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Add single-process checkpoint save to avoid forked multiprocessing#3633

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sbak5 merged 3 commits intoNVIDIA:mainfrom
sbak5:sbak/seq_async_save
Feb 27, 2026
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Add single-process checkpoint save to avoid forked multiprocessing#3633
sbak5 merged 3 commits intoNVIDIA:mainfrom
sbak5:sbak/seq_async_save

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@sbak5 sbak5 commented Feb 26, 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, handle the last write bucket inline in the main process rather than in a child worker.
  • Create async checkpoint workers in threads instead of forked processes.
  • Add explicit reference cleanup (del) for async requests and tensors to aid teardown of PersistentAsyncCaller.

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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, handle the last write bucket inline in the main
  process rather than in a child worker.
- Create async checkpoint workers in threads instead of forked processes.
- Add explicit reference cleanup (del) for async requests and tensors to
  aid teardown of PersistentAsyncCaller.
@sbak5 sbak5 requested review from a team as code owners February 26, 2026 23:40
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copy-pr-bot bot commented Feb 26, 2026

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

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@svcnvidia-nemo-ci svcnvidia-nemo-ci requested a review from a team February 26, 2026 23:40
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sbak5 commented Feb 26, 2026

Opened again to fix issues with #3424

@sbak5 sbak5 added the Expert Review [deprecated] Apply this label to indicate that your PR is ready for expert review. label Feb 26, 2026
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LGTM. Thank you!

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/ok to test a654ba4

@svcnvidia-nemo-ci svcnvidia-nemo-ci added this to the Core 0.16 milestone Feb 27, 2026
@dimapihtar dimapihtar added the Final Review PR is in the "final review" stage label Feb 27, 2026
@sbak5 sbak5 enabled auto-merge February 27, 2026 18:43
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sbak5 commented Feb 27, 2026

/ok to test 7b22753

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sbak5 commented Feb 27, 2026

/ok to test 70e73f5

@sbak5 sbak5 added this pull request to the merge queue Feb 27, 2026
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🔄 Merge queue validation started!

You can track the progress here: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Megatron-LM/actions/runs/22502127635

Merged via the queue into NVIDIA:main with commit 61a293d Feb 27, 2026
52 of 53 checks passed
@sbak5 sbak5 deleted the sbak/seq_async_save branch February 27, 2026 20:56
ananthsub pushed a commit to ananthsub/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Mar 3, 2026
BoxiangW pushed a commit to BoxiangW/Megatron-LM that referenced this pull request Mar 4, 2026
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