Create a VM

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Create a TIR Virtual Machine (VM): choose its operating system and plan, decide how to pay, then set up its disk, network, and startup scripts.

Before you begin

A TIR project, and permission to create VMs in it. See TIR Access Control.
An SSH public key. Every VM needs at least one, and you sign in with the matching private key. You can add the key on the form, or beforehand in SSH Key Management. To make a key pair in TIR instead of on your computer, see Create an SSH key in the browser.
On a prepaid account, enough credit for the launch: about 24 hours of an hourly plan, or the full price of a committed term. See Pay now in TIR.
(Optional) What you want attached from the start, such as a reserved IP, a VPC, a security group of your own, a Shared File System, or a dataset. See Reserve an IP, Create a VPC, Create a security group, and Create an SFS. Each can also be attached later.
(Optional) A TIR private cluster, to run the VM on machines you already pay for.

Choose an image

In TIR, open your project. In the side menu, under Compute, select Virtual Machines, then select Create VM.
Choose the operating system your work needs. Its default version is the one to take unless your work needs a specific release; for another, pick it from the image’s version list.

Name the VM and choose how many

Under VM Name, keep the name TIR fills in, vm- followed by a number, or type your own. A name has up to 50 characters of letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores, starts with a letter, ends with a letter or digit, and differs from every other VM and instance in the project.
Under Number of VMs, keep 1, or enter up to 10 to launch identical VMs in one go. TIR adds -1, -2, and so on to their names, and the estimated cost covers all of them.

Choose the computing resource

Under Select Computing Resource, choose what the VM runs on:

GPU is for work that needs a GPU, such as training or serving a model. Pick the plan by GPU model and by the GPU memory your model needs.
CPU is for work that runs on CPUs alone. A CPU VM is also the kind that can join a VPC.
Private Cluster runs the VM on one of your own TIR private clusters.

On the GPU or CPU tab

Choose a plan.
Under Configuration, pick a size: its number of GPUs, its vCPUs, and its memory.

You can choose only a plan or size that is in stock. For one that is out of stock, see What does Inventory not available mean? for how to ask for it. You can change an hourly VM’s plan later, after you stop it. See Change the plan of a VM.

On the Private Cluster tab

Choose the cluster.
In Resource Configuration, set the size. Take a ready-made GPU or CPU plan, or open Custom to enter Number of CPU Cores, Number of GPUs, and RAM (GB) yourself. On a cluster with MIG enabled, each GPU is split into smaller GPUs that share it, so the ready-made GPU plans are MIG Plans and Custom asks for MIG Profiles in place of a number of GPUs.
(Optional) If the cluster has node groups, choose a Scheduling Rule under Affinity Group:
- All Nodes lets the VM run on any node of the cluster. Keep it when any node will do.
- Affinity keeps the VM on the nodes of the group you choose under Select Group.
- Anti-Affinity keeps the VM off the nodes of the group you choose under Select Group.

The private cluster plan covers a VM on this tab, so its plan charge is part of what you pay for the cluster, and there is no billing choice to make. See TIR Private Cluster.

Choose how to pay

Under VM Pricing, choose On-Demand or one of the committed terms the configuration offers. If the term you want is not listed, select Show more pricing.

On-Demand bills by the minute at the plan’s hourly price, only while the VM runs. Take it first, and whenever you are unsure how long you need the VM.
A committed term, such as 1 Month Savings Plan or 1 Year Savings Plan, is paid once, upfront, for the whole term at a lower price. Take one for a VM you will keep running for the whole term, because a committed VM stays on until the term ends.

Billing options for TIR Virtual Machines explains both, and E2E Networks pricing has the rates. To estimate a month’s cost, use the E2E pricing calculator.

If you choose a committed term, you confirm it in Committed Plan Confirmation when you select Launch VM:

Tick the box that says the full amount is charged upfront for the committed days and nothing is refunded for the remaining days.
Choose what happens when the term ends:
- Auto renewal of this committed plan, the default, buys the same term again when your prepaid credits cover it, and otherwise moves the VM to hourly billing and emails the owner.
- Auto start hourly billing for this machine keeps the VM running and bills it per hour.
- Auto deletion of this committed machine deletes the VM and its disk when the term ends.
Select Proceed.

Set the disk size

The disk holds the operating system and your files, and it is the VM’s only disk. It starts at 30 GB, and the first 30 GB are free.

Under Storage, set the size with the slider, in steps of 10 GB. Choose up to 2,000 GB, or up to your account’s disk limit if E2E has set a lower one. Each GB above 30 is billed by the hour until you delete the VM.

Start small if you are unsure: the disk can grow later while the VM runs, and each increase is permanent. See Resize the disk of a VM.

Mount datasets and file systems

(Optional) Under Other storage, choose what to mount. Each is billed under its own product, separately from the VM.

Datasets mount at /datasets/ followed by the dataset’s name. A dataset suits data the VM mainly reads.
Shared File System mounts at a path you type, such as /my-sfs. Choose it when several machines read and write the same files.
Parallel File System, offered in Delhi, mounts at a path you type. To mount it read-only, tick Read Only.

To create one first, use the Click here link, which opens its create page in a new tab. The path rules, and how to mount or unmount later, are in Mount datasets and file systems on a VM.

Set up network and security

Under SSH Keys, pick one or more keys. To add a new key, select Click here, save the key in Add SSH Key, then select the refresh button beside the field and pick it.
Under Security Group, choose a group that allows SSH on port 22. Once you have picked a key, only those groups can be chosen. If you leave the field empty, the VM gets your project’s default SSH security group, which allows SSH from every address and whose rules are fixed. To allow only your own addresses, create a security group first and choose it here.
(Optional) Under Reserve IP Address, pick a reserved IP to give the VM an address that stays yours. Otherwise, the VM gets a public IP that can change after a stop and a start. You can attach a reserved IP here when you launch a single VM. A reserved IP has a monthly fee of its own. See Attach a reserved IP to a VM.
(Optional) For a VM on the CPU tab, choose a VPC to give the VM a private address in your own network. Pick an active VPC with a free IP for each VM you launch. If you leave it empty, the VM joins the project’s default private network. See Attach a VPC to a VM.

Add startup scripts

(Optional) Open Advanced Settings. Under Startup Script, pick saved scripts in Select startup scripts, or select Create a new Script to write one right in the form. The scripts run as root each time the VM boots, so the VM can install your tools by itself. See Add startup scripts to a VM.

Launch the VM

Select Launch VM. If a value is missing, a message that starts “Validation Error:” lists every field to fix. Fix them and select Launch VM again.

For one VM, TIR opens the VM’s page. For several, you return to Manage VMs, where each VM has its own row.

A new VM starts as Waiting while TIR reserves capacity, sets up networking, creates the VM, prepares the disk, and starts it. A launch usually takes about a minute. The VM then turns Running, and you get an email, with a copy to the team owner and admins. Billing for the plan starts at that moment.

A VM that shows Pending instead is waiting for capacity. See How long can a VM stay on Pending?. If a launch fails, the VM’s page gives the reason and, when a retry can help, offers Retry launch. See Retry a failed VM launch.

While the VM is Running, copy SSH Command from Connection Details on its Overview tab. It signs you in as root. Connect to a VM over SSH takes it from there. For help with any message on the form, see Troubleshooting TIR Virtual Machines. Between working sessions on an hourly VM, stop it to pause its plan charge.