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Release Notes#

These Release Notes summarize current status, information on validated platforms, and known issues with NVIDIA vGPU software and associated hardware on Microsoft Windows Server.

NVIDIA vGPU Software Driver Versions#

Each release in this release family of NVIDIA vGPU software includes a specific version of the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager, NVIDIA Windows driver, and NVIDIA Linux driver.

NVIDIA vGPU Software Version

NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager Version

NVIDIA Windows Driver Version

NVIDIA Linux Driver Version

21.0

621.10

621.14

620.70.06

For details of which Microsoft Windows Server releases are supported, see Hypervisor Software Releases.

Compatibility Requirements for the NVIDIA vGPU Manager and Guest VM Driver#

The releases of the NVIDIA vGPU Manager and guest VM drivers that you install must be compatible. If you install an incompatible guest VM driver release for the release of the vGPU Manager that you are using, the NVIDIA vGPU fails to load.

See VM running an incompatible NVIDIA vGPU guest driver fails to initialize vGPU when booted.

Note

You must use NVIDIA License System with every release in this release family of NVIDIA vGPU software. All releases in this release family of NVIDIA vGPU software are incompatible with all releases of the NVIDIA vGPU software license server.

Compatible NVIDIA vGPU Manager and Guest VM Driver Releases#

The following combinations of NVIDIA vGPU Manager and guest VM driver releases are compatible with each other.

  • NVIDIA vGPU Manager with guest VM drivers from the same release

  • NVIDIA vGPU Manager from a later major release branch with guest VM drivers from the previous branch

  • NVIDIA vGPU Manager from a later long-term support branch with guest VM drivers from the previous long-term support branch

Note

When NVIDIA vGPU Manager is used with guest VM drivers from the previous branch, the combination supports only the features, hardware, and software (including guest OSes) that are supported on both releases.

For example, if vGPU Manager from release 21.0 is used with guest drivers from release 16.4, the combination does not support Windows Server 2019 because NVIDIA vGPU software release 21.0 does not support Windows Server 2019.

The following table lists the specific software releases that are compatible with the components in the NVIDIA vGPU software 21 major release branch.

NVIDIA vGPU Software Component

Release

Compatible Software Releases

NVIDIA vGPU Manager

21.0

  • Guest VM driver release 21.0

  • All guest VM driver 20.<x> releases

  • All guest VM driver 19.<x> releases

Guest VM drivers

21.0

NVIDIA vGPU Manager release 21.0

Incompatible NVIDIA vGPU Manager and Guest VM Driver Releases#

The following combinations of NVIDIA vGPU Manager and guest VM driver releases are incompatible with each other.

  • NVIDIA vGPU Manager from a later major release branch with guest VM drivers from a production branch two or more major releases before the release of the vGPU Manager

  • NVIDIA vGPU Manager from an earlier major release branch with guest VM drivers from a later branch

The following table lists the specific software releases that are incompatible with the components in the NVIDIA vGPU software 21 major release branch.

NVIDIA vGPU Software Component

Release

Incompatible Software Releases

NVIDIA vGPU Manager

21.0

All guest VM driver releases 19.<x> and earlier, except 19.<x> releases

Guest VM drivers

21.0

All NVIDIA vGPU Manager releases 20.<x> and earlier

Updates in Release 21.0#

New Features in Release 21.0#

  • Support for vGPU migration when NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit debuggers or profilers are enabled

  • Support for hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling for a vGPU

  • Support for the Microsoft Compute Driver Model (MCDM)

  • Notification to guest VMs of when a GPU reset is required

  • Support for GPU performance monitoring (GPM) metrics through NVWMI

  • Miscellaneous bug fixes as explained in Issues Resolved in Release 21.0

Hardware and Software Support Introduced in Release 21.0#

  • Newly supported guest OS releases:

    • Windows 11 26H2

Features Deprecated in Release 21.0#

The following table lists features that are deprecated in this release of NVIDIA vGPU software. Although the features remain available in this release, they might be withdrawn in a future release.

Deprecated Feature

Preferred Alternative

Additional Information

Tesla Compute Cluster (TCC) driver model

Microsoft Compute Driver Model (MCDM)

Enabling the Microsoft Compute Driver Model (MCDM)