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Managing vGPUs from a guest VM#

NVIDIA vGPU software supports monitoring and control within a guest VM of vGPUs or pass-through GPUs that are assigned to the VM. The scope of management interfaces and tools used within a guest VM is limited to the guest VM within which they are used. They cannot monitor any other GPUs in the virtualization platform.

For monitoring from a guest VM, certain properties do not apply to vGPUs. The values that the NVIDIA vGPU software management interfaces report for these properties indicate that the properties do not apply to a vGPU.

NVIDIA vGPU Software Server Interfaces for GPU Management from a Guest VM#

The NVIDIA vGPU software server interfaces that are available for GPU management from a guest VM depend on the guest operating system that is running in the VM.

Interface

Guest OS

Notes

nvidia-smi command

Windows, 64-bit Linux

Command line, interactive use

NVIDIA Management Library (NVML)

Windows, 64-bit Linux

Integration of NVIDIA GPU management with third-party applications

NVIDIA Control Panel

Windows

Detailed control of graphics settings, basic configuration reporting

Windows Performance Counters

Windows

Performance metrics provided by Windows Performance Counter interfaces

NVWMI

Windows

Detailed configuration and performance metrics provided by Windows WMI interfaces

How GPU engine usage is reported#

Usage of GPU engines is reported for vGPUs as a percentage of the vGPU’s maximum possible capacity on each engine. The GPU engines are as follows:

  • Graphics/SM

  • Memory controller

  • Video encoder

  • Video decoder

The amount of a physical engine’s capacity that a vGPU is permitted to occupy depends on the scheduler under which the GPU is operating:

  • NVIDIA vGPUs operating under the Best Effort Scheduler and the Equal Share Scheduler are permitted to occupy the full capacity of each physical engine if no other vGPUs are contending for the same engine. Therefore, if a vGPU occupies 20% of the entire graphics engine in a particular sampling period, its graphics usage as reported inside the VM is 20%.

  • NVIDIA vGPUs operating under the Fixed Share Scheduler can occupy no more than their allocated share of the graphics engine. Therefore, if a vGPU has a fixed allocation of 25% of the graphics engine, and it occupies 25% of the engine in a particular sampling period, its graphics usage as reported inside the VM is 100%.

Using NVML to manage vGPUs#

NVIDIA vGPU software supports monitoring and control within a guest VM by using NVML.

Determining whether a GPU is a vGPU or pass-through GPU#

NVIDIA vGPUs are presented in guest VM management interfaces in the same fashion as pass-through GPUs.

To determine whether a GPU device in a guest VM is a vGPU or a pass-through GPU, call the NVML function nvmlDeviceGetVirtualizationMode().

A GPU reports its virtualization mode as follows:

  • A GPU operating in pass-through mode reports its virtualization mode as NVML_GPU_VIRTUALIZATION_MODE_PASSTHROUGH.

  • A vGPU reports its virtualization mode as NVML_GPU_VIRTUALIZATION_MODE_VGPU.

Physical GPU properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

Properties and metrics other than GPU engine usage are reported for a vGPU in a similar way to how the same properties and metrics are reported for a physical GPU. However, some properties do not apply to vGPUs. The NVML device query functions for getting these properties return a value that indicates that the properties do not apply to a vGPU. For details of NVML device query functions, see Device Queries in NVML API Reference Manual.

GPU identification properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

NVML return code on vGPU

Serial Number

nvmlDeviceGetSerial()

vGPUs are not assigned serial numbers.

NOT_SUPPORTED

GPU UUID

nvmlDeviceGetUUID()

vGPUs are allocated random UUIDs.

SUCCESS

VBIOS Version

nvmlDeviceGetVbiosVersion()

vGPU VBIOS version is hard-wired to zero.

SUCCESS

GPU Part Number

nvmlDeviceGetBoardPartNumber()

NOT_SUPPORTED

InfoROM properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

The InfoROM object is not exposed on vGPUs. All the functions in the following table return NOT_SUPPORTED.

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

Image Version

nvmlDeviceGetInforomImageVersion()

OEM Object

nvmlDeviceGetInforomVersion()

ECC Object

nvmlDeviceGetInforomVersion()

Power Management Object

nvmlDeviceGetInforomVersion()

GPU operation mode properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

NVML return code on vGPU

GPU Operation Mode (Current)

nvmlDeviceGetGpuOperationMode()

Tesla GPU operating modes are not supported on vGPUs.

NOT_SUPPORTED

GPU Operation Mode (Pending)

nvmlDeviceGetGpuOperationMode()

Tesla GPU operating modes are not supported on vGPUs.

NOT_SUPPORTED

Compute Mode

nvmlDeviceGetComputeMode()

A vGPU always returns NVML_COMPUTEMODE_PROHIBITED.

SUCCESS

Driver Model

nvmlDeviceGetDriverModel()

A vGPU supports WDDM mode only in Windows VMs.

SUCCESS (Windows)

PCI Express properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

PCI Express characteristics are not exposed on vGPUs. All the functions in the following table return NOT_SUPPORTED.

