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NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Installation#

Install NVIDIA vGPU for Compute components to enable GPU virtualization in your environment.

Installation Overview

Verify Prerequisites - Confirm hardware, BIOS settings, and licensing requirements
Install NGC CLI - Download software from NVIDIA NGC Catalog
Install Virtual GPU Manager - Deploy on hypervisor host (VMware, KVM, Nutanix)
Install Fabric Manager - Required for HGX multi-GPU configurations
Install vGPU Guest Driver - Deploy in each virtual machine
Configure Licensing - Connect VMs to NVIDIA License System

Refer to the NVIDIA AI Enterprise Product Support Matrix for supported platforms and versions.

Prerequisites#

Ensure your infrastructure meets the following requirements before installing NVIDIA vGPU for Compute.

System Requirements#

Before proceeding, ensure the following system prerequisites are met:

At least one NVIDIA data center GPU in a single NVIDIA AI Enterprise compatible NVIDIA-Certified System. NVIDIA recommends the following GPUs based on your infrastructure.

Table 45 System Requirements Use Cases#
Use Case	GPU
Adding AI to mainstream servers (single to 4-GPU NVLink)	NVIDIA A30 1 - 8x NVIDIA L4 NVIDIA L40S NVIDIA H100 NVL NVIDIA H200 NVL
AI Model Inference	NVIDIA A100 NVIDIA H200 NVL
AI Model Training (Large) and Inference (HGX Scale Up and Out Server)	NVIDIA H100 HGX NVIDIA H200 HGX

If using GPUs based on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture or later, the following BIOS settings are enabled on your server platform:
- Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) - Enabled
- VT-d/IOMMU - Enabled
NVIDIA AI Enterprise License
NVIDIA AI Enterprise Software:
- NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager
- NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver

You can use the NVIDIA System Management interface (nvidia-smi) management and monitoring tool for testing and benchmarking.

The following server configuration details are considered best practices:

Hyperthreading - Enabled
Power Setting or System Profile - High Performance
CPU Performance - Enterprise or High Throughput (if available in the BIOS)
Memory Mapped I/O above 4-GB - Enabled (if available in the BIOS)

Installing NGC CLI#

Download and install the NGC Catalog CLI to access NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager and NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver from the NVIDIA NGC Catalog. After the NGC Catalog CLI is installed, launch a command window and run the following commands to download the drivers.

To install the NGC Catalog CLI:

Login to the NVIDIA NGC Catalog.
In the top right corner, click Welcome and then select Setup from the menu.
Click Downloads under Install NGC CLI from the Setup page.
From the CLI Install page, click the Windows, Linux, or MacOS tab, according to the platform from which you will be running NGC Catalog CLI.
Follow the instructions to install the CLI.
Verify the installation by entering ngc --version in a terminal or command prompt. The output should be NGC Catalog CLI x.y.z where x.y.z indicates the version.

Configure NGC CLI so that you can run the commands. You will be prompted to enter your NGC API Key. Enter the following command:

$ ngc config set

Enter API key [no-apikey]. Choices: [<VALID_APIKEY>, 'no-apikey']: (COPY/PASTE API KEY)

Enter CLI output format type [ascii]. Choices: [ascii, csv, json]: ascii

Enter org [no-org]. Choices: ['no-org']:

Enter team [no-team]. Choices: ['no-team']:

Enter ace [no-ace]. Choices: ['no-ace']:

Successfully saved NGC configuration to /home/$username/.ngc/config

After the NGC Catalog CLI is installed, launch a command window and run the following commands to download the software.
- NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager
```
ngc registry resource download-version "nvidia/vgpu/vgpu-host-driver-X:X.X"
```
- NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver
```
ngc registry resource download-version "nvidia/vgpu/vgpu-guest-driver-X:X.X"
```

For more information on configuring the NGC CLI, refer to the Getting Started with the NGC CLI documentation.

Installing NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager#

Install the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager on your hypervisor host to enable GPU virtualization. Installation steps vary by hypervisor platform. This section assumes the following:

You have downloaded the Virtual GPU Manager software from NVIDIA NGC Catalog
You want to deploy the NVIDIA vGPU for Compute on a single server node

Table 46 Hypervisor Platform Installation Instructions for the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager#
Hypervisor Platform	Installation Instructions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM	Installing and Configuring the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager for Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM
Ubuntu KVM	Installing and Configuring the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager for Ubuntu
VMware vSphere	Installing and Configuring the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager for VMware vSphere

After you complete this process, you can install the vGPU Guest Driver on your Guest VM.

Installing NVIDIA Fabric Manager on HGX Servers#

NVIDIA Fabric Manager enables multi-GPU configurations on NVIDIA HGX platforms by managing the NVSwitch memory fabric and NVLink interconnects.

When to Install Fabric Manager

Required for multi-GPU VMs (1, 2, 4, or 8 GPUs) on HGX platforms
Necessary for Ampere and Hopper HGX systems with NVSwitch
Enables high-bandwidth interconnect topologies for AI training and large-scale workloads

Fabric Manager creates a unified memory fabric among GPUs and monitors NVLinks, enabling high-performance communication across GPUs in the same VM.

Note

For information about NVIDIA Fabric Manager integration or support for deploying 1-, 2-, 4-, or 8-GPU VMs on your hypervisor, consult the documentation from your hypervisor vendor.
The Fabric Manager service must be running before creating VMs with multi-GPU configurations. Failure to enable Fabric Manager on HGX platforms may result in incomplete or non-functional GPU topologies inside the VM. For details on capabilities, configuration, and usage, refer to the NVIDIA Fabric Manager User Guide.

Installing NVIDIA vGPU Guest Driver#

Install the NVIDIA vGPU Guest Driver in each virtual machine to enable GPU access. The installation process is consistent across vGPU, passthrough, and bare-metal configurations. This section assumes the following:

You have downloaded the vGPU for Compute Guest Driver from NVIDIA NGC Catalog
The Guest VM has been created and booted on the hypervisor

Table 47 Guest Operating System Installation Instructions for the NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver#
Guest Operating System	Installation Instructions
Ubuntu	Installing the NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver on Ubuntu from a Debian Package
Red Hat	Installing the NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver on Red Hat Distributions from an RPM Package
Windows	Installing the NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver and NVIDIA Control Panel
Other Linux distributions	Installing the NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest Driver on a Linux VM from a .run Package

After you install the NVIDIA vGPU for Compute Guest driver, you are required to license the Guest VM. After a license from the NVIDIA License System is obtained, the Guest VM operates at full capability and can be used to run AI and ML workloads. Refer to Licensing vGPU VMs for configuration instructions.