Using GPU from a docker container

Question

I'm searching for a way to use the GPU from inside a docker container without using privilege mode.

Answer 1

Preparation

Install nvidia driver and cuda on your host.

Get the Docker Daemon to run using lxc

We need to run docker daemon using lxc driver to be able to modify the configuration and give the container access to the device.

One time utilization :

sudo service docker stop

sudo docker -d -e lxc

Permanent configuration Modify your docker configuration file located in /etc/default/docker Change the line DOCKER_OPTS by adding '-e lxc' Here is my line after modification

DOCKER_OPTS="--dns 8.8.8.8 --dns 8.8.4.4 -e lxc"

Then restart the daemon using

sudo service docker restart

How to check if the daemon effectively use lxc driver ?

docker info

The Execution Driver line should look like that :

Execution Driver: lxc-1.0.5

Build your image with the NVIDIA and CUDA driver.

Run your image.

First you need to identify your the major number associated with your device. Easiest way is to do the following command :

ls -la /dev | grep nvidia

To activate lxc driver

--lxc-conf='lxc.cgroup.devices.allow = c [major number]:[minor number or *] rwm'

To launch a container, use the following command

Docker run -ti --lxc-conf='lxc.cgroup.devices.allow = c 195:* rwm' --lxc-conf='lxc.cgroup.devices.allow = c 243:* rwm' cuda