Connect GPU to Google Colab

This guide walks you through connecting a GPU rented from the Hyperbolic GPU Marketplace to Google Colab as a local runtime. It is based on Google Colab's official documentation.

Step 1: Rent and Configure the GPU Instance

Rent a GPU instance (e.g., NVIDIA H100 SXM) from Hyperbolic.

In HTTP Port Selection, expose port 8888.

Press connect and wait for the instance to start up, should take less than 1 minute. Once started, copy the ssh command.

Step 2: Connect via SSH and Install Dependencies

Once the instance is running, open a Terminal and follow the steps below:

#Connect via SSH (example command)

ssh [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])  -p 31671

#Update and install pip

sudo apt update  
sudo apt install python3-pip -y

#Install Jupyter Notebook

pip install notebook

#Add Jupyter to PATH

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Step 3: Start the Jupyter Notebook Server

jupyter notebook \
  --NotebookApp.allow_origin='https://colab.research.google.com' \
  --port=8888 \
  --NotebookApp.port_retries=0

Copy the output URL and save. This contains your Jupyter token which will be used later.

# example Jupyter token url
http\://localhost:8888/tree?token=04ebf1c8dbb123cb4d4179cd482ad26d99ed5467cbe111b7

Step 4: Establish SSH Tunnel for Port Forwarding

In a new Terminal tab, copy and paste the SSH command once again, but modify to include -L 8888:localhost:8888

# example ssh connection URL
ssh -L 8888:localhost:8888 [email protected] -p 31671

Keep both terminal sessions open.

Step 5: Connect Colab to Local Runtime

1. Open a Colab notebook.
2. Click the top-right Connect dropdown > Connect to a local runtime.
3. Paste your copied URL from earlier, and remove "tree"

Example Base URL: 
http\://localhost:8888/tree?token=04ebf1c8dbb928cb4d4179cd482ad26d99ed8094cbebbbb7  

Modify it to:
http\://localhost:8888/?token=04ebf1c8dbb928cb4d4179cd482ad26d99ed8094cbebbbb7

4. Click Connect.

Step 6: Confirmation

Check the original terminal for a Colab kernel connection message. You are now connected to your Hyperbolic GPU instance!

Happy computing!