Install Specific CUDA Version in Google Colab

Table of Contents

Install Specific CUDA Version in Google Colab

Following code snippets show how to install cuda-12.1 in Google Colab.

(Optional) Show the current OS version.

!cat /etc/os-release

# PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS"
# NAME="Ubuntu"
# VERSION_ID="22.04"
# VERSION="22.04.4 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
# VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
# ID=ubuntu
# ID_LIKE=debian
# HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
# SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
# BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
# PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
# UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy

(Optional) Show the installed cuda.

!nvcc --version

# nvcc: NVIDIA (R) Cuda compiler driver
# Copyright (c) 2005-2024 NVIDIA Corporation
# Built on Thu_Jun__6_02:18:23_PDT_2024
# Cuda compilation tools, release 12.5, V12.5.82
# Build cuda_12.5.r12.5/compiler.34385749_0

!ls -d /usr/local/cuda-*

# /usr/local/cuda-12  /usr/local/cuda-12.5

Install specific CUDA version according to NVIDIA official download site’s instruction.

Note: Use sudo apt-get -y install cuda-12-1 instead of sudo apt-get -y install cuda. Later one will install the latest version of CUDA.

!wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/cuda-ubuntu2204.pin
!sudo mv cuda-ubuntu2204.pin /etc/apt/preferences.d/cuda-repository-pin-600
!wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/12.1.0/local_installers/cuda-repo-ubuntu2204-12-1-local_12.1.0-530.30.02-1_amd64.deb
!sudo dpkg -i cuda-repo-ubuntu2204-12-1-local_12.1.0-530.30.02-1_amd64.deb
!sudo cp /var/cuda-repo-ubuntu2204-12-1-local/cuda-*-keyring.gpg /usr/share/keyrings/
!sudo apt-get update

# Modify
# !sudo apt-get -y install cuda
!sudo apt-get -y install cuda-12-1

(Optional) Confirm the cuda-12-1 was installed and the the current symbolic links to cuda-12-5.

!ls -dl /usr/local/cuda*

# lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root   22 Jul 10  2024 /usr/local/cuda -> /etc/alternatives/cuda
# lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root   25 Jul 10  2024 /usr/local/cuda-12 -> /etc/alternatives/cuda-12
# drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4096 Feb  5 00:39 /usr/local/cuda-12.1
# drwxr-xr-x  1 root root 4096 Jul 10  2024 /usr/local/cuda-12.5

!ls -l /etc/alternatives/cuda*

# lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Jul 10  2024 /etc/alternatives/cuda -> /usr/local/cuda-12.5
# lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Jul 10  2024 /etc/alternatives/cuda-12 -> /usr/local/cuda-12.5

Change the symbolic links of cuda from cuda-12-5 to cuda-12-1.

!unlink /etc/alternatives/cuda
!ln -s /usr/local/cuda-12.1 /etc/alternatives/cuda

!unlink /etc/alternatives/cuda-12
!ln -s /usr/local/cuda-12.1 /etc/alternatives/cuda-12

Add the environment variables.

!export PATH="/usr/local/cuda-12.1/bin:$PATH"
!export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/local/cuda-12.1/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"

Confirm the symbolic links was changed.

!ls -l /etc/alternatives/cuda*

# lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Feb  5 01:08 /etc/alternatives/cuda -> /usr/local/cuda-12.1
# lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Feb  5 01:08 /etc/alternatives/cuda-12 -> /usr/local/cuda-12.1

!nvcc --version

# nvcc: NVIDIA (R) Cuda compiler driver
# Copyright (c) 2005-2023 NVIDIA Corporation
# Built on Mon_Apr__3_17:16:06_PDT_2023
# Cuda compilation tools, release 12.1, V12.1.105
# Build cuda_12.1.r12.1/compiler.32688072_0

References