Hello All, Does anyone know when AMD will be supporting ESXi 6.7 for their S1750 Cards? I'm in the planning phase to upgrade my VDI from 6.0.0 to 6.7 and this is the only thing I see that might hold me back.
In this article, we will examine how to setup Windows 10 on the virtual machine in the VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi.
How to Install Windows 10 on vSphere ESXi 6.7 (6.7U2)
If you want to run Windows 10 with ESXi installed on a physical server, you will first need to create a new virtual machine.
After creating a new virtual machine with VMware ESXi, you need to add the ISO file to the VM and start the installation. You can add ISO files to your server by clicking Datastore / Datastore Browser.
In our previous article, we reviewed the steps to add an ISO file to VMware ESXi. You can find this article on the link below.
If you do not have the ISO file, you can browse How to Download Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft. With Media Creation Tool you can download the original Windows ISO files via Microsoft to your computer.
ESXi is actually building on a physical server. However, if you have budget issues, you can test VMware ESXi 6.7U2 by installing it on a virtualization program. We installed VMware ESXi on VMware Workstation 14 Pro virtualization before and it worked very well. But we recommend that you purchase a second-hand server and install ESXi on it.
After you install VMware ESXi, you can follow our free VMware ESXi training articles by visiting our site.
In the previous article, we installed Windows 7 OS with VMware ESXi. In this article, we will setup Windows 10 Enterprise N 1709 in the same manner.
How to Use Windows 10 on vSphere 6.7
Follow the steps below for installing Windows 10 using vSphere.
Step 1
To connect to your server, open Internet Explorer or Operaweb browser and enter the IP address in the address line and press Enter.
Step 2
After you open the web interface of the server, enter your username and password and click on the Log in button.
Step 3
From the options on the left pane, click Virtual Machines and then click Create / Register VM.
Step 4
In the New VM window, select Create a new VM and click on the Next button.
Step 5
After you type the name of the Win10 VM and specify the operating system family and version, click Next.
Step 6
In the Select Storage window, Datastore1 is selected by default because there is only 1 disk on ESXi 6.7U2. Select Datastore1 and click Next.
Step 7
To add the ISO file to the machine, click on CD / DVD Drive 1 and select Datastore ISO File. Once the Datastore Browser is open, select the Windows 10 64 Bit 1709 ENG.iso file and click the Select button.
Step 8
In addition, enable the Hardware Virtualization and Performance Counters options in the CPU hardware settings of the Win10 machine, and then click the Next button.
Step 9
After completing the steps to create a machine for operating system installation on ESXi 6.7U2, click Finish to continue.
Step 10
Click the Power on button to run the Microsoft Win 10 machine.
Step 11
The installation of Win10 on VM ESXi 6.7U2 will start as follows. Install the operating system and finally go to the next step to install VM Tools.
How to Install VMware Tools
After you setup Windows 10, you need to install the VM Tools required for the virtual machine. To install VM Tools for a Win10 virtual machine, follow the steps below.
Step 1
While your system is running, click Actions and in the list, click on Guest OS / Install VMware Tools.
Step 2
After the VM Tools image file is added to the virtual machine, click Run setup64.exe in the notification window below.
Step 3
In the VM Tools Setup window, click Next to continue.
Step 4
Select Complete as the type of setup and click Next.
Step 5
Click the Install button to start the VMware Tools setup for the virtual machine.
Step 6
After VMware Tools setup is complete, restart the virtual machine for the changes to take effect.
Step 7
If the virtual machine is not running in full-screen mode, check your resolution settings.
Step 8
After changing the resolution, the virtual machine will run in full-screen mode!
How to Setup Windows 10 in vSphere ⇒ Video
To install Windows 10 / VMware Tools using VSphere, you can watch the video below and also subscribe to our YouTubechannel to support us.
Final Word
In this article, we have discussed how to setup Windows 10 in vSphere 6.7 running on the VMware Workstation 14 Pro virtualization program on the Microsoft Win10 operating system. Thanks for following us!
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In a bare-metal deployment, you can use NVIDIA vGPU softwaregraphics drivers with Quadro vDWS and GRID VirtualApplications licenses to deliver remote virtual desktops and applications. The high-level architecture of NVIDIA vGPU is illustrated in.
