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title | description | published | date | tags | editor | dateCreated |
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Virtual Function I/O Mediated devices (vfio-mdev) | Create and Configure Virtual Function I/O Mediated devices (vfio-mdev) | true | 2022-07-28T01:25:56.298Z | markdown | 2022-07-21T21:10:41.046Z |
Configure Virtual Function I/O Mediated devices
These instructions only cover Intel GPUs that are compatible with vfio-mdev (5th to 10th generation). Since generation 11th, vfio-mdev has been replaced by SR-IOV. {.is-warning}
GPUs compatible with Virtual Function I/O Mediated devices (vfio-mdev) can be split into multiple virtual GPUs (vGPUs).
vGPUs can be assigned to virtual machines or containers.
How to do so?
Preparation
- Make sure the GRUB has been updated after the first boot
Modify the system allocated to the GPU in the BIOS/UEFI
Some computers allow you to modify the system memory allocated or shared with the integrated GPU, which may allow you to create more vGPUs. {.is-info}
For Intel integrated graphics cards only; rarely available on laptops computers. {.is-warning}
-
Before the host operating system boots up, you need to enter the BIOS/UEFI and to look for a setting called GPU aperture size, or GPU shared memory.
-
Use the highest possible value.
System memory will be reserved for the GPU, so make sure you have enough system memory to accomodate both the GPU and your operating system. {.is-warning}
Create a virtual GPU
Upon reboot, you should then be able to list available GPUs using the mdevctl
command.
- List available virtual GPUs:
mdevctl types
0000:00:02.0
i915-GVTg_V5_1
Available instances: 1
Device API: vfio-pci
Description: low_gm_size: 512MB, high_gm_size: 2048MB, fence: 4, resolution: 1920x1200, weight: 16
i915-GVTg_V5_2
Available instances: 2
Device API: vfio-pci
Description: low_gm_size: 256MB, high_gm_size: 1024MB, fence: 4, resolution: 1920x1200, weight: 8
i915-GVTg_V5_4
Available instances: 5
Device API: vfio-pci
Description: low_gm_size: 128MB, high_gm_size: 512MB, fence: 4, resolution: 1920x1200, weight: 4
i915-GVTg_V5_8
Available instances: 7
Device API: vfio-pci
Description: low_gm_size: 64MB, high_gm_size: 384MB, fence: 4, resolution: 1024x768, weight: 2
Increasing the system memory allocated to the GPU (GPU aperture size), as shown in the previous section, may increase the number and kind of available instances. {.is-info}
In this case, the i915-GVTg_V5_4
kind seems to offer the best trade-offs between the available resolution and the number of available instances.
- Generate a universally unique identifier (UUID) with the following command:
uuidgen
7686131b-b229-4768-a02c-35d1dbed7c66
- Start a vGPU based on the kind
i915-GVTg_V5_4
using the previously generated UUID
sudo mdevctl start -u 7686131b-b229-4768-a02c-35d1dbed7c66 -p 0000:00:02.0 --type i915-GVTg_V5_4
- Define, or make this vGPU permanent.
sudo mdevctl define -u 7686131b-b229-4768-a02c-35d1dbed7c66
- Set the vGPU to auto-start after the host boots up, so that it is available to guest virtual machines without further action
sudo mdevctl modify -u 7686131b-b229-4768-a02c-35d1dbed7c66 --auto
- Finally, verify that the vGPU has successfully been created and is set to auto-start:
mdevctl list -d
7686131b-b229-4768-a02c-35d1dbed7c66 0000:00:02.0 i915-GVTg_V5_4 auto (active)
Great you have
Assign a virtual GPU to a virtual machine
- Add that segment to a virtual machine's definition. Make sure the provided
uuid
matches the previously generated UUID.
<domain>
[...]
<device>
[...]
<hostdev mode="subsystem" type="mdev" managed="no" model="vfio-pci" display="on" ramfb="on">
<source>
<address uuid="7686131b-b229-4768-a02c-35d1dbed7c66"/>
</source>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x09" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</hostdev>
[...]
</device>
[...]
</domain>
Notice that the RAMFB is set to on, which activates Drect Memory Access Buffers (DMA-BUFs), making available the output of a virtual monitor before the guest operating system takes over {.is-info}
Configure Spice / SDL
To-do
Remove any video device
- Remove any video device such as
virtio-gpu
and set the last one to thenone
.
<domain>
[...]
<device>
[...]
<video>
<model type="none"/>
</video>
[...]
</device>
[...]
</domain>
- Then starts the domain
Resources
- Official page for vfio-mdev: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/vfio-mediated-device.html
- Archlinux's must read entry on Intel GVT-g: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Intel_GVT-g
- DMA-BUF Linux documentation: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/dma-buf.html