HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start

ManualsBrandsHP ManualsServerHP ProLiant WS460c Gen8 Workstation

Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start

Solution Quick Start Guide

HP Graphics Server Blade VMware

vDGA Quick Start

Implementation procedure overview on WS460c Graphics Server Blades

Version 1, December 2013

Table of contents

Purpose of this document ................................................................................................................................... 2

Prerequisite Recommend Reading ...................................................................................................................... 2

HP WS460c Gen8 Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA guidelines .................................................................... 2

VMware system configuration recommendations .......................................................................................... 2

VMware vDGA Considerations ......................................................................................................................... 3

Tips and Tricks you need to know - Tech Nuggets and Known issues ............................................................ 3

Setting up VMware for GPU Accelerated VDI vDGA ............................................................................................. 4

Configuring vDGA pass-through device via Virtual Center .............................................................................. 4

Configuring vDGA pass-through device via Virtual Center Web Interface ...................................................... 7

Configure and Connect to vDGA configured VM ............................................................................................ 10

Appendix A – Graphics Server Blade Video Modes ............................................................................................ 11

Resources .......................................................................................................................................................... 13

Summary of content (13 pages)

PAGE 1
Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start Solution Quick Start Guide HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start Implementation procedure overview on WS460c Graphics Server Blades Version 1, December 2013 Table of contents Purpose of this document ................................................................................................................................... 2 Prerequisite Recommend Reading .......................................................
PAGE 2
Technical white paper | HP Hardware Accelerated Graphics for Desktop Virtualization Purpose of this document Provides an overview of the configuration steps for setting up VMware vDGA technology on HP WS460c Graphics Server Prerequisite Recommend Reading  VMware “Virtual Machine Graphics Acceleration Deployment Guide”. This document can be found at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCkQFjAA &url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vmware.
PAGE 3
Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start VMware vDGA Considerations     Using VMware vDGA technology directly attaches a GPU to a VM for maximum graphics performance.
PAGE 4
Technical white paper | HP Hardware Accelerated Graphics for Desktop Virtualization Setting up VMware for GPU Accelerated VDI vDGA Configuring vDGA pass-through device via Virtual Center 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Update the WS460c Graphics Server Blade with the latest HP SPP firmware by booting to the SPP DVD. You can obtain the latest SPP at: http://www.hp.com/go/spp Insure the System BIOS level is at least 9/20/2013 You can obtain the required System BIOS at: ftp://ftp.hp.
PAGE 5
Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start 9. Once on edit screen you will see all the PCI devices on the systems. Scroll down to find the graphics cards you wish to connect to. In this example we have eight NVIDIA Quadro 3000M cards. Select every card you plan to use in passthrough then click “OK” IMPORTANT NOTE – On WS460c Graphics Server Blade there will be an embedded graphics card as well (MATROX in Gen8).
PAGE 6
Technical white paper | HP Hardware Accelerated Graphics for Desktop Virtualization e. Manually add the following rows if they don’t exist 16. Add the graphics device to you VM a. Edit VM settings and click “Add” to add new device b. From Add Hardware screen select “PCI Device” then “Next” c. From “Choose PCI Device” screen, select available PCI device not used in another VM IMPORTANT NOTE – If using NVIDIA cards you may see audio card listed as well.
PAGE 7
Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start 24. After the process is complete, Restart the virtual machine. 25. Connect to VM, skip to section “Configure and Connect to vDGA configured VM” Configuring vDGA pass-through device via Virtual Center Web Interface 1. 2. 3. 4. Log into Virtual Center Web Access Go to “Host and Clusters” view Click on server host to be configured Click on “Manage” tab on right 5. 6. 7. 8.
PAGE 8
Technical white paper | HP Hardware Accelerated Graphics for Desktop Virtualization 10. Card will show up similar to the following example and on the server it will indicate a reboot is required 11. Reboot the host 12. After reboot, go back to DirectPath page and confirm cards are shown 13. Create and configure VM to be used with supported operating systems, VMware tools, operating system updates, and software 14. Shutdown VM 15. IMPORTANT - Edit the VM configuration on all vDGA VM’s. a.
PAGE 9
Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start 17. At bottom of setting page, click on New Devices Drop down 18. Select “PCI Device” 19. Select an available GPU for the VM IMPORTANT NOTE – Only select the PCI GPU devices and not the Audio Device. IMPORTANT NOTE – Only one GPU per device is supported. 20. Start VM. 21. Once stated, log in and go to Device Manager. 22.
PAGE 10
Technical white paper | HP Hardware Accelerated Graphics for Desktop Virtualization 23. Load supported version of NVIDIA graphics driver from NVIDIA web site. 24. Once you reboot the VM after installing the driver, the vCenter console may go black as the desktop is going to the NVIDIA card. To manage the VM, you will need to remove GPU or access remotely. 25. Install View Horizon Agent on VM. 26. In some cases it may be necessary to enable NVIDIA API, usually it is not needed.
PAGE 11
Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start Appendix A – Graphics Server Blade Video Modes Configuring Server Blade video mode The WS460c G6/Gen8 Graphics Server Blade has four distinct graphics modes that may be available. Depending on what OS is installed, different modes are used. In a nutshell, the Graphics Server Blade has an embedded graphics card as well a high end graphics card, depending on configuration, it is necessary to disable one or the other card.
PAGE 12
Technical white paper | HP Hardware Accelerated Graphics for Desktop Virtualization Server mode (WS460c G6 only) • This mode is deprecated and rarely used for troubleshooting only and is not used/supported in production • This mode operates in the same way as Admin mode Procedure to set Remote Console: 1. Using either iLO remote console or the Local I/O Connector, connect to server console 2. When prompted during boot, press the F9 key. The ROM-based Setup Utility appears 3.
PAGE 13
Solution Quick Start Guide | HP Graphics Server Blade VMware vDGA Quick Start Resources To read more about HP ProLiant WS460c Gen8 Graphics Server Blade, go to hp.com/go/bladeworkstation To learn more about HP Client Virtualization reference architectures, go to hp.com/go/cv HP and Citrix, hp.com/go/citrix and citrix.com/hp Citrix XenDesktop, citrix.com/xendesktop Citrix XenApp, citrix.com/xenapp Microsoft Hyper-V, microsoft.com/hyper-v HP and VMware View, hp.com/go/vmware and vmware.