Under the controlof the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager running under the hypervisor, NVIDIA physical GPUs are capableof supporting multiple virtual GPU devices (vGPUs) that can be assigned directly to guestVMs.Guest VMs use NVIDIA vGPUs in the same manner as a physical GPU that has been passedthrough by the hypervisor: an NVIDIA driver loaded in the guest VM provides direct access tothe GPU for performance-critical fast paths, and a paravirtualized interface to the NVIDIAVirtual GPU Manager is used for non-performant management operations. NVIDIA vGPU System ArchitectureEach NVIDIA vGPU is analogous to a conventional GPU, having a fixed amount of GPU framebuffer, andone or more virtual display outputs or “heads”. The vGPU’s framebuffer is allocated out of thephysical GPU’s framebuffer at the time the vGPU is created, and the vGPU retains exclusive useof that framebuffer until it is destroyed.All vGPUs resident on a physical GPU share access to the GPU’s engines including the graphics(3D), video decode, and video encode engines. SeriesOptimal WorkloadQ-seriesVirtual workstations for creative and technical professionals who require theperformance and features of Quadro technologyC-seriesCompute-intensive server workloads, such as artificial intelligence (AI), deeplearning, or high-performance computing (HPC),B-seriesVirtual desktops for business professionals and knowledge workersA-seriesApp streaming or session-based solutions for virtual applications usersThe number after the board type in the vGPU type name denotes the amount of framebuffer that is allocated to a vGPU of that type. For example, a vGPU of type M60-2Q isallocated 2048 Mbytes of frame buffer on a Tesla M60 board.Due to their differing resource requirements, the maximum number of vGPUs that can be createdsimultaneously on a physical GPU varies according to the vGPU type.
For example, a Tesla M60board can support up to 4 M60-2Q vGPUs on each of its two physical GPUs, for a total of 8vGPUs, but only 2 M60-4Q vGPUs, for a total of 4 vGPUs.When enabled, the frame-rate limiter (FRL) limits the maximum frame rate in framesper second (FPS) for a vGPU as follows:. For B-series vGPUs, the maximum frame rate is 45 FPS. For Q-series, C-series, and A-series vGPUs, the maximum frame rate is 60 FPS.By default, the FRL is enabled for all GPUs. The FRL is disabled when the vGPUscheduling behavior is changed from the default best-effort scheduler on GPUs that supportalternative vGPU schedulers. For details, see. On vGPUs that use the best-effort scheduler, the FRL can be disabled asexplained in the release notes for your chosen hypervisor at.
Note:NVIDIA vGPU is a licensed product on all supported GPU boards. Asoftware license is required to enable all vGPU features within the guest VM. The type oflicense required depends on the vGPU type. Q-series vGPU types require a Quadro vDWS license.
C-series vGPU types require a vComputeServer license but can also be used with a Quadro vDWS license. B-series vGPU types require a GRID Virtual PC license but can also beused with a Quadro vDWS license. A-series vGPU types require a GRID Virtual Applications license.
Q-series and B-series vGPUs support a maximum combined resolution based on their frame buffer size instead of a fixed maximumresolution per display. You can choose between using a small number of high resolution displays or a larger number of lowerresolution displays with these vGPUs.The number of virtual displays that you can use depends on a combination of the following factors:. Virtual GPU series. GPU architecture. vGPU frame buffer size. Display resolutionFor details, see the subsections that follow.High resolution displays consume more GPU frame buffer than low resolution displays. Theability of a vGPU to drive a certain combination of high resolution displays does notguarantee that enough frame buffer remains free for all applications to run.
If applicationsrun out of frame buffer, consider changing your setup in one of the following ways:. Switching to a vGPU type with more frame buffer.
Using fewer displays. Using lower resolution displays. This release of NVIDIA vGPU supports only homogeneous virtual GPUs.
At any given time, thevirtual GPUs resident on a single physical GPU must be all of the same type. However, thisrestriction doesn’t extend across physical GPUs on the same card. Different physical GPUs onthe same card may host different types of virtual GPU at the same time, provided that the vGPUtypes on any one physical GPU are the same.For example, a Tesla M60 card has two physical GPUs, and can support several types of virtualGPU.shows the following examples of valid and invalid virtual GPU configurations on Tesla M60:. A valid configuration with M60-2Q vGPUs on GPU 0 and M60-4Q vGPUs on GPU 1. A valid configuration with M60-1B vGPUs on GPU 0 and M60-2Q vGPUs on GPU 1. An invalid configuration with mixed vGPU types on GPU 0.
In addition to the features of GRID Virtual PC and GRID Virtual Applications,Quadro vDWS provides the following features:. Workstation-specific graphics features and accelerations. Certified drivers for professional applications. GPU pass through for workstation or professional 3D graphicsIn pass-through mode, Quadro vDWS supports up to four virtual display headsat 4K resolution. 10-bit color for Windows users.
(HDR/10-bit color is not currently supportedon Linux, NvFBC capture is supported but deprecated.). Note:Only Tesla M60 and M6 GPUs require and support mode switching. Other GPUs that support NVIDIA vGPU do not require or support mode switching.Even in compute mode, Tesla M60 and M6 GPUs donot support NVIDIA vComputeServer vGPUtypes.Recent Tesla M60 GPUs and M6 GPUs are supplied in graphics mode. However, your GPU might bein compute mode if it is an older Tesla M60 GPU or M6 GPU, or if its mode has previously beenchanged.If your GPU supports both modes but is in compute mode, you must use thegpumodeswitch tool to change the mode of the GPU to graphics mode.
