Cloud Deployment

Cloud Deployment#

Isaac Lab can be run in various cloud infrastructures with the use of Isaac Automator (v4).

Isaac Automator allows quick deployment of Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, and Isaac Lab Arena onto public clouds (AWS, GCP, Azure, and Alibaba Cloud are currently supported). The result is a fully configured remote desktop cloud workstation (Isaac Workstation), which can be used for development and testing of Isaac Lab within minutes and on a budget. Isaac Automator supports a variety of GPU instances and stop/start functionality to save on cloud costs, and provides tools to aid the workflow (uploading and downloading data, autorun scripts, deployment management, etc.).

System Requirements#

Isaac Automator requires having docker pre-installed on the system.

To install Docker, please follow the instructions for your operating system on the Docker website.
Follow the post-installation steps for Docker on the post-installation steps page. These steps allow you to run Docker without using sudo.

Installing Isaac Automator#

For the most up-to-date and complete installation instructions, please refer to the Isaac Automator README.

To use Isaac Automator, first clone the repo:

HTTPS

git clone https://github.com/isaac-sim/IsaacAutomator.git

SSH

git clone git@github.com:isaac-sim/IsaacAutomator.git

Building the Container#

Build the Isaac Automator container:

Linux / macOS

./build

Windows

docker build --platform linux/x86_64 -t isaac_automator .

This will build the Isaac Automator container and tag it as isaac_automator.

Deploying an Isaac Workstation#

Linux / macOS

Enter the Automator container and run the deployment command:

./run
# inside container:
./deploy-aws

Alternatively, run it in one step:

./run ./deploy-aws

Windows

docker run --platform linux/x86_64 -it --rm -v .:/app isaac_automator bash
:: inside container:
./deploy-aws

Replace deploy-aws with deploy-gcp, deploy-azure, or deploy-alicloud for other cloud providers.

Note

The --isaaclab and --isaacsim flags accept any valid Git reference to specify the version to deploy. Use --isaaclab no or --isaacsim no to skip installation of the respective component.

./deploy-aws --isaaclab v3.0.0 --isaacsim main

On the first run (or when credentials expire), you will be prompted to enter your cloud credentials. Credentials are stored in state/ and persist across container restarts. Run ./deploy-<cloud> --help to see all available options.

Key deployment options:

--instance-type – Cloud VM instance type.
--isaacsim / --isaaclab / --isaaclab-arena – Git ref for the version to install, or no to skip.
--existing – What to do if a deployment already exists: ask (default), repair, modify, replace, or run_ansible.
--from-image – Deploy from a pre-built VM image for faster provisioning (AWS only at this time).

Connecting to the Isaac Workstation#

Deployed Isaac Workstations can be accessed via:

SSH: ./ssh <deployment-name>
noVNC (browser-based): ./novnc <deployment-name>
NoMachine (remote desktop client)

Connection instructions are displayed at the end of the deployment command output and saved in state/<deployment-name>/info.txt.

Running Isaac Lab on the Cloud#

Isaac Lab is installed from source on the deployed workstation at ~/IsaacLab. To run Isaac Lab commands, open a terminal on the workstation:

~/IsaacLab/isaaclab.sh -p scripts/reinforcement_learning/rsl_rl/train.py \
  --task=Isaac-Cartpole-Direct-v0 --headless

Pausing and Resuming#

You can stop and restart instances to save on cloud costs:

# inside the Automator container:
./stop <deployment-name>
./start <deployment-name>

Use ./start <deployment-name> --quick to skip full Ansible provisioning and only run the autorun script.

Uploading and Downloading Data#

# upload local uploads/ folder to the instance
./upload <deployment-name>

# download results from the instance to local results/ folder
./download <deployment-name>

Destroying a Deployment#

To save costs, destroy deployments when no longer needed:

# inside the Automator container:
./destroy <deployment-name>