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

Generation Max

nvmlDeviceGetMaxPcieLinkGeneration()

Generation Current

nvmlDeviceGetCurrPcieLinkGeneration()

Link Width Max

nvmlDeviceGetMaxPcieLinkWidth()

Link Width Current

nvmlDeviceGetCurrPcieLinkWidth()

Bridge Chip Type

nvmlDeviceGetBridgeChipInfo()

Bridge Chip Firmware

nvmlDeviceGetBridgeChipInfo()

Replays

nvmlDeviceGetPcieReplayCounter()

TX Throughput

nvmlDeviceGetPcieThroughput()

RX Throughput

nvmlDeviceGetPcieThroughput()

Environmental properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

All the functions in the following table return NOT_SUPPORTED.

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

Fan Speed

nvmlDeviceGetFanSpeed()

Clocks Throttle Reasons

nvmlDeviceGetSupportedClocksThrottleReasons()

nvmlDeviceGetCurrentClocksThrottleReasons()

Current Temperature

nvmlDeviceGetTemperature()

nvmlDeviceGetTemperatureThreshold()

Shutdown Temperature

nvmlDeviceGetTemperature()

nvmlDeviceGetTemperatureThreshold()

Slowdown Temperature

nvmlDeviceGetTemperature()

nvmlDeviceGetTemperatureThreshold()

Power consumption properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

vGPUs do not expose physical power consumption of the underlying GPU. All the functions in the following table return NOT_SUPPORTED.

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

Management Mode

nvmlDeviceGetPowerManagementMode()

Draw

nvmlDeviceGetPowerUsage()

Limit

nvmlDeviceGetPowerManagementLimit()

Default Limit

nvmlDeviceGetPowerManagementDefaultLimit()

Enforced Limit

nvmlDeviceGetEnforcedPowerLimit()

Min Limit

nvmlDeviceGetPowerManagementLimitConstraints()

Max Limit

nvmlDeviceGetPowerManagementLimitConstraints()

ECC properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

Error-correcting code (ECC) is not supported on vGPUs. All the functions in the following table return NOT_SUPPORTED.

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

Mode

nvmlDeviceGetEccMode()

Error Counts

nvmlDeviceGetMemoryErrorCounter()

nvmlDeviceGetTotalEccErrors()

Retired Pages

nvmlDeviceGetRetiredPages()

nvmlDeviceGetRetiredPagesPendingStatus()

Clocks properties that do not apply to a vGPU#

All the functions in the following table return NOT_SUPPORTED.

GPU Property

NVML Device Query Function

Application Clocks

nvmlDeviceGetApplicationsClock()

Default Application Clocks

nvmlDeviceGetDefaultApplicationsClock()

Max Clocks

nvmlDeviceGetMaxClockInfo()

Policy: Auto Boost

nvmlDeviceGetAutoBoostedClocksEnabled()

Policy: Auto Boost Default

nvmlDeviceGetAutoBoostedClocksEnabled()

Building an NVML-enabled application for a guest VM#

To build an NVML-enabled application, refer to the sample code included in the SDK.

Using Windows Performance Counters to monitor GPU performance#

In Windows VMs, GPU metrics are available as Windows Performance Counters through the NVIDIA GPU object.

For access to Windows Performance Counters through programming interfaces, refer to the performance counter sample code included with the NVIDIA Windows Management Instrumentation SDK.

On vGPUs, the following GPU performance counters read as 0 because they are not applicable to vGPUs:

  • % Bus Usage

  • % Cooler rate

  • Core Clock MHz

  • Fan Speed

  • Memory Clock MHz

  • PCI-E current speed to GPU Mbps

  • PCI-E current width to GPU

  • PCI-E downstream width to GPU

  • Power Consumption mW

  • Temperature C

Using NVWMI to monitor GPU performance#

In Windows VMs, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) exposes GPU metrics in the ROOT\CIMV2\NV namespace through NVWMI. NVWMI is included with the NVIDIA driver package. The NVWMI API Reference in Windows Help format is available for download from the NVIDIA website.

For access to NVWMI through programming interfaces, use the NVWMI SDK. The NVWMI SDK, with white papers and sample programs, is included in the NVIDIA Windows Management Instrumentation SDK.

On vGPUs, some instance properties of the following classes do not apply to vGPUs:

  • Gpu

  • PcieLink

Gpu instance properties that do not apply to vGPUs#

Gpu Instance Property

Value reported on vGPU

gpuCoreClockCurrent

-1

memoryClockCurrent

-1

pciDownstreamWidth

0

pcieGpu.curGen

0

pcieGpu.curSpeed

0

pcieGpu.curWidth

0

pcieGpu.maxGen

1

pcieGpu.maxSpeed

2500

pcieGpu.maxWidth

0

power

-1

powerSampleCount

-1

powerSamplingPeriod

-1

verVBIOS.orderedValue

0

verVBIOS.strValue

—

verVBIOS.value

0