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aws-bootstrap -- AWS GPU Instance Management

You have access to the aws-bootstrap CLI tool for provisioning and managing AWS EC2 GPU instances. Use it via the Bash tool. Always pass -o json before the subcommand (e.g., aws-bootstrap -o json status) when you need to parse results programmatically. The --output/-o flag is a global option and must come before the command name — placing it after (e.g., aws-bootstrap status -o json) will fail.

Prerequisites

Before running any commands, verify:

1. The aws-bootstrap CLI is installed (pip install aws-bootstrap-g4dn or uv pip install aws-bootstrap-g4dn)
2. AWS credentials are configured (AWS_PROFILE env var or --profile flag)
3. An SSH key pair exists at ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (or specify via --key-path)

You can check if the CLI is installed by running: aws-bootstrap --version

Quick Reference

Global options (before the command): --output json|yaml|table|text, --profile, --region

Structured Output

Always use --output json (aliased as -o json) when you need to process results:

# Get instance status as JSON
aws-bootstrap -o json status

# Dry-run launch to see what would happen
aws-bootstrap -o json launch --dry-run

# Terminate with --yes (required in structured output modes)
aws-bootstrap -o json terminate --yes

Commands requiring confirmation (terminate, cleanup) must include --yes when using --output json/yaml/table.

Common Workflows

Launch a GPU Instance

# Default: spot g4dn.xlarge in us-west-2
aws-bootstrap launch

# Specify instance type and region
aws-bootstrap launch --instance-type g5.xlarge --region us-east-1

# On-demand pricing (no spot interruption risk)
aws-bootstrap launch --on-demand

# With persistent EBS data volume (survives termination)
aws-bootstrap launch --ebs-storage 96

# Dry run first to validate configuration
aws-bootstrap launch --dry-run

# Custom Python version in remote venv
aws-bootstrap launch --python-version 3.13

# Non-default SSH port
aws-bootstrap launch --ssh-port 2222

After launch, the CLI:

1. Creates the instance (spot with auto-fallback to on-demand)
2. Adds an SSH alias (e.g. aws-gpu1) to ~/.ssh/config
3. Runs remote setup (CUDA-matched PyTorch, Jupyter, GPU benchmark)
4. Mounts EBS volume at /data (if requested)

Check Instance Status

# Human-readable status
aws-bootstrap status

# With GPU info (CUDA toolkit, driver version, GPU name)
aws-bootstrap status --gpu

# Machine-readable
aws-bootstrap -o json status

Connect to an Instance

After launch, use the SSH alias printed in the output:

# Direct SSH (venv auto-activates)
ssh aws-gpu1

# Jupyter tunnel
ssh -NL 8888:localhost:8888 aws-gpu1
# Then open: http://localhost:8888

# VSCode Remote SSH
code --folder-uri vscode-remote://ssh-remote+aws-gpu1/home/ubuntu/workspace

# Run GPU benchmark
ssh aws-gpu1 'python ~/gpu_benchmark.py'

Terminate and Clean Up

# Terminate by alias
aws-bootstrap terminate aws-gpu1

# Terminate all instances (with confirmation)
aws-bootstrap terminate

# Terminate but keep EBS volumes for reuse
aws-bootstrap terminate --keep-ebs

# Clean up stale SSH config entries
aws-bootstrap cleanup

# Also clean up orphan EBS volumes
aws-bootstrap cleanup --include-ebs

# Preview what would be cleaned (no changes)
aws-bootstrap cleanup --include-ebs --dry-run

Persistent Data with EBS

# Create a new volume on launch
aws-bootstrap launch --ebs-storage 96

# After terminating with --keep-ebs, reattach to a new instance
aws-bootstrap terminate --keep-ebs
# Note the volume ID from output, then:
aws-bootstrap launch --ebs-volume-id vol-0abc123def456

EBS volumes are mounted at /data, survive spot interruptions, and persist independently of instances. Use /data for large datasets, model checkpoints, and training outputs — it persists across instance lifecycles while the root volume does not. For example:

# Store training data on persistent volume
ssh aws-gpu1 'mkdir -p /data/datasets /data/checkpoints /data/outputs'

# Download a dataset to persistent storage
ssh aws-gpu1 'cd /data/datasets && wget https://example.com/dataset.tar.gz'

Remote Instance Environment

After launch and remote setup, each instance comes pre-configured with:

Python Virtual Environment (~/venv)

• Located at ~/venv, auto-activated on SSH login (via ~/.bashrc)
• PyTorch is pre-installed with the correct CUDA wheel matching the host's CUDA toolkit version (e.g. cu124, cu128) — torch.cuda.is_available() works out of the box
• torchvision is also pre-installed with matching CUDA support
• Additional numerical/ML libraries from requirements.txt: numpy, tqdm, and other common dependencies
• Use --python-version on launch to pin a specific Python version (e.g. 3.13)
• To install additional packages: ssh aws-gpu1 'pip install transformers datasets'

GPU and CUDA

• NVIDIA drivers and CUDA toolkit are pre-installed via the Deep Learning AMI
• nvidia-smi and nvcc are available on PATH
• A GPU benchmark is pre-installed at ~/gpu_benchmark.py (CNN + Transformer workloads)
• A Jupyter notebook for interactive GPU verification is at ~/gpu_smoke_test.ipynb

Jupyter

• JupyterLab runs as a systemd service on port 8888
• Access via SSH tunnel: ssh -NL 8888:localhost:8888 aws-gpu1, then open http://localhost:8888

EBS Data Volume (/data)

If launched with --ebs-storage or --ebs-volume-id, a persistent gp3 EBS volume is mounted at /data. Use this for:

• Large datasets — download and store training data here so it persists across spot interruptions
• Model checkpoints — save checkpoints to /data/checkpoints to avoid losing training progress
• Training outputs — write logs, metrics, and results to /data/outputs

The /data volume is not lost on spot interruption — when AWS reclaims the instance, the volume detaches automatically and can be reattached to a new instance with --ebs-volume-id.

Error Handling

• Spot capacity errors: The CLI auto-falls back to on-demand pricing
• Quota limits (MaxSpotInstanceCountExceeded, VcpuLimitExceeded): Check with aws-bootstrap quota show and request increases with aws-bootstrap quota request --family gvt --type spot --desired-value 4. Other families: --family p (P2-P6), --family dl
• SSH timeouts: Instance may still be initializing -- check aws-bootstrap status
• No public IP: Check VPC settings or assign an Elastic IP
• EBS mount failures: Non-fatal -- instance remains usable, may need manual mount

Detailed Command Reference

See commands.md for full option documentation and JSON output schemas.

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