mig-configure

MIG Configuration on DGX Station

Configure MIG (Multi-Instance GPU) partitions on the DGX Station GB300.

Steps

1. Find the GB300 GPU index. Run:

   nvidia-smi --query-gpu=index,name --format=csv,noheader

2. Check current MIG state:

   nvidia-smi -i <GB300_INDEX> -q | grep -i "MIG Mode"

3. If MIG is already enabled, show current instances:

   nvidia-smi mig -lgi -i <GB300_INDEX>
   nvidia-smi mig -lci -i <GB300_INDEX>

   If the user wants to reconfigure, destroy existing instances first (step 6).

4. If MIG is not enabled, enable it. All GPU processes must be stopped first:

   # Check for running GPU processes
   sudo fuser -v /dev/nvidia*
    
   # Enable MIG
   sudo nvidia-smi -i <GB300_INDEX> -mig 1
    
   # Verify
   nvidia-smi -i <GB300_INDEX> -q | grep -i "MIG Mode"

5. Show available profiles and help the user choose a layout:

   nvidia-smi mig -lgip -i <GB300_INDEX>

   Common GB300 MIG profiles:

   ID	Profile name (driver-dependent)	Approx. memory	Use case
   19	1g.35gb (59x) · 1g.31gb (61x)	~30 GB	Small models (7-8B), dev/test
   20	1g.35gb+me · 1g.31gb+me	~30 GB	Same + media extensions
   15	1g.70gb	~68 GB	Slightly larger inference
   14	2g.70gb	~68 GB	Medium models (14-30B)
   9	3g.139gb (59x) · 3g.126gb (61x)	~137 GB	Large models (70B quantized)
   5	4g.139gb · 4g.126gb	~137 GB	Large models, more compute
   0	7g.278gb (59x) · 7g.251gb (61x)	~276 GB	Full GPU as single instance

   Profile names depend on your driver version; the profile IDs do not. Always read the exact names and sizes on your box with nvidia-smi mig -lgip -i <GB300_INDEX>, and create instances by ID. (Driver 59x reports the …35gb/139gb/278gb names; 61x reports …31gb/126gb/251gb for the same IDs.)

   Suggest layouts based on the user's workload (use the stable IDs). Examples:

   • Two models (70B + smaller): one 3g + two 1g.70gb → IDs 9,15,15
   • Many small models: three 1g → IDs 19,19,19
   • One large model with isolation: the full 7g → ID 0

   MIG layouts are constrained by fixed memory-slice placement, not just total memory — never sum nominal GB and assume any combination fits. A 3g + 2g + 2g layout (9,14,14) is not realizable, for example, because the second 2g has no legal placement after a 3g. And nvidia-smi mig -lgip Free/Total tracks compute (GPC) slices, so it overstates the number of instances you can actually create (QA observed only 3 creatable 1g instances on a 61x Station even though Free/Total reported 7). Always validate a specific layout with nvidia-smi mig -lgipp before relying on it.

   Ask the user what models they want to run before suggesting a layout.

6. Create (or recreate) instances:

   If reconfiguring, destroy existing instances first:

   sudo nvidia-smi mig -dci -i <GB300_INDEX>
   sudo nvidia-smi mig -dgi -i <GB300_INDEX>

   Then create the new layout:

   sudo nvidia-smi mig -cgi <PROFILE_IDS> -C -i <GB300_INDEX>

7. Get the MIG device UUIDs:

   nvidia-smi -L

   Note the MIG-<uuid> entries — these are used to target specific MIG instances.

8. Show the user how to use MIG devices:

   # Bare metal
   export CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=MIG-<uuid>
    
   # Docker
   docker run --gpus '"device=MIG-<uuid>"' ...

9. Report the final layout to the user with UUIDs and suggested docker commands for each instance.

Disabling MIG

If the user wants to return to full-GPU mode:

# Stop all workloads using MIG instances first
sudo nvidia-smi mig -dci -i <GB300_INDEX>
sudo nvidia-smi mig -dgi -i <GB300_INDEX>
sudo nvidia-smi -i <GB300_INDEX> -mig 0

Do not run nvidia-fabricmanager on DGX Station. It has a single GB300 over NVLink-C2C (no NVSwitch fabric), so Fabric Manager is not installed and systemctl start nvidia-fabricmanager fails with "Unit not found." NVLink-C2C re-initializes automatically after MIG is disabled. If MIG mode is stuck in a "pending" state, reset the GPU instead: sudo nvidia-smi -i <GB300_INDEX> --gpu-reset.