RDMA NICs.

    • RESERVATION: either the reservation name or a specific block within a reservation. To get the reservation name or the available blocks, see View capacity. Choose one of the following:

      Reservation value When to use 
      projects/RESERVATION_PROJECT_ID/reservations/RESERVATION_NAME

      Use this value when one of the following is true:

      • You are using a compact placement policy. Compute Engine applies the policy to the reservation and creates the VMs on a single block.
      • You aren't using a compact placement policy, and it's acceptable to create the VMs on any of the reserved blocks.
      		 
      projects/RESERVATION_PROJECT_ID/reservations/RESERVATION_NAME/reservationBlocks/RESERVATION_BLOCK_NAME

      Use this value when you aren't using a compact placement policy, and you want to create VMs on a specific reserved block.

  2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following flag to the command:

      --resource-policies=POLICY_NAME

    Replace the following:

    • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.
  3. Run the command.

Spot

Before running the command, optionally add the flag for a compact placement policy.

gcloud compute instances bulk create \
    --name-pattern=NAME_PATTERN \
    --count=COUNT \
    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \
    --image-family=IMAGE_FAMILY \
    --image-project=IMAGE_PROJECT \
    --region=REGION \
    --boot-disk-type=hyperdisk-balanced \
    --boot-disk-size=DISK_SIZE \
    --scopes=cloud-platform \
    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC,network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0,subnet=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-0 \
    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC,network=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-1,subnet=GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-1,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-0,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-1,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-2,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-3,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-4,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-5,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-6,no-address \
    --network-interface=nic-type=MRDMA,network=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma,subnet=RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-7,no-address \
    --provisioning-model=SPOT \
    --instance-termination-action=TERMINATION_ACTION

Complete the following steps:

  1. Replace the following:

    • NAME_PATTERN: the name pattern of the VMs. For example, using vm-# for the name pattern generates VMs with names such as vm-1 and vm-2, up to the number of VMs specified by --count.
    • COUNT: the number of VMs to create.
    • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. Specify either an A4 or A3 Ultra machine type. For more information, see GPU machine types.
    • IMAGE_FAMILY: the image family of the OS image that you want to use. For a list of supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
    • IMAGE_PROJECT: the project ID of the OS image.
    • REGION: specify a region 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 the same region as the compact placement policy. For information about regions, see GPU regions and zones.
    • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB.
    • GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the standard VPC networks and subnets that use gVNIC NICs.
    • RDMA_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the VPC networks and subnets that use RDMA NICs.

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

  2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following flag to the command:

      --resource-policies=POLICY_NAME

    Replace the following:

    • POLICY_NAME: the name of the compact placement policy.
  3. Run the command.

REST

To create VMs in bulk, make a POST request to the instances.bulkInsert 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's provisioning model.

Reservation-bound

Before submitting the request, optionally add the instanceProperties subfield for a compact placement policy to the request body.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instances/bulkInsert
{
  "namePattern":"NAME_PATTERN",
  "count":"COUNT",
  "instanceProperties":{
    "machineType":"MACHINE_TYPE",
    "disks":[
      {
        "boot":true,
        "initializeParams":{
          "diskSizeGb":"DISK_SIZE",
          "diskType":"hyperdisk-balanced",
          "sourceImage":"projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY"
        },
        "mode":"READ_WRITE",
        "type":"PERSISTENT"
      }
    ],
    "networkInterfaces": [
      {
        "accessConfigs": [
          {
            "name": "external-nat",
            "type": "ONE_TO_ONE_NAT"
          }
        ],
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0",
        "nicType": "GVNIC",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-0"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-1",
        "nicType": "GVNIC",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-1"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-0"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-1"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-2"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-3"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-4"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-5"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-6"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-7"
      }
    ],
    "reservationAffinity":{
        "consumeReservationType":"SPECIFIC_RESERVATION",
        "key":"compute.googleapis.com/reservation-name",
        "values":[
          "RESERVATION"
        ]
      },
    "scheduling":{
        "provisioningModel":"RESERVATION_BOUND",
        "instanceTerminationAction":"DELETE",
        "onHostMaintenance": "TERMINATE",
        "automaticRestart":true
      }
  }
}

