themis docs development build_acceleration

Building ThemisDB with Hardware Acceleration

Quick Start

CPU Only (Default)

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build

CUDA Acceleration (NVIDIA GPUs)

# Prerequisites: CUDA Toolkit 11.0+
cmake -S . -B build -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON
cmake --build build

Vulkan Acceleration (Cross-Platform)

# Prerequisites: Vulkan SDK
cmake -S . -B build -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_VULKAN=ON
cmake --build build

Multi-Backend

cmake -S . -B build \
  -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON \
  -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_VULKAN=ON
cmake --build build

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Prerequisites

CUDA Backend

Install CUDA Toolkit:

• Linux: https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads

  wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
  sudo dpkg -i cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install cuda-toolkit-12-3

• Windows: Download installer from NVIDIA

  https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads
  

Verify Installation:

nvcc --version
nvidia-smi

Hardware Requirements:

• NVIDIA GPU with Compute Capability 7.0+
• 8GB+ VRAM recommended
• CUDA Driver 450.80.02+

Vulkan Backend

Install Vulkan SDK:

• Linux:

  wget -qO- https://packages.lunarg.com/lunarg-signing-key-pub.asc | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/lunarg.asc
  sudo wget -qO /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lunarg-vulkan-jammy.list https://packages.lunarg.com/vulkan/lunarg-vulkan-jammy.list
  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install vulkan-sdk

• Windows: Download from LunarG

  https://vulkan.lunarg.com/sdk/home#windows
  

Verify Installation:

vulkaninfo
glslangValidator --version

Hardware Requirements:

• Vulkan 1.2+ capable GPU (NVIDIA/AMD/Intel)
• 4GB+ VRAM recommended

---

Build Options

All hardware acceleration backends are optional and disabled by default.

Available Options

# CUDA (NVIDIA GPUs)
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON

# Vulkan (Cross-platform)
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_VULKAN=ON

# DirectX 12 (Windows only)
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_DIRECTX=ON

# AMD HIP (AMD GPUs, future)
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_HIP=ON

# AMD ZLUDA (CUDA compatibility on AMD, future)
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_ZLUDA=ON

# Other backends (planned)
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_METAL=ON      # Apple Silicon
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_ONEAPI=ON     # Intel GPUs
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_OPENCL=ON     # Generic
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_OPENGL=ON     # Legacy

Advanced Options

# Specify CUDA Toolkit location
-DCUDAToolkit_ROOT=/usr/local/cuda-12.3

# Specify Vulkan SDK location
-DVULKAN_SDK=/path/to/vulkan/1.3.xxx

# Enable multiple backends
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_VULKAN=ON

---

Build Examples

Development Build (Debug + CUDA)

cmake -S . -B build \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \
  -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON \
  -DTHEMIS_BUILD_TESTS=ON

cmake --build build
./build/themis_tests

Production Build (Release + Multi-Backend)

cmake -S . -B build \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON \
  -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_VULKAN=ON \
  -DTHEMIS_STRICT_BUILD=ON

cmake --build build --config Release

Plugin-Only Build

# Build only the CUDA plugin as a separate DLL
cd plugins/cuda
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build

---

Verification

Check CUDA Backend

./build/themis_server

# Look for output:
# CUDA Backend initialized successfully:
#   Device: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
#   Compute Capability: 8.9
#   Global Memory: 24 GB
#   Multiprocessors: 128

Check Vulkan Backend

./build/themis_server

# Look for output:
# Vulkan Backend: Compute shaders available
# Vulkan Device: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
# VRAM: 24 GB

Run Tests

cd build
ctest --output-on-failure

# Or specific tests
./themis_tests --gtest_filter=AccelerationTest.*

---

Troubleshooting

CUDA Not Found

Error: CUDA toolkit not found

Solution:

# Set CUDA_ROOT
export CUDA_ROOT=/usr/local/cuda
cmake -S . -B build -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON

Vulkan Not Found

Error: Could NOT find Vulkan

Solution:

# Set VULKAN_SDK
export VULKAN_SDK=/path/to/vulkan/sdk
cmake -S . -B build -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_VULKAN=ON

GPU Not Detected at Runtime

Warning: No CUDA-capable device found

Check:

1. Driver installed? nvidia-smi
2. GPU visible? nvidia-smi -L
3. CUDA initialized? export CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0

Compilation Errors

CUDA Compute Capability Mismatch:

nvcc fatal: Unsupported gpu architecture 'compute_89'

Solution:

# In CMakeLists.txt, adjust CUDA architectures
set(CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES 75 80 86 89)  # Adjust for your GPU

Vulkan Shader Compilation Failed:

# Manually compile shaders
cd src/acceleration/vulkan/shaders
glslangValidator -V l2_distance.comp -o l2_distance.spv
glslangValidator -V cosine_distance.comp -o cosine_distance.spv

---

Performance Tuning

CUDA

# Release build with CUDA optimizations
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
-DTHEMIS_ENABLE_AVX2=ON  # CPU fallback optimization

Runtime:

# Use specific GPU
export CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0

# Limit VRAM usage
# (via config/acceleration.yaml)
cuda:
  memory_limit_gb: 16

Vulkan

# Optimize shaders
spirv-opt l2_distance.spv -O -o l2_distance_opt.spv

---

Docker Build

CUDA Container

FROM nvidia/cuda:12.3.0-devel-ubuntu22.04

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    cmake build-essential git

COPY . /themis
WORKDIR /themis

RUN cmake -S . -B build -DTHEMIS_ENABLE_CUDA=ON && \
    cmake --build build

CMD ["./build/themis_server"]

Run:

docker build -t themis-cuda .
docker run --gpus all themis-cuda

Vulkan Container

FROM ubuntu:22.04

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    cmake build-essential git \
    vulkan-sdk

# ... rest similar to CUDA

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Cross-Platform Notes

Windows

• Use Visual Studio 2019+ with CUDA support
• Vulkan SDK installer handles environment variables
• DirectX 12 is native (no extra setup)

Linux

• CUDA: Requires proprietary NVIDIA drivers
• Vulkan: Works with Mesa drivers (AMD/Intel) or proprietary (NVIDIA)
• Best for multi-backend builds

macOS

• CUDA: Not supported (Apple deprecated CUDA)
• Vulkan: Via MoltenVK (Vulkan → Metal translation)
• Metal: Native, best performance on Apple Silicon

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See Also:

• CUDA Backend Documentation
• Vulkan Backend Documentation
• Hardware Acceleration Guide

Last Updated: 20. November 2025
Version: 1.0