Appendix H. Preparing a Host for vGPU Installation
Installing a vGPU on a Virtual Machine
You can use a host with a compatible graphics processing unit (GPU) to run virtual machines with virtual GPUs (vGPUs). A virtual machine with a vGPU is better suited for graphics-intensive tasks than a virtual machine without a vGPU. A virtual machine with a vGPU can also run software that cannot run without a GPU, such as CAD.
vGPU Requirements
If you plan to configure a host to allow virtual machines on that host to install a vGPU, the following requirements must be met:
- vGPU-compatible GPU
- GPU-enabled host kernel
- Installed GPU with correct drivers
- Predefined mdev_type set to correspond with one of the mdev types supported by the device
- vGPU-capable drivers installed on each host in the cluster
- vGPU-supported virtual machine operating system with vGPU drivers installed
Preparing a Host for vGPU Installation
- Install vGPU-capable drivers onto your host. Consult the documentation for your GPU card for more information.
Install vdsm-hook-vfio-mdev:
# yum install vdsm-hook-vfio-mdev
You can now install vGPUs on the virtual machines running on this host.
Installing a vGPU on a Virtual Machine
Confirm the vGPU instance to use:
- Click Host Devices tab. Available vGPU instances appear in the Mdev Types column. → , click the required host’s name to go to the details view, and click the
Alternatively, run the following command on the host:
# vdsm-client Host hostdevListByCaps
Available vGPU instances appear in the mdev key available_instances.
- Install the required virtual machine operating system. See Installing Linux Virtual Machines and Installing Windows Virtual Machines in the Virtual Machine Management Guide.
- Shut down the virtual machine.
Add the vGPU instance to the virtual machine:
- Select the virtual machine and click .
- Click Custom Properties tab. , then click the
- Select mdev_type from the drop-down list and enter the vGPU instance in the text field.
- Click .
- Start the virtual machine and install the vGPU driver through the vendor’s installer. Consult the documentation for your GPU card for more information.
- Restart the virtual machine.
- Verify that the vGPU is recognized by checking the virtual machine operating system’s device manager.
You cannot migrate a virtual machine using a vGPU to a different host. When upgrading the virtual machine, verify the operating system and GPU vendor support in the vendor’s documentation.