If youare unsure which mode your GPU is in, use the gpumodeswitch tool to findout the mode.For more information, see. The RPM file must be copied to the Citrix Hypervisor dom0 domain prior to installation (see ). Use the rpm command to install the package: root@xenserver # rpm -iv NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-7.0-440.53.x8664.rpmPreparing packages for installation.NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-7.0-440.53root@xenserver #. Reboot the Citrix Hypervisor platform: root@xenserver # shutdown –r nowBroadcast message from root (pts/1) ( Fri Feb 14 14:):The system is going down for reboot NOW!root@xenserver #. NVIDIA vGPU Manager supplemental pack selected in XenCenter. Click Next on the Select Update section. In the Select Servers section select all the Citrix Hypervisor hosts on whichthe Supplemental Pack should be installed on and click Next.
Click Next on the Upload section once theSupplemental Pack has been uploaded to all the Citrix Hypervisor hosts. Click Next on the Prechecks section. Click Install Update on the Update Modesection.
Click Finish on the Install Update section. After the Citrix Hypervisor platform has rebooted, verify the installation of the NVIDIA vGPU software packagefor Citrix Hypervisor. Verify that the NVIDIA vGPU software package is installed and loaded correctly by checking for theNVIDIA kernel driver in the list of kernel loaded modules. root@xenserver # lsmod grep nvidianvidia 9522927 0i2ccore 20294 2 nvidia,i2ci801root@xenserver #. Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the NVIDIAphysical GPUs in your system by running the nvidia-smi command.The nvidia-smi command is described in more detail in. Running the nvidia-smi command should produce a listing of the GPUsin yourplatform. root@xenserver # nvidia-smi Fri Feb 14 18:+-+ NVIDIA-SMI 440.53 Driver Version: 440.56 -+-+-+ GPU Name Persistence-M Bus-Id Disp.A Volatile Uncorr.
To support applications and workloads that are compute or graphics intensive, you can add multiple vGPUs to a single VM.For details about which Citrix Hypervisor versions andNVIDIA vGPUs support the assignment of multiple vGPUs to a VM, see.Citrix Hypervisor supports configuration and management ofvirtual GPUs using XenCenter, or the xe command line tool that is run in aCitrix Hypervisor dom0 shell. Basic configuration using XenCenter is described in the followingsections. Command line management using xe is described in. The following topics step you through the process of setting up a single Red Hat Enterprise Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) or RedHat Virtualization (RHV) VM to use NVIDIA vGPU.Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM and RHV use thesame Virtual GPU Manager package, but are configured with NVIDIA vGPU indifferent ways.For RHV, follow this sequence of instructions:.For Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM, follow this sequence ofinstructions:.After the process is complete, you can install the graphicsdriver for your guest OS and license any NVIDIA vGPU software licensed productsthat you are using. Some versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM have z-stream updatesthat break Kernel Application Binary Interface (kABI) compatibility with the previous kernelor the GA kernel. After the Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM or RHV server has rebooted, verify the installation ofthe NVIDIA vGPU software package for Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM or RHV.
Verify that the NVIDIA vGPU software package is installed and loaded correctly by checking for theVFIO drivers in the list of kernel loaded modules. # lsmod grep vfionvidiavgpuvfio 27099 0nvidia 12316924 1 nvidiavgpuvfiovfiomdev 12841 0mdev 20414 2 vfiomdev,nvidiavgpuvfiovfioiommutype1 22342 0vfio 32331 3 vfiomdev,nvidiavgpuvfio,vfioiommutype1#. Verify that the libvirtd service is active and running. # service libvirtd status.
Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the NVIDIAphysical GPUs in your system by running the nvidia-smi command.The nvidia-smi command is described in more detail in. Running the nvidia-smi command should produce a listing of the GPUsin yourplatform. # nvidia-smi Fri Feb 14 18:+-+ NVIDIA-SMI 440.53 Driver Version: 440.56 -+-+-+ GPU Name Persistence-M Bus-Id Disp.A Volatile Uncorr.
Sometimes when configuring a physical GPU for use with NVIDIA vGPU software,you must find out which directory in the sysfs file systemrepresents the GPU. This directory is identified by the domain, bus, slot, andfunction of the GPU.For more information about the directory in the sysfs filesystem represents a physical GPU, see. Obtain the PCI device bus/device/function (BDF) of the physical GPU. # lspci grep NVIDIAThe NVIDIA GPUs listed in this example have the PCI device BDFs06:00.0 and 07:00.0.# lspci grep NVIDIA06:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL Tesla M10 (rev a1)07:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL Tesla M10 (rev a1). Obtain the full identifier of the GPU from its PCI device BDF. # virsh nodedev-list -cap pci grep transformed-bdf transformed-bdf The PCI device BDF of the GPU with the colon and the period replacedwith underscores, for example, 06000.This example obtains the full identifier of the GPU with the PCI device BDF06:00.0.# virsh nodedev-list -cap pci grep 06000pci000006000. Obtain the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU from the full identifierof the GPU.
