This is a quick guide for anyone setting up a passthrough box using ESXI as the host Hypervisor. Here is quick overview of my setup:
Base HP Z800 Workstation
2 - nVidia Quadro 3800 (1 for Windows 1 for Xubuntu 15.04)
1 - 240GB Intel SSD (VM Storage)
4 - 2TB HGST 3.5" Drives
VM Loadout:
1 Windows 7 Installation
1 Xubuntu Installation
1 FreeNAS Installation
The 4 2TB drives are configured in RAID 10 and given to FreeNAS for file storage between Windows and Xubuntu. FreeNAS runs in the background is typically not touched.
Windows installs without a problem with passthrough. Most of my issues were with Xubuntu seeing the GPU properly and displaying video properly.
The initial install goes fine and I can access the VM through either VMWare Workstation/Fusion or vSphere Console. However, the initial install does not see the secondary display causing a problem. To make this default to my monitor off of the GPU it took a few steps.
1. Install nVidia Drivers ( I am not going to detail this at all. There are plenty of guides)
2. Return to a TTY screen CTRL+ALT+F1
3. Login
4. Stop lightdm
5. Reconfigure X Server - this will generate a new xorg.conf file that we need to modify.
The xorg.conf file that it creates will be placed in your home directory and called xorg.conf.new it should look similar to:
As you see it pre-programs two screens for dual monitors Screen0 is the screen we want to keep as it is associated with Card0 which is our GPU. Your setup may vary so pay attention to what Device is associated with what screen. In my setup I removed everything related to my second monitor as the second monitor is the standard VMWare graphics card which I do not want to use. I edited the xorg.conf.new file to look like:
Save it in your home directory as "xorg.conf.new2". We now need to move this into the Xorg folder. Run the following command:
To test your configuration run this command:
You should be prompted with a login screen on your primary display. I then rebooted my setup to ensure that all was configured properly.
Any questions feel free to send me a message or reply!
Base HP Z800 Workstation
2 - nVidia Quadro 3800 (1 for Windows 1 for Xubuntu 15.04)
1 - 240GB Intel SSD (VM Storage)
4 - 2TB HGST 3.5" Drives
VM Loadout:
1 Windows 7 Installation
1 Xubuntu Installation
1 FreeNAS Installation
The 4 2TB drives are configured in RAID 10 and given to FreeNAS for file storage between Windows and Xubuntu. FreeNAS runs in the background is typically not touched.
Windows installs without a problem with passthrough. Most of my issues were with Xubuntu seeing the GPU properly and displaying video properly.
The initial install goes fine and I can access the VM through either VMWare Workstation/Fusion or vSphere Console. However, the initial install does not see the secondary display causing a problem. To make this default to my monitor off of the GPU it took a few steps.
1. Install nVidia Drivers ( I am not going to detail this at all. There are plenty of guides)
2. Return to a TTY screen CTRL+ALT+F1
3. Login
4. Stop lightdm
Code:
sudo service lightdm stopCode:
sudo Xorg -configureCode:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
FontPath "built-ins"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:11:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
### <percent>: "<f>%"
### [arg]: arg optional
#Option "HWcursor" # [<bool>]
#Option "Xinerama" # [<bool>]
#Option "StaticXinerama" # <str>
#Option "GuiLayout" # <str>
#Option "AddDefaultMode" # [<bool>]
#Option "RenderAccel" # [<bool>]
#Option "DRI" # [<bool>]
#Option "DirectPresents" # [<bool>]
#Option "HWPresents" # [<bool>]
#Option "RenderCheck" # [<bool>]
Identifier "Card1"
Driver "vmware"
BusID "PCI:0:15:0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 1
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 4
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 15
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Card1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 1
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 4
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 15
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSectionCode:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
FontPath "built-ins"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:11:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 1
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 4
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 15
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSectionCode:
sudo cp xorg.conf.new2 /etc/X11/xorg.confCode:
sudo service lightdm startAny questions feel free to send me a message or reply!