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Nsight Streamer for Nsight Systems

Nsight Streamer for Nsight Systems

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Logo for Nsight Streamer for Nsight Systems
Description
A self-hosted NVIDIA Nsight Tools GUI (for Nsight Systems) running in a Docker container allows for remote access via a web browser.
Publisher
NVIDIA
Latest Tag
2025.2.1
Modified
May 3, 2025
Compressed Size
2.09 GB
Multinode Support
No
Multi-Arch Support
Yes
2025.2.1 (Latest) Security Scan Results

Linux / amd64

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Linux / arm64

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Nsight Streamer for Nsight Systems

A self-hosted NVIDIA Nsight Tools GUI, running within a Docker container, enables remote access through a web browser. This configuration is highly beneficial for analyzing data on remote servers or clusters.

Currently, NVIDIA Nsight Systems, NVIDIA Nsight Compute, NVIDIA Nsight Graphics, and NVIDIA Nsight Deep Learning Designer are supported for running inside a container.

Benefits

  • Handling Large Data: The reports generated by NVIDIA Nsight Systems on servers/clusters can be extremely large, making it impractical to transfer them to a local machine. By hosting the GUI on the remote server, you can analyze the data in place without the need for excessive data transfers.

  • Enhanced Performance: Remote servers or clusters often have significantly more computational power and memory compared to local machines. Analyzing the reports directly on the remote server leverages these resources, ensuring faster and more efficient data processing and analysis.

  • Security Compliance: Many organizations have strict security protocols that prevent copying sensitive data from servers or clusters to local environments. This self-hosted solution ensures that the data remains within the secure confines of the server while still providing the necessary tools for thorough analysis.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Docker

  • Docker installed on the host machine.

Kubernetes

  • A Kubernetes cluster.
  • Helm installed on the administator machine.

Run the container using a Python script

The Nsight Streamer can be started using the run_nsight_streamer.py script provided by Nsight Streamer Resources.

Linux/Mac

python3 run_nsight_streamer.py -v /home/user/reports nsys

Windows

python run_nsight_streamer.py -v d:\reports nsys

Benefits

  • Fetching the Latest Image: The script fetches the latest image of the specified Docker container from the NGC repository. This ensures you are always running the most up-to-date version of the container.
  • Port Availability: The script checks if HTTP and TURN ports (8080 and 3478 by default) are available on the host machine. If they are not available, it finds an available port and uses that for the container.
  • Stopping Existing Containers: Before starting a new container, the script can stop existing Nsight Streamer containers which are using the specified HTTP and TURN ports.
  • Running the Container: The script constructs and runs the Docker command with the specified parameters, including volumes and additional Docker arguments.
  • Configuration Preserve: The script automatically preserves Nsight Tool configuration across multiple container launches on one machine.

Script arguments

None of the arguments are required, but it is highly recommended to include at least one -v/--volume argument to mount a volume with profiling reports inside the container.

Parameter Description Default Value
tool The Nsight Tool tool to run inside the container.
--http-port Set the HTTP port. Set to 'dynamic' to find the first available port. 8080
--turn-port Set the TURN port. Set to 'dynamic' to find the first available port. 3478
--host-ip The host IP address to bind the server to. 0.0.0.0
--enable-resize Should resizing be enabled to fit the remote resolution to the client window? true
--max-resolution Maximum resolution of the remote screen used for streaming Nsight Tool. 1920x1080
-v, --volume Mount a volume from the host to the container. This option can be repeated multiple times. The volume will be mount to /mnt/host/volumes/[volume] inside the container
--no-preserve-config Do not preserve a Nsight Tool configuration file in the container between runs.
-y, --yes Automatically answer 'yes' to prompts. Use with caution.
--web-username The username for accessing the NVIDIA Nsight Streamer from a browser. If set to an empty string, no authentication is required.
--web-password The password for accessing the NVIDIA Nsight Streamer from a browser.
-- Additional docker run arguments that will be passed directly to the docker run command.
-h, --help Display this help and exit.

Run the container using docker run

  1. From the top-right corner of this page, select the pull-down Get Container and copy the URL to the default container. Alternatively, click on View all tags to select a different container.
  2. Open a command prompt on your Linux compatible system and run the following command. Ensure the pull completes successfully before proceeding to the next step.
  3. Run the docker container (use the desired container tag in the command line below):
docker run -it --rm -p 8080:8080 -p 3478:3478  -v /host_path/reports:/container_path/reports nvcr.io/nvidia/devtools/nsight-streamer-nsys:2025.2.1

This example sets the HTTP port for publishing on the host to 8080, the TURN port for publishing on the host to 3478, and mounts /host_path/reports to /container_path/reports inside the container.

Runtime environment variables

Can be used to configure runtime parameters.

