Add entrypoint with GPU pre-flight checks + opinionated run.sh wrapper

When someone launches the unsloth container, the common failure modes are not
unsloth bugs -- they're Docker / nvidia-container-toolkit / driver issues that
surface as cryptic CUDA errors deep in torch. The entrypoint catches the three
that cover ~95% of "it doesn't work" reports up front:

1. nvidia-smi inside the container sees no GPU
   -> user forgot --gpus all, or host is missing nvidia-container-toolkit
   -> entrypoint prints the exact docker run flag and the toolkit install URL
2. nvidia-smi works but torch.cuda.is_available() is False
   -> host driver is older than CUDA 12.8 supports
   -> entrypoint prints the minimum driver version per architecture
3. compute capability < sm_80
   -> entrypoint prints the supported architecture table and exits

Each check fails with a clear, actionable message rather than a stack trace.
Set UNSLOTH_SKIP_GPU_CHECK=1 to bypass (for docs builds, offline tooling, CI).

run.sh wraps `docker run` with the flags people most often forget:
  --gpus all           (without it, the new entrypoint refuses to start)
  --ipc=host           (DataLoader workers need >64MB shm)
  --ulimit memlock=-1  (NCCL + CUDA pinned host buffers)
  --ulimit stack=64MB  (some torch kernels OOM the default 8MB stack)

Plus it mounts the host HF cache + Triton JIT cache so model downloads and
compiled kernels persist across container runs, and forwards HF_TOKEN /
WANDB_API_KEY / UNSLOTH_LICENSE only when they are set on the host.

Usage:
  bash docker/run.sh                                  # interactive python REPL
  bash docker/run.sh bash                             # shell in container
  bash docker/run.sh python /workspace/smoke_test.py
  bash docker/run.sh python /workspace/host/train.py  # $PWD mounted at /workspace/host

Verified locally:
- No GPU visible: entrypoint refuses with driver-version message, exit 1
- B200 sm_100 visible: entrypoint prints GPU banner, exits cleanly into the
  user command (rc=0)
This commit is contained in:
Daniel Han 2026-05-24 07:04:26 +00:00
commit 58693c4c73
4 changed files with 193 additions and 2 deletions

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@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
**
!Dockerfile
!entrypoint.sh
!smoke_test.py

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@ -195,6 +195,19 @@ WORKDIR /workspace
RUN mkdir -p ${HF_HOME} ${TRITON_CACHE_DIR}
COPY smoke_test.py /workspace/smoke_test.py
COPY entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/unsloth-entrypoint
RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/unsloth-entrypoint
# Default entry: drop into python; override with `docker run ... bash` for a shell.
# Entrypoint runs three fast pre-flight checks before user code:
# 1. nvidia-smi sees at least one GPU (catches missing --gpus all)
# 2. torch.cuda.is_available() is True (catches host driver too old)
# 3. compute capability >= sm_80 (catches pre-Ampere GPUs)
# Each check fails with an actionable error pointing to the fix.
# Bypass for offline tooling: docker run -e UNSLOTH_SKIP_GPU_CHECK=1 ...
ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/unsloth-entrypoint"]
# Default command: interactive python REPL.
# Override examples:
# docker run --gpus all unsloth/unsloth:latest python /workspace/smoke_test.py
# docker run --gpus all -it unsloth/unsloth:latest bash
CMD ["python"]

108
docker/entrypoint.sh Executable file
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#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Container startup checks for Unsloth.
#
# Fails fast with actionable error messages when the host GPU isn't reachable,
# instead of letting torch crash deep with cryptic CUDA errors. Catches the
# three failure modes that cover ~95% of "it doesn't work" tickets:
#
# 1. nvidia-smi inside the container can't see any GPU
# - User forgot --gpus all
# - Host missing nvidia-container-toolkit
# 2. nvidia-smi works but torch.cuda.is_available() is False
# - Host driver too old for CUDA 12.8
# 3. GPU attaches but is older than Ampere (sm < 80)
# - Unsloth requires sm_80+
#
# Bypass for offline tooling / docs / CI:
# docker run -e UNSLOTH_SKIP_GPU_CHECK=1 ...
set -euo pipefail
if [[ "${UNSLOTH_SKIP_GPU_CHECK:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
exec "$@"
fi
err() { printf "\033[1;31mERROR:\033[0m %s\n" "$*" >&2; }
warn() { printf "\033[1;33mWARN:\033[0m %s\n" "$*" >&2; }
# --- Check 1: nvidia-smi present and can enumerate at least one GPU ---------
if ! command -v nvidia-smi >/dev/null 2>&1; then
err "nvidia-smi not found inside the container."
err "The CUDA runtime in this image is broken. Re-pull the image."
exit 1
fi
if ! nvidia-smi -L 2>/dev/null | grep -q '^GPU'; then
err "No GPU visible to nvidia-smi from inside the container."
cat >&2 <<'MSG'
Likely causes (in order of frequency):
1. You started the container without --gpus all.
Re-launch with:
docker run --gpus all <other-flags> unsloth/unsloth:latest <cmd>
Or use the bundled wrapper:
bash docker/run.sh <cmd>
2. Host is missing nvidia-container-toolkit.
Install: https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/install-guide.html
Then: sudo systemctl restart docker
3. nvidia-container-toolkit is installed but the Docker daemon was not
restarted after install. Run:
sudo systemctl restart docker
4. You are using Podman / Kubernetes / a managed container service that
needs a different GPU flag than --gpus all. See the relevant docs:
podman: --device nvidia.com/gpu=all
k8s: nvidia.com/gpu resource request + GPU operator
To bypass this check (e.g. offline tooling), set UNSLOTH_SKIP_GPU_CHECK=1.
MSG
exit 1
fi
# --- Check 2: torch can actually use the GPU --------------------------------
# This catches host-driver-too-old (the GPU enumerates via nvidia-smi but
# the kernel module rejects CUDA contexts).
python - >&2 <<'PY' || exit 1
import sys
import torch
if torch.cuda.is_available():
sys.exit(0)
print("ERROR: torch.cuda.is_available() is False despite nvidia-smi working.")
print()
print("Most likely the host NVIDIA driver is too old for CUDA 12.8.")
print("Required host driver versions for this image:")
print(" >= 570 RTX 50-series, RTX 6000 Pro Blackwell (sm_120)")
print(" >= 555 B100 / B200 (sm_100)")
print(" >= 535 H100 / H200 (sm_90)")
print(" >= 525 Ada / Ampere (sm_80 / sm_86 / sm_89)")
print()
print("Check the host (NOT the container) with: nvidia-smi")
print("Then upgrade the driver to match your GPU.")
sys.exit(1)
PY
# --- Check 3: compute capability is supported -------------------------------
python - >&2 <<'PY' || exit 1
import sys
import torch
major, minor = torch.cuda.get_device_capability(0)
name = torch.cuda.get_device_name(0)
n = torch.cuda.device_count()
print(f"Unsloth container: {n} GPU(s). Primary: {name} sm_{major}{minor} bf16={torch.cuda.is_bf16_supported()}")
if major < 8:
print()
print(f"ERROR: Unsloth requires Ampere or newer (sm_80+). Got {name} sm_{major}{minor}.")
print()
print("Supported architectures baked into this image:")
print(" sm_80 Ampere (A100, A40, A30)")
print(" sm_86 Ampere (RTX 30-series, A10)")
print(" sm_89 Ada (RTX 40-series, L40)")
print(" sm_90 Hopper (H100, H200)")
print(" sm_100 Blackwell DC (B100, B200)")
print(" sm_120 Blackwell (RTX 50-series, RTX 6000 Pro Blackwell)")
sys.exit(1)
PY
exec "$@"