Complete the following steps:

  1. Replace the following:

    • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where you want to create the VM.
    • ZONE: specify a 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 regions and zones.
    • NAME_PATTERN: the name pattern of the VMs. For example, using vm-# for the name pattern generates VMs with names such as vm-1 and vm-2, up to the number of VMs specified by --count.
    • COUNT: the number of VMs to create.
    • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. Specify either an A4 or A3 Ultra machine type. For more information, see GPU machine types.
    • VM_NAME: the name of the VM.
    • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB.
    • 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 supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
    • NETWORK_PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the network.
    • GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the standard VPC networks and subnets that use gVNIC NICs.
    • REGION: the region of the subnetwork.
    • RDMA_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the VPC networks and subnets that use RDMA NICs.

    • RESERVATION: either the reservation name or a specific block within a reservation. To get the reservation name or the available blocks, see View capacity. Choose one of the following:

      Reservation value When to use 
      projects/RESERVATION_PROJECT_ID/reservations/RESERVATION_NAME

      Use this value when one of the following is true:

      • You are using a compact placement policy. Compute Engine applies the policy to the reservation and creates the VMs on a single block.
      • You aren't using a compact placement policy, and it's acceptable to create the VMs on any of the reserved blocks.
      		 
      projects/RESERVATION_PROJECT_ID/reservations/RESERVATION_NAME/reservationBlocks/RESERVATION_BLOCK_NAME

      Use this value when you aren't using a compact placement policy, and you want to create VMs on a specific reserved block.

  2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following instanceProperties subfield 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. Submit the request.

Spot

Before submitting the request, optionally add the instanceProperties subfield for a compact placement policy to the request body.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/zone/instances/bulkInsert
{
  "namePattern":"NAME_PATTERN",
  "count":"COUNT",
  "instanceProperties":{
    "machineType":"MACHINE_TYPE",
    "disks":[
      {
        "boot":true,
        "initializeParams":{
          "diskSizeGb":"DISK_SIZE",
          "diskType":"hyperdisk-balanced",
          "sourceImage":"projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY"
        },
        "mode":"READ_WRITE",
        "type":"PERSISTENT"
      }
    ],
    "networkInterfaces": [
      {
        "accessConfigs": [
          {
            "name": "external-nat",
            "type": "ONE_TO_ONE_NAT"
          }
        ],
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-0",
        "nicType": "GVNIC",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-0"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-net-1",
        "nicType": "GVNIC",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX-sub-1"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-0"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-1"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-2"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-3"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-4"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-5"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-6"
      },
      {
        "network": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/global/networks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma",
        "nicType": "MRDMA",
        "subnetwork": "projects/NETWORK_PROJECT_ID/region/REGION/subnetworks/RDMA_NAME_PREFIX-mrdma-sub-7"
      }
    ],
    "scheduling":
    {
      "provisioningModel": "SPOT",
      "instanceTerminationAction": "TERMINATION_ACTION"
    }
  }
}

Complete the following steps:

  1. Replace the following:

    • PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project where you want to create the VM.
    • ZONE: specify a 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 regions and zones.
    • NAME_PATTERN: the name pattern of the VMs. For example, using vm-# for the name pattern generates VMs with names such as vm-1 and vm-2, up to the number of VMs specified by --count.
    • COUNT: the number of VMs to create.
    • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use for the VM. Specify either an A4 or A3 Ultra machine type. For more information, see GPU machine types.
    • VM_NAME: the name of the VM.
    • DISK_SIZE: the size of the boot disk in GB.
    • 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 supported operating systems, see Supported operating systems.
    • NETWORK_PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the network.
    • GVNIC_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the standard VPC networks and subnets that use gVNIC NICs.
    • REGION: the region of the subnetwork.
    • RDMA_NAME_PREFIX: the name prefix to use for the VPC networks and subnets that use RDMA NICs.

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

  2. Optional: If you chose to use a compact placement policy, then add the following instanceProperties subfield 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. Submit the request.

For more information about the configuration options when creating VMs in bulk, see Create VMs in bulk in the Compute Engine documentation.

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