Variable Description Default value
TURN_PORT TCP port that will be used for WebRTC data transmission. The port should match the port published from the container on the host. 3478
ENABLE_RESIZE Should resizing be enabled to fit the remote resolution to the client window? true
MAX_RESOLUTION Maximum resolution of the remote screen used for streaming the Nsight Tool. 1920x1080
WEB_USERNAME The username for accessing the NVIDIA Nsight Streamer from a browser. If set to an empty string, no authentication is required. nvidia
WEB_PASSWORD The password for accessing the NVIDIA Nsight Streamer from a browser. nvidia

Run in a Kubernetes cluster using a Helm Chart

  • Install the Nsight Streamer with the default configuration:

    helm install --wait --set tool=nsys nsight-streamer \
        https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/devtools/charts/nsight-streamer-1.1.1.tgz
    
  • Install the Nsight Streamer and specify configuration options (in this example configuration options were saved in custom_values.yaml)::

    helm install --wait -f custom_values.yaml nsight-streamer \
        https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/devtools/charts/nsight-streamer-1.1.1.tgz
    
  • Install the Nsight Streamer in a non-default namespace:

    helm install --wait --set tool=nsys nsight-streamer \
        https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/devtools/charts/nsight-streamer-1.1.1.tgz --namespace example-ns
    
  • Install multiple copies of the Nsight Streamer:

    helm install --wait --generate-name --set tool=nsys \
        https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/devtools/charts/nsight-streamer-1.1.1.tgz
    

Helm installation configuration values

The Nsight Streamer can be customized to suit particular needs. A values file or the --set argument can be used for setting these values.

Parameter Description Default Value
service.type The type of Kubernetes service to create (ClusterIP, NodePort). NodePort
service.httpPort The port on which the HTTP service will be exposed within the cluster. 30080
service.turnPort The port on which the TURN service will be exposed within the cluster. 30478
service.nodeHttpPort The NodePort value for exposing HTTP traffic outside the cluster. Applicable when service.type is NodePort. 30080
service.nodeTurnPort The NodePort value for exposing TURN traffic outside the cluster. Applicable when service.type is NodePort. Should be equal to service.turnPort. 30478
nodeSelector Node selector for Nsight Streamer pod scheduling. {}
tolerations Tolerations for Nsight Streamer pod scheduling. []
affinity Affinity rules for Nsight Streamer pod scheduling. {}
volumeMounts List of volumes to mount into the container. []
volumes List of volumes to be used by the container. []
env List of environment variables to be injected into the Docker container. []
enableResize Should resizing be enabled to fit the remote resolution to the client window? true
maxResolution Maximum resolution of the remote screen used for streaming the Nsight Tool. 1920x1080
preserveConfig Preserve the Nsight Tool configuration file in the container between runs. true
webUsername The username for accessing the NVIDIA Nsight Streamer from a browser. Can be provided as a direct string value or as a secret reference. If using a secret, set webUsername as a map with secretName and secretKey. If set to an empty string, no authentication is required. nvidia
webPassword The password for accessing the NVIDIA Nsight Streamer from a browser. Can be provided as a direct string value or as a secret reference. If using a secret, set webPassword as a map with secretName and secretKey. nvidia

Accessing the Service After Installation

After installing the Nsight Streamer using Helm, you can access it in different ways depending on the service type configuration:

ClusterIP Service Type

When using ClusterIP (set via service.type=ClusterIP), the service is only accessible from within the cluster. You can access it using port forwarding to your local machine:

kubectl port-forward service/nsight-streamer-service 8080:30080

Then access the service at http://localhost:8080

NodePort Service Type

When using NodePort (default, or set via service.type=NodePort), the service is exposed on each node's IP at a static port. The default port is 30080, but this can be configured during installation using the service.nodeHttpPort parameter.

After installation, the connection information will be automatically displayed by the print-connection-info job. You can retrieve this information by checking the job logs:

kubectl logs job/nsight-streamer-print-connection-info

Access the service by opening your web browser and navigating to:

http://<node-ip>:<node-port>

Note: Ensure your network security settings allow access to the configured NodePort.

Automatic Report File Detection

The Nsight Streamer scans all mounted volumes at startup and selects the first one containing supported report files (nsys-rep). The "Open..." dialog will be opened with the detected directory.

Troubleshooting

Clipboard is not working in Chrome

Enable chrome://flags/#unsafely-treat-insecure-origin-as-secure and add the Nsight Streamer URL to the list.

Connection failed on Firefox

If you encounter a "Connection failed." error on Firefox, you can resolve it by changing a configuration setting:

  • Open Firefox and navigate to about:config.
  • Search for media.peerconnection.ice.loopback.
  • Set the value to true.

The GUI is too small on an HDPI screen

Restart the remote Nsight Tool:

  • Go to File in the menu bar of Nsight Tool.
  • Select Exit.
  • Nsight Tool will be opened with the scaled GUI.

License Agreements

By pulling and using the container, you accept the terms and conditions of this End User License Agreement.

Suggested Reading

Getting Started with NVIDIA Nsight Systems