Virsh nodedev-dumpxml full-identifier egrep 'domain bus slot function' full-identifier The full identifier of the GPU that you obtained in the previousstep, for example, pci000006000.This example obtains the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU with thePCI device BDF 06:00.0.# virsh nodedev-dumpxml pci000006000 egrep 'domain bus slot function'0x00000x060x000x0. Before you begin, ensure that you have the domain, bus, slot, and function of theGPU on which you are creating the vGPU. For instructions, see. Change to the mdevsupportedtypes directory for thephysical GPU. # cd /sys/class/mdevbus/ domain: bus: slot. Function/mdevsupportedtypes/ domain bus slot function The domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU, without the0x prefix.This example changes to the mdevsupportedtypesdirectory for the GPU with the domain 0000 and PCI deviceBDF 06:00.0.# cd /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:06:00.0/mdevsupportedtypes/.
Find out which subdirectory of mdevsupportedtypescontains registration information for the vGPU type that you want tocreate. # grep -l ' vgpu-type' nvidia-./name vgpu-type The vGPU type, for example, M10-2Q.This example shows that the registration information for the M10-2Q vGPU typeis contained in the nvidia-41 subdirectory ofmdevsupportedtypes.# grep -l 'M10-2Q' nvidia-./namenvidia-41/name. Confirm that you can create an instance of the vGPU type on the physicalGPU.
# cat subdirectory/availableinstances subdirectory The subdirectory that you found in the previous step, for example,nvidia-41.The number of available instances must be at least 1. If the number is 0,either an instance of another vGPU type already exists on the physical GPU,or the maximum number of allowed instances has already been created.This example shows that four more instances of the M10-2Q vGPU type can becreated on the physical GPU.# cat nvidia-41/availableinstances4. Generate a correctly formatted universally unique identifier (UUID) for thevGPU. # uuidgenaa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123. Write the UUID that you obtained in the previous step to thecreate file in the registration information directoryfor the vGPU type that you want to create. # echo ' uuid' subdirectory/create uuid The UUID that you generated in the previous step, which will becomethe UUID of the vGPU that you want to create.subdirectory The registration information directory for the vGPU type that youwant to create, for example, nvidia-41.This example creates an instance of the M10-2Q vGPU type with the UUIDaa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123.# echo 'aa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123' nvidia-41/createAn mdev device file for the vGPU is added is added to theparent physical device directory of the vGPU. The vGPU is identified by itsUUID.The /sys/bus/mdev/devices/ directory contains a symboliclink to the mdev device file.
Confirm that the vGPU was created. # ls -l /sys/bus/mdev/devices/total 0lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 Nov 24 13:33 aa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123 -./././devices/pci00:00:03.0/0000:03:00.0/0000:04:09.0/0000:06:00.0/aa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123. In virsh, open for editing the XML file of the VM that youwant to add the vGPU to. # virsh edit vm-name vm-name The name of the VM to that you want to add the vGPUs to. For each vGPU that you want to add to the VM, add a deviceentry in the form of an address element inside thesource element to add the vGPU to the guest VM. Uuid The UUID that was assigned to the vGPU when the vGPU wascreated.This example adds a device entry for the vGPU with the UUIDa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123.This example adds device entries for two vGPUs with the following UUIDs:.
c73f1fa6-489e-4834-9476-d70dabd98c40. 3b356d38-854e-48be-b376-00c72c7d119c. Plugin parameters for a vGPU control the behavior of the vGPU, such as the frame ratelimiter (FRL) configuration in frames per second or whether console virtual networkcomputing (VNC) for the vGPU is enabled.
The VM to which the vGPU is assigned isstarted with these parameters. If parameters are set for multiplevGPUs assigned to the same VM, the VM is started with the parameters assigned toeach vGPU.For each vGPU for which you want to set plugin parameters, perform this task in aLinux command shell on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM host. Change to the nvidia subdirectory of themdev device directory that represents the vGPU. # cd /sys/bus/mdev/devices/ uuid/nvidia uuid The UUID of the vGPU, for example,aa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123. Write the plugin parameters that you want to set to thevgpuparams file in the directory that you changed toin the previous step. # echo ' plugin-config-params' vgpuparams plugin-config-params A comma-separated list of parameter-value pairs, where each pair isof the formparameter-name= value.This example disables frame rate limiting and console VNC for a vGPU. # echo 'frameratelimiter=0, disablevnc=1' vgpuparams.
Before you begin, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:. You have the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU where the vGPU that youwant to delete resides. For instructions, see. The VM to which the vGPU is assigned is shut down. Change to the mdevsupportedtypes directory for thephysical GPU. # cd /sys/class/mdevbus/ domain: bus: slot.
