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Add single-process checkpoint save to avoid forked multiprocessing#3424

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sbak5 merged 2 commits intoNVIDIA:mainfrom
sbak5:sbak/seq_async_save
Feb 24, 2026
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Add single-process checkpoint save to avoid forked multiprocessing#3424
sbak5 merged 2 commits intoNVIDIA:mainfrom
sbak5:sbak/seq_async_save

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@sbak5 sbak5 commented Feb 13, 2026

  • Add --dist-ckpt-workers (default 1) to control async checkpoint parallelism. When set to 1, writes run in the main process (sequential mode) instead of forking workers, avoiding multiprocessing-related instability (e.g. CUDA context, memory pinning).
  • In FileSystemWriterAsync, add sequential mode: the last write bucket is handled inline by the main process rather than in a child process.
  • Add explicit reference cleanup (del) for async request and tensors to aid teardown with PersistentAsyncCaller.
  • Emit a validation warning when using async save with dist_ckpt_workers > 1.

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- Add --dist-ckpt-workers (default 1) to control async checkpoint parallelism.
  When set to 1, writes run in the main process (sequential mode) instead of
  forking workers, avoiding multiprocessing-related instability (e.g. CUDA
  context, memory pinning).
- In FileSystemWriterAsync, add sequential mode: the last write bucket is
  handled inline by the main process rather than in a child process.
- Add explicit reference cleanup (del) for async request and tensors to
  aid teardown with PersistentAsyncCaller.
- Emit a validation warning when using async save with dist_ckpt_workers > 1.
@sbak5 sbak5 requested review from a team as code owners February 13, 2026 21:19
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copy-pr-bot bot commented Feb 13, 2026

This pull request requires additional validation before any workflows can run on NVIDIA's runners.

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@ko3n1g ko3n1g requested a review from a team February 13, 2026 21:19
@sbak5 sbak5 requested review from dimapihtar and removed request for a team February 13, 2026 21:19
@ericharper ericharper requested a review from a team February 18, 2026 02:01
@Phlip79 Phlip79 added Expert Review [deprecated] Apply this label to indicate that your PR is ready for expert review. complexity: medium labels Feb 18, 2026
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LGTM. Thank you!

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sbak5 commented Feb 23, 2026

@NVIDIA/core-adlr @NVIDIA/core-nemo
This MR should be merged earlier than others.

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sbak5 commented Feb 24, 2026

/ok to test 4b5fe6c

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sbak5 commented Feb 24, 2026

/ok to test 20c9b26

@sbak5 sbak5 enabled auto-merge February 24, 2026 21:28
@sbak5 sbak5 added this pull request to the merge queue Feb 24, 2026
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🔄 Merge queue validation started!

You can track the progress here: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Megatron-LM/actions/runs/22372803140

Merged via the queue into NVIDIA:main with commit 2cac78b Feb 24, 2026
47 of 50 checks passed
@sbak5 sbak5 deleted the sbak/seq_async_save branch February 24, 2026 23:56
ko3n1g pushed a commit to ko3n1g/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Feb 26, 2026
ko3n1g added a commit to ko3n1g/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Feb 26, 2026
ko3n1g added a commit to ko3n1g/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Feb 26, 2026
ko3n1g added a commit to ko3n1g/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Feb 26, 2026
BoxiangW pushed a commit to BoxiangW/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Mar 4, 2026
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