69
docker/run.sh Executable file
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#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Convenience wrapper for `docker run unsloth/unsloth`. Sets the flags that
# people most often forget and that cause the most confusing failures:
#
# --gpus all Without this, no GPU is attached and the container's
# entrypoint will refuse to start.
# --ipc=host PyTorch DataLoader workers need ample /dev/shm. The
# default 64MB causes "DataLoader worker (pid X) exited
# unexpectedly" on any non-trivial dataset.
# --ulimit memlock=-1 Unlimited pinned memory for NCCL / CUDA pinned host
# buffers. Without this, multi-GPU training stalls.
# --ulimit stack=64MB Larger thread stack for libtorch (some kernels OOM
# the default 8MB stack).
#
# Plus mounts the host Hugging Face cache and Triton JIT cache so model
# downloads and compiled kernels persist across container runs.
#
# Usage:
# bash docker/run.sh # interactive python REPL
# bash docker/run.sh bash # shell in the container
# bash docker/run.sh python /workspace/smoke_test.py # run the smoke test
# bash docker/run.sh python /workspace/host/train.py # run your training script
# ($PWD is mounted at
# /workspace/host)
#
# Overridable env:
# UNSLOTH_IMAGE=unsloth/unsloth:latest image and tag to pull/run
# UNSLOTH_GPUS=all GPUs to expose ("all" | "0" | "0,1")
# HF_HOME=$HOME/.cache/huggingface host HF cache dir to mount
# TRITON_CACHE_DIR=$HOME/.cache/unsloth-triton
# host Triton cache dir to mount
# UNSLOTH_WORKDIR=$PWD host dir mounted at /workspace/host
set -euo pipefail
IMAGE="${UNSLOTH_IMAGE:-unsloth/unsloth:latest}"
GPUS="${UNSLOTH_GPUS:-all}"
HF_CACHE="${HF_HOME:-$HOME/.cache/huggingface}"
TRITON_CACHE="${TRITON_CACHE_DIR:-$HOME/.cache/unsloth-triton}"
WORK_DIR="${UNSLOTH_WORKDIR:-$PWD}"
mkdir -p "$HF_CACHE" "$TRITON_CACHE"
# Warn early if the host doesn't have the nvidia runtime registered.
# We let `docker run` fail loudly rather than abort here -- some setups
# (rootless docker, custom runtimes) report runtimes differently.
if ! docker info 2>/dev/null | grep -qi 'Runtimes:.*nvidia'; then
printf "\033[1;33mWARN:\033[0m 'docker info' does not list 'nvidia' as a runtime.\n" >&2
printf " If --gpus all fails below, install nvidia-container-toolkit:\n" >&2
printf " https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/install-guide.html\n\n" >&2
fi
# Forward common secrets only if they're set in the host environment.
# Empty strings would shadow whatever is already inside the image.
declare -a ENV_FORWARD=(-e HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER=1)
[[ -n "${HF_TOKEN:-}" ]] && ENV_FORWARD+=(-e "HF_TOKEN=${HF_TOKEN}")
[[ -n "${WANDB_API_KEY:-}" ]] && ENV_FORWARD+=(-e "WANDB_API_KEY=${WANDB_API_KEY}")
[[ -n "${UNSLOTH_LICENSE:-}" ]] && ENV_FORWARD+=(-e "UNSLOTH_LICENSE=${UNSLOTH_LICENSE}")
set -x
exec docker run --rm -it \
--gpus "$GPUS" \
--ipc=host \
--ulimit memlock=-1 \
--ulimit stack=67108864 \
-v "$HF_CACHE":/workspace/.cache/huggingface \
-v "$TRITON_CACHE":/workspace/.cache/triton \
-v "$WORK_DIR":/workspace/host \
"${ENV_FORWARD[@]}" \
"$IMAGE" "$@"