Function/mdevsupportedtypes/ domain bus slot function The domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU, without the0x prefix.This example changes to the mdevsupportedtypesdirectory for the GPU with the PCI device BDF 06:00.0.# cd /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:06:00.0/mdevsupportedtypes/. Change to the subdirectory of mdevsupportedtypes thatcontains registration information for the vGPU.type d -name uuid` uuid The UUID of the vGPU, for example,aa618089-8b16-4d01-a136-25a0f3c73123. Write the value 1 to the remove file inthe registration information directory for the vGPU that you want todelete. # echo '1' remove. The mode in which a physical GPU is being used determines the Linux kernel module towhich the GPU is bound.
If you want to switch the mode in which a GPU is being used,you must unbind the GPU from its current kernel module and bind it to the kernelmodule for the new mode. After binding the GPU to the correct kernel module, you canthen configure it for vGPU.A physical GPU that is passed through to a VM is bound to thevfio-pci kernel module.
A physical GPU that is bound to thevfio-pci kernel module can be used only for pass-through. Toenable the GPU to be used for vGPU, the GPU must be unbound fromvfio-pci kernel module and bound to the nvidiakernel module. Before you begin, ensure that you have the domain, bus, slot, and function of theGPU that you are preparing for use with vGPU. For instructions, see. Determine the kernel module to which the GPU is bound by running thelspci command with the -k option on theNVIDIA GPUs on your host.
# lspci -d 10de: -kThe Kernel driver in use: field indicates the kernel moduleto which the GPU is bound.The following example shows that the NVIDIA Tesla M60 GPU with BDF06:00.0 is bound to the vfio-pci kernel moduleand is being used for GPU pass through.06:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL Tesla M60 (rev a1)Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation Device 115eKernel driver in use: vfio-pci. Unbind the GPU from vfio-pci kernel module. Change to the sysfs directory that represents thevfio-pci kernel module. # cd /sys/bus/pci/drivers/vfio-pci. Write the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU to theunbind file in this directory. # echo domain: bus: slot.
Function unbind domain bus slot function The domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU, without a0x prefix.This example writes the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPUwith the domain 0000 and PCI device BDF06:00.0.# echo 0000:06:00.0 unbind. Bind the GPU to the nvidia kernel module. Change to the sysfs directory that contains thePCI device information for the physical GPU. # cd /sys/bus/pci/devices/ domain: bus: slot. Function domain bus slot function The domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU, without a0x prefix.This example changes to the sysfs directory thatcontains the PCI device information for the GPU with the domain0000 and PCI device BDF06:00.0.# cd /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:06:00.0.
Write the kernel module name nvidia to thedriveroverride file in this directory. # echo nvidia driveroverride. Change to the sysfs directory that represents thenvidia kernel module. # cd /sys/bus/pci/drivers/nvidia. Write the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU to thebind file in this directory.
# echo domain: bus: slot. Function bind domain bus slot function The domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU, without a0x prefix.This example writes the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPUwith the domain 0000 and PCI device BDF06:00.0.# echo 0000:06:00.0 bind. /sys/class/mdevbus/ - parent-physical-device -mdevsupportedtypes -nvidia- vgputype-id -availableinstances -create -description -deviceapi -devices -name parent-physical-deviceEach physical GPU on the host is represented by a subdirectory of the/sys/class/mdevbus/ directory.The name of eachsubdirectory is asfollows:domain: bus: slot. Functiondomain,bus, slot, function are thedomain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU, for example,0000:06:00.0.Each directory is a symbolic link to the realdirectory for PCI devices in the sysfs file system.
Forexample:# ll /sys/class/mdevbus/total 0lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 Dec 12:05:00.0 -././devices/pci00:00:03.0/0000:03:00.0/0000:04:08.0/0000:05:00.0lrwxrwxrwx.
1 root root 0 Dec 12:06:00.0 -././devices/pci00:00:03.0/0000:03:00.0/0000:04:09.0/0000:06:00.0lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 Dec 12:07:00.0 -././devices/pci00:00:03.0/0000:03:00.0/0000:04:10.0/0000:07:00.0lrwxrwxrwx.
1 root root 0 Dec 12:08:00.0 -././devices/pci00:00:03.0/0000:03:00.0/0000:04:11.0/0000:08:00.0 mdevsupportedtypes After the Virtual GPU Manager is installed on the host and the host has been rebooted, adirectory named mdevsupportedtypes is created under thesysfs directory for each physical GPU. Themdevsupportedtypes directory contains a subdirectory for eachvGPU type that the physical GPU supports. The name of each subdirectory isnvidia- vgputype-id, wherevgputype-id is an unsigned integer serial number. Note: When a vGPU is created, the content of theavailableinstances for all other vGPU types on thephysical GPU is set to 0. This behavior enforces the requirement that all vGPUs ona physical GPU must be of the same type.create This file is used for creating a vGPU instance. A vGPU instance is created bywriting the UUID of the vGPU to this file.
