Updates vLLM plugin to v0.16.0 and streamlines Docker support

.cd/Dockerfile.rhel.ubi.vllm

@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ ARG PYPI_INDEX_URL="https://pypi.org/simple/"
 ARG HABANA_RPM_REPO_PATH="rhel/9/${OS_VERSION}"
 # can be upstream or fork
 ARG TORCH_TYPE=upstream
-ARG VLLM_GAUDI_COMMIT=main
-ARG VLLM_PROJECT_COMMIT=
+ARG VLLM_GAUDI_COMMIT=v0.16.0
+ARG VLLM_PROJECT_COMMIT=v0.16.0
 
 # ============================================================================
 # Stage 1: gaudi-base - Base system setup with Habana drivers

.cd/Dockerfile.ubuntu.pytorch.vllm

@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ ARG TORCH_TYPE_SUFFIX
 FROM ${DOCKER_URL}/${VERSION}/${BASE_NAME}/${REPO_TYPE}/pytorch-${TORCH_TYPE_SUFFIX}installer-${PT_VERSION}:${REVISION}
 
 # Parameterize commit/branch for vllm-project & vllm-gaudi checkout
-ARG VLLM_GAUDI_COMMIT=main
+ARG VLLM_GAUDI_COMMIT=v0.16.0
 # leave empty to use last-good-commit-for-vllm-gaudi
-ARG VLLM_PROJECT_COMMIT=
+ARG VLLM_PROJECT_COMMIT=v0.16.0
 ENV OMPI_MCA_btl_vader_single_copy_mechanism=none
 
 RUN apt update && \

.cd/Dockerfile.ubuntu.pytorch.vllm.nixl.latest

@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ FROM ${DOCKER_URL}/${VERSION}/${BASE_NAME}/${REPO_TYPE}/pytorch-${TORCH_TYPE_SUF
 
 # Parameterize commit/branch for vllm-project & vllm-gaudi checkout
 # leave empty to use last-good-commit-for-vllm-gaudi
-ARG VLLM_PROJECT_COMMIT=
-ARG VLLM_GAUDI_COMMIT=main
+ARG VLLM_PROJECT_COMMIT=v0.16.0
+ARG VLLM_GAUDI_COMMIT=v0.16.0
 
 ENV OMPI_MCA_btl_vader_single_copy_mechanism=none
 

README.md

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ vLLM Hardware Plugin for Intel® Gaudi®
 
 ---
 *Latest News* 🔥
+- [2026/03] Version 0.16.0 is now available, built on [vLLM 0.16.0](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.16.0) and fully compatible with [Intel® Gaudi® v1.23.0](https://docs.habana.ai/en/v1.23.0/Release_Notes/GAUDI_Release_Notes.html).
+- [2026/02] Version 0.15.1 is now available, built on [vLLM 0.15.1](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.15.1) and fully compatible with [Intel® Gaudi® v1.23.0](https://docs.habana.ai/en/v1.23.0/Release_Notes/GAUDI_Release_Notes.html).
 - [2026/02] Version 0.14.1 is now available, built on [vLLM 0.14.1](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.14.1) and fully compatible with [Intel® Gaudi® v1.23.0](https://docs.habana.ai/en/v1.23.0/Release_Notes/GAUDI_Release_Notes.html). It introduces support for Granite 4.0h and Qwen 3 VL models.
 - [2026/01] Version 0.13.0 is now available, built on [vLLM 0.13.0](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.13.0) and fully compatible with [Intel® Gaudi® v1.23.0](https://docs.habana.ai/en/v1.23.0/Release_Notes/GAUDI_Release_Notes.html). It introduces experimental dynamic quantization for MatMul and KV‑cache operations to improve performance and also supports additional models.
 - [2025/11] The 0.11.2 release introduces the production-ready version of the vLLM Hardware Plugin for Intel® Gaudi® v1.22.2. The plugin is an alternative to the [vLLM fork](https://github.com/HabanaAI/vllm-fork), which reaches end of life with this release and will be deprecated in v1.24.0, remaining functional only for legacy use cases. We strongly encourage all fork users to begin planning their migration to the plugin. For more information about this release, see the [Release Notes](docs/release_notes.md).

docs/release_notes.md

@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@
 
 This document provides an overview of the features, changes, and fixes introduced in each release of the vLLM Hardware Plugin for Intel® Gaudi®.
 
+## 0.16.0
+
+This version is based on [vLLM 0.16.0](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.16.0) with support [Intel® Gaudi® v1.23.0](https://docs.habana.ai/en/v1.23.0/Release_Notes/GAUDI_Release_Notes.html).
+
+## 0.15.1
+
+This version is based on [vLLM 0.15.1](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.15.1) with support [Intel® Gaudi® v1.23.0](https://docs.habana.ai/en/v1.23.0/Release_Notes/GAUDI_Release_Notes.html).
+
 ## 0.14.1
 
 This version is based on [vLLM 0.14.1](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.14.1) with support [Intel® Gaudi® v1.23.0](https://docs.habana.ai/en/v1.23.0/Release_Notes/GAUDI_Release_Notes.html), and introduces support for the following models on Gaudi 3: