Pathways-on-Cloud Utilities

0.1.7 · active · verified Wed Apr 15

Pathwaysutils is a Python package providing essential utilities and tools to streamline the deployment and execution of JAX workloads on the Pathways on Cloud architecture. It simplifies large-scale machine learning computations across multiple TPU slices by handling cloud-specific adaptations. Pathways is used internally at Google for models like Gemini, and this package brings similar benefits to Google Cloud customers. The current version is 0.1.7, and it is actively developed with releases tightly coupled to JAX versions.

Warnings

breaking Pathways on Cloud is currently in Preview. Access requires contacting your Google Cloud account representative. Without access, the utilities will not function as intended.
Fix: Contact your Google Cloud account representative to request access to Pathways on Cloud.
gotcha Pathways releases are tightly coupled with JAX versions. Mismatched versions can lead to compatibility and stability issues.
Fix: Always verify that your Pathways artifacts and JAX version are aligned. Check release notes or documentation for compatible JAX versions.
gotcha Calling `pathwaysutils.initialize()` disables the standard JAX compilation cache. This is intentional for Pathways workloads but might affect expectations if you rely on the JAX cache elsewhere.
Fix: Be aware that the JAX compilation cache is managed by Pathways. Ensure your Cloud Storage bucket used for Pathways has the necessary permissions (storage.buckets.get, storage.buckets.update, storage.objects.list, storage.objects.create, storage.objects.get) for its caching mechanisms.
gotcha A Pathways cluster can only maintain a session with one client at a time. Attempts by multiple clients to connect simultaneously will result in connection errors for subsequent clients.
Fix: Ensure only one client is connected to a Pathways cluster at any given time. After an unexpected disconnection, you may need to restart the Pathways cluster.
gotcha Errors after importing `pathwaysutils` might be caused by outdated Flask or Werkzeug versions. Upgrading these packages can sometimes resolve the issue, but may introduce conflicts with other dependencies.
Fix: Check for outdated Flask or Werkzeug versions. If found, consider upgrading them cautiously, being mindful of other package dependencies. You might need to manage your Python environment carefully or use a dedicated virtual environment.

Install

pip install pathwaysutils

Imports

pathwaysutils
```
import pathwaysutils
```

Quickstart

The quickstart demonstrates the essential initialization step for using pathwaysutils. It configures JAX to leverage the Pathways on Cloud infrastructure, allowing JAX applications to orchestrate workloads across distributed TPU slices. Note that Pathways on Cloud is in Preview and requires prior access.

import pathwaysutils
import jax

# Pathways on Cloud is currently in Preview and requires access.
# Ensure your environment variables are correctly configured for Pathways on Cloud.
# Example: os.environ['JAX_PLATFORMS'] = 'proxy'

# Initialize pathwaysutils to configure the JAX backend for Pathways on Cloud.
# This also registers a custom ArrayHandler for checkpointing and disables JAX's compilation cache.
pathwaysutils.initialize()

# Verify JAX devices are accessible through the Pathways backend
print(f"JAX devices available via Pathways: {jax.devices()}")

# Further JAX workload execution would follow here.

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