Note: Some servers, for example, the Dell R740, do not configure SR-IOV capability ifthe SR-IOV SBIOS setting is disabled on the server. If you are using the Tesla T4 GPU withVMware vSphere on such a server, you must ensure that the SR-IOV SBIOS setting is enabled onthe server.For NVIDIA vGPU, follow this sequence ofinstructions:.After configuring a vSphere VM to use NVIDIA vGPU, you caninstall the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver for your guest OS and license any NVIDIA vGPU software licensed products that you are using.For VMware vSGA, follow this sequence of instructions:.Installation of the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver for the guest OSis not required for vSGA.
Note: Before proceeding with the vGPU Manager installation make sure that all VMs are poweredoff and the ESXi host is placed in maintenance mode. Refer to VMware’s documentation on howto place an ESXi host in maintenance mode. Use the esxcli command to install the vGPU Manager package: root@esxi: esxcli software vib install -v directory/ NVIDIA-vGPU-VMwareESXi6.7HostDriver440.53-1OEM.600.0.0.2159203.vibInstallation ResultMessage: Operation finished successfully.Reboot Required: falseVIBs Installed: NVIDIA-vGPU-VMwareESXi6.7HostDriver440.53-1OEM.600.0.0.2159203VIBs Removed:VIBs Skipped:directory is the absolute path to the directory that contains theVIB file. You must specify the absolute path even if the VIB file is in the currentworking directory. Reboot the ESXi host and remove it from maintenance mode. Note: Before proceeding with the vGPU Manager update, make sure that all VMs are powered offand the ESXi host is placed in maintenance mode. After the ESXi host has rebooted, verify the installation of the NVIDIA vGPU software package for vSphere.
Verify that the NVIDIA vGPU software package installed and loaded correctly by checking for the NVIDIA kerneldriver in the list of kernel loaded modules. root@esxi: vmkloadmod -l grep nvidianvidia 5 8420. If the NVIDIA driver is not listed in the output, check dmesg for anyload-time errors reported by the driver. Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the NVIDIA physical GPUsin your system by running the nvidia-smi command.The nvidia-smi command is described in more detail in.
Running the nvidia-smi command should produce a listing of the GPUs inyourplatform. root@esxi: nvidia-smi Fri Feb 14 17:+-+ NVIDIA-SMI 440.53 Driver Version: 440.56 -+-+-+ GPU Name Persistence-M Bus-Id Disp.A Volatile Uncorr.
The vGPU Manager VIBs for VMware vSphere 6.5 and later provide vSGA and vGPUfunctionality in a single VIB. After this VIB is installed, the default graphicstype is Shared, which provides vSGA functionality. To enable vGPU support for VMs inVMware vSphere 6.5, you must change the default graphics type to Shared Direct. Ifyou do not change the default graphics type, VMs to which a vGPU is assigned fail tostart and the following error message is displayed:The amount of graphics resource available in the parent resource pool is insufficient for the operation.
Note: In this dialog box, you can also change the allocation scheme forvGPU-enabled VMs. For more information, see.After you click OK, the default graphics type changes to Shared Direct. Click the Graphics Devices tab to verify the configuredtype of each physical GPU on which you want to configure vGPU.The configured type of each physical GPU must be Shared Direct. For anyphysical GPU for which the configured type is Shared, change the configured typeas follows:.
On the Graphics Devices tab, select the physicalGPU and click the Edit icon. Graphics device settings for a physical GPU. Restart the ESXi host or stop and restart the Xorg service andnv-hostengine on the ESXi host.To stop and restart the Xorg service and nv-hostengine,perform these steps:. Stop the Xorg service. root@esxi: /etc/init.d/xorg stop.
Stop nv-hostengine. root@esxi: nv-hostengine -t. Wait for 1 second to allow nv-hostengine tostop. Start nv-hostengine.
root@esxi: nv-hostengine -d. Start the Xorg service. root@esxi: /etc/init.d/xorg start.
In the Graphics Devices tab of the VMware vCenter WebUI, confirm that the active type and the configured type of each physical GPUare Shared Direct. To support applications and workloads that arecompute or graphics intensive, you can add multiple vGPUs to a single VM.For details about which VMware vSphere versionsand NVIDIA vGPUs support the assignment of multiple vGPUs to a VM, see. If you upgradedto VMware vSphere 6.7 Update 3 from an earlier version and are using VMs that were createdwith that version, change the VM compatibility to vSphere 6.7 Update 2 andlater. For details, see in the VMwaredocumentation.If you are adding multiple vGPUs to a single VM,perform this task for each vGPU that you want to add to the VM.
Some GPUs that support NVIDIA vGPU software support error correctingcode (ECC) memory with NVIDIA vGPU. ECC memory improves data integrity bydetecting and handling double-bit errors. However, not all GPUs, vGPU types, and hypervisorsoftware versions support ECC memory with NVIDIA vGPU.On GPUs that support ECC memory with NVIDIA vGPU, ECC memory issupported with C-series and Q-series vGPUs, but not with A-series and B-series vGPUs.
