Gpubox

mediawiki

gpubox Setup Guide

Bare Metal Configuration

IPMI Setup

• Access IPMI via

  ipmitool

  with hostname

  ipmi-compute-2-171.local

Example commands:

$ ipmitool -H ipmi-compute-2-171.local -U ADMIN -P pwd power status 
Chassis Power is on
$ ipmitool -H ipmi-compute-2-171.local  -U ADMIN -P pwd dcmi power reading
[shows electrical power presently being consumed by system]

Debian 13 and Proxmox 8 Installation

• Debian 13 install: https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/debian-13.3.0-amd64-netinst.iso
• Proxmox VE on that: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_13_Trixie
• Let it use DHCP to grab an IP address, then I changed it later when I set up vrb0
• Hostname gpubox
• Proxmox web ui available at: https://gpubox.local:8006

GPU Passthrough Configuration

BIOS/UEFI

• Enable VT-d (Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O) in BIOS on gpubox

Identify GPUs

Use the vendor ID (`10de`) and device ID (`1b06`) to identify GPUs. Both video cards and their associated audio device will show up.

$ lspci -nnk | grep -A 3 'VGA'
04:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation TU102 [GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Rev. A] [10de:1e07] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:12a4]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
04:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation TU102 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:10f7] (rev a1)
--
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [GeForce GTX 1080 Ti] [10de:1b06] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: PNY Device [196e:1213]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
05:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 HDMI Audio Controller [10de:10ef] (rev a1)
--
08:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [GeForce GTX 1080 Ti] [10de:1b06] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Device [1462:3609]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
08:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 HDMI Audio Controller [10de:10ef] (rev a1)
--
09:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [GeForce GTX 1080 Ti] [10de:1b06] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Device [19da:1470]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
09:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 HDMI Audio Controller [10de:10ef] (rev a1)
--
0c:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ASPEED Technology, Inc. ASPEED Graphics Family [1a03:2000] (rev 30)
        Subsystem: Super Micro Computer Inc Device [15d9:0892]
        Kernel driver in use: ast
        Kernel modules: ast
--
84:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation TU102 [GeForce RTX 2080 Ti] [10de:1e04] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device [1458:37c4]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
84:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation TU102 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:10f7] (rev a1)
--
85:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 [GeForce GTX 1080] [10de:1b80] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: eVga.com. Corp. Device [3842:6180]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
85:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:10f0] (rev a1)
--
88:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [GeForce GTX 1080 Ti] [10de:1b06] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Device [19da:1470]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
88:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 HDMI Audio Controller [10de:10ef] (rev a1)
--
89:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [GeForce GTX 1080 Ti] [10de:1b06] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Device [1462:3609]
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
89:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 HDMI Audio Controller [10de:10ef] (rev a1)

VFIO Modules

• Create `/etc/modules-load.d/vfio.conf` with:

vfio
vfio_iommu_type1
vfio_pci
vfio_virqfd

NVIDIA Drivers on Host

We did have to install some drivers on gpubox, but we installed them again later on the VMs. This confuses me.

Edit /etc/apt/sources.list

sed -i 's/main/main non-free contrib/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
apt update
apt install -y nvidia-driver nvidia-kernel-dkms

VM Templates & Cloning

Template VM

• Upload

  debian-13.3.0-amd64-netinst.iso

  to storage through the proxmox web ui
• Create a minimal Debian 13 template

  • apt install -y ufw fail2ban curl git zsh sudo

  • sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y

• Make a user called

  deb

  with sudo
• Convert to template (Proxmox: VM > Convert to Template) with name:

  debian13-template

Clone VMs

• Clone the template for

  ollama-2080

  and future VMs that will house AI models
• **Pass GPU**: In VM settings, go to "Hardware" > "PCI" > "Raw" and select the GPU (use

  lspci

  IDs)
• Don't forget to change the new cloned VM's hostname

  • sudo hostnamectl set-hostname ollama2080 --static

Specific VM Configurations

ollama-2080

• Install

  ollama

  with

  curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

• Use ollama to pull and run Deepseek R1 8
• Verify: http://ollama.local:11434/ should show the message

  Ollama is running.

dockerhost

• Install Docker:

``` apt install -y docker.io systemctl enable --now docker ```

• Add user

  docker

  to do docker stuff. Do NOT give

  docker

  sudo.
• As the docker user, make directories

  ~/git/openwebui

• Make a docker compose file at

  ~/git/openwebui/docker-compose.yaml

• In

  ~/git/openwebui

  , run

  docker compose up

  • Note: newer docker uses

    docker compose

    , not

    docker-compose

• Useful commands

  • sudo ss -plnt # Shows ports this machine is listening on

ip -4 a # Get this machine's IP address on the local network

ai-conductor

• TBD

Key Commands

```

1. Check GPU visibility in host

lspci -k | grep -A 2 "VGA"

1. Verify VFIO modules loaded

lsmod | grep vfio

1. Test NVIDIA driver

nvidia-smi # Should show GPU details

1. Clone a template in Proxmox

qm clone <source_VM_ID> <new_VM_ID> --name "ollama-2080" ```

Troubleshooting

• **GPU Not Visible**: Ensure VT-d is enabled in BIOS and the GPU is listed in `lspci`
• **Driver Issues**: Reinstall `nvidia-driver` and reboot
• **Permission Errors**: Add user to `docker` and `kvm` groups