AlthoughA-series and B-series vGPUs start on physical GPUs on which ECC memory is enabled, enabling ECCwith vGPUs that do not support it might incur some costs.On physical GPUs that do not have HBM2 memory, the amount of frame buffer that isusable by vGPUs is reduced. All types of vGPU are affected, not just vGPUs that support ECCmemory.The effects of enabling ECC memory on a physical GPU are as follows:. ECC memory is exposed as a feature on all supported vGPUs on the physical GPU. In VMs that support ECC memory, ECC memory is enabled, with the option to disable ECC in theVM. ECC memory can be enabled or disabled for individual VMs.
Enabling or disabling ECC memory ina VM does not affect the amount of frame buffer that is usable by vGPUs.GPUs based on the Pascal GPU architecture and later GPU architectures support ECCmemory with NVIDIA vGPU. These GPUs are supplied with ECC memoryenabled.Tesla M60 and M6 GPUs support ECC memory when used without GPU virtualization, butNVIDIA vGPU does not support ECC memory with these GPUs. In graphics mode,these GPUs are supplied with ECC memory disabled by default.Some hypervisor software versions do not support ECC memory with NVIDIA vGPU.If you are using a hypervisor software version or GPU that does not support ECCmemory with NVIDIA vGPU and ECC memory is enabled, NVIDIA vGPU fails to start. In this situation, you mustensure that ECC memory is disabled on all GPUs if you are using NVIDIA vGPU. Before you begin, ensure that NVIDIA Virtual GPUManager is installed on your hypervisor.
If you are changing ECC memory settings for avGPU, also ensure that the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver is installed inthe VM to which the vGPU is assigned. Use nvidia-smi to list the status of all physical GPUs orvGPUs, and check for ECC noted as enabled. Before you begin, ensure that NVIDIA Virtual GPUManager is installed on your hypervisor. If you are changing ECC memory settings for avGPU, also ensure that the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver is installed inthe VM to which the vGPU is assigned. Use nvidia-smi to list the status of all physical GPUs or vGPUs, andcheck for ECC noted as disabled. GPU pass-through is used to directly assign an entire physical GPU to one VM, bypassing theNVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager. In this mode of operation, the GPU is accessed exclusively by theNVIDIA driver running in the VM to which it is assigned; the GPU is not shared among VMs.In pass-through mode, GPUs based on NVIDIA GPU architectures after the Maxwellarchitecture support error-correcting code (ECC).GPU pass-through can be used in a server platform alongside NVIDIA vGPU, with somerestrictions:.
A physical GPU can host NVIDIA vGPUs, or can be used for pass-through,but cannot do both at the same time. Some hypervisors, for example VMware vSphere ESXi,require a host reboot to change a GPU from pass-through mode to vGPU mode.
A single VM cannot be configured for both vGPU and GPU pass-through at the same time. The performance of a physical GPU passed through to a VM can be monitored only from withinthe VM itself. Such a GPU cannot be monitored by tools that operate through the hypervisor,such as XenCenter or nvidia-smi (see ).The following BIOS settings must be enabled on your server platform:. VT-D/IOMMU. SR-IOV in Advanced Options. You can configure a GPU for pass-through on Citrix Hypervisor by using XenCenter or by usingthe xe command.The following additional restrictions apply when GPU pass-through is used in a serverplatform alongside NVIDIA vGPU:.
The performance of a physical GPU passed through to a VM cannot be monitored throughXenCenter. nvidia-smi in dom0 no longer has access to the GPU. Pass-through GPUs do not provide console output through XenCenter’s VMConsole tab. Use a remote graphics connection directly into the VM to accessthe VM’s OS.
For more information about using virsh, see the following topics in thedocumentation for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7:. Verify that the vfio-pci module is loaded. # lsmod grep vfio-pci. Obtain the PCI device bus/device/function (BDF) of the GPU that you want to assign inpass-through mode to a VM. # lspci grep NVIDIAThe NVIDIA GPUs listed in this example have the PCI device BDFs85:00.0 and 86:00.0.# lspci grep NVIDIA85:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL Tesla M60 (rev a1)86:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL Tesla M60 (rev a1). Obtain the full identifier of the GPU from its PCI device BDF. # virsh nodedev-list -cap pci grep transformed-bdf transformed-bdf The PCI device BDF of the GPU with the colon and the period replaced withunderscores, for example, 85000.This example obtains the full identifier of the GPU with the PCI device BDF85:00.0.# virsh nodedev-list -cap pci grep 85000pci000085000.
Obtain the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU. Virsh nodedev-dumpxml full-identifier egrep 'domain bus slot function' full-identifier The full identifier of the GPU that you obtained in the previous step, forexample, pci000085000.This example obtains the domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU with the PCI deviceBDF 85:00.0.# virsh nodedev-dumpxml pci000085000 egrep 'domain bus slot function'0x00000x850x000x0. In virsh, open for editing the XML file of the VM that you want toassign the GPU to.
# virsh edit vm-name vm-name The name of the VM to that you want to assign the GPU to. Add a device entry in the form of an address element inside thesource element to assign the GPU to the guest VM.You can optionally add a second address element after the sourceelement to set a fixed PCI device BDF for the GPU in the guest operating system. Domain bus slot function The domain, bus, slot, and function of the GPU, which you obtained in the previousstep.This example adds a device entry for the GPU with the PCI device BDF85:00.0 and fixes the BDF for the GPU in the guest operating system. Start the VM that you assigned the GPU to. # virsh start vm-name vm-name The name of the VM that you assigned the GPU to.
Obtain the PCI device bus/device/function (BDF) of the GPU that you want to assign inpass-through mode to a VM. # lspci grep NVIDIAThe NVIDIA GPUs listed in this example have the PCI device BDFs85:00.0 and 86:00.0.# lspci grep NVIDIA85:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL Tesla M60 (rev a1)86:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204GL Tesla M60 (rev a1).
Add the following option to the QEMU command line: -device vfio-pci,host= bdf bdf The PCI device BDF of the GPU that you want to assign in pass-through mode to aVM, for example, 85:00.0.This example assigns the GPU with the PCI device BDF 85:00.0 inpass-through mode to a VM.-device vfio-pci,host=85:00.0. The mode in which a physical GPU is being used determines the Linux kernel module towhich the GPU is bound. If you want to switch the mode in which a GPU is being used,you must unbind the GPU from its current kernel module and bind it to the kernelmodule for the new mode. After binding the GPU to the correct kernel module, you canthen configure it for pass-through.When the Virtual GPU Manager is installed on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM host, the physical GPUs on thehost are bound to the nvidia kernel module.
A physical GPU that isbound to the nvidia kernel module can be used only for vGPU. Toenable the GPU to be passed through to a VM, the GPU must be unbound fromnvidia kernel module and bound to the vfio-pcikernel module. Before you begin, ensure that you have the domain, bus, slot, and function of theGPU that you are preparing for use in pass-through mode. For instructions, see. Determine the kernel module to which the GPU is bound by running thelspci command with the -k option on theNVIDIA GPUs on your host. Perform this task in the Windows PowerShell. List the GPUs that are currently assigned to the virtual machine (VM).
Get-VMAssignableDevice -VMName vm-name vm-name The name of the VM whose assigned GPUs you want to list. Shut down the VM to which the GPU is assigned. Remove the GPU from VM to which it is assigned. Installation in a VM: After you create a Windows VMon the hypervisor and boot the VM, the VM should boot to a standard Windows desktop in VGAmode at 800×600 resolution. You can use the Windows screen resolution control panel toincrease the resolution to other standard resolutions, but to fully enable GPU operation,the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver must be installed. Windows guest VMs are supported onlyon Q-series, B-series, and A-series NVIDIA vGPU types.
They arenot supported on C-series NVIDIA vGPU types.Installation on bare metal: When the physical hostis booted before the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver isinstalled, boot and the primary display are handled by an on-board graphics adapter. Toinstall the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver, access theWindows desktop on the host by using a display connected through the on-board graphicsadapter.The procedure for installing the driver is the same in a VM and on bare metal. Copy the NVIDIA Windows driver package to the guest VM or physical host where you are installing thedriver. Execute the package to unpack and run the driver installer. Installation in a VM: After you create a Linux VM onthe hypervisor and boot the VM, install the NVIDIA vGPU softwaregraphics driver in the VM to fully enable GPU operation.
64-bit Linux guest VMs are supportedonly on Q-series, C-series, and B-series NVIDIA vGPU types. They arenot supported on A-series NVIDIA vGPU types.Installation on bare metal: When the physical hostis booted before the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver isinstalled, the vesa Xorg driver starts the X server. If a primary displaydevice is connected to the host, use the device to access the desktop. Otherwise, use secureshell (SSH) to log in to the host from a remote host. If the Nouveau driver for NVIDIAgraphics cards is present, disable it before installing the NVIDIA vGPU software graphics driver.The procedure for installing the driver is the same in a VMand on bare metal. NVIDIA vGPU is a licensed product. Perform this task from the guest VM to which the vGPU is assigned.The NVIDIA Control Panel tool that you use to performthis task detects that a vGPU is assigned to the VM and, therefore, provides no options forselecting the license type.
After you license the vGPU, NVIDIA vGPU softwareautomatically selects the correct type of license based on the vGPU type. Open NVIDIA Control Panel:. Right-click on the Windows desktop and select NVIDIA ControlPanel from the menu. Open Windows Control Panel and double-click theNVIDIA Control Panel icon. In NVIDIA Control Panel, select the ManageLicense task in the Licensing section of thenavigation pane.