This section describes how to enable the SR-IOV on KVM.

To enabling the SR-IOV on KVM:

  1. Enable SR-IOV in BIOS. This will be dependent on your BIOS. Login to the BIOS console and look for SR-IOV Support/DMA. You can verify support on the prompt by checking that Intel has the correct cpu flag. 
    cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep vmx
  2. Add the options on Bboot. 
    GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="intel_iommu=on"

    (in /etc/default/grub)

    1. After this, use the Run command: update-grub and update-initramfs -u.
    2. Reboot
    3. Make sure iommu is enabled. 
      velocloud@KVMperf3:~$ dmesg | grep -i IOMMU
 [ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.13.0-107-generic root=/dev/mapper/qa--multiboot--002--vg-root ro intel_iommu=on splash quiet vt.handoff=7 
 [ 0.000000] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.13.0-107-generic root=/dev/mapper/qa--multiboot--002--vg-root ro intel_iommu=on splash quiet vt.handoff=7 
 [ 0.000000] Intel-IOMMU: enabled
 ….
 velocloud@KVMperf3:~$
  3. Add the ixgbe Driver in Linux.

    https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/14687/Intel-Network-Adapter-Driver-for-PCIe-Intel-10-Gigabit-Ethernet-Network-Connections-Under-Linux-

    Download on left 5.2.1

    1. Download ixgbe from intel. Follow compile options.
    2. Configure ixgbe config (tar and sudo make install).

      velocloud@KVMperf1:~$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/ixgbe.conf

    3. If the file doesn’t exist, create it. 
      options ixgbe max_vfs=32,32
options ixgbe allow_unsupported_sfp=1
options ixgbe MDD=0,0
blacklist ixgbevf
    4. Remember to do update-initramfs -u and reboot.
    5. Use modinfo to see if it is properly installed. 
      velocloud@KVMperf1:~$ modinfo ixgbe and ip link
 filename: /lib/modules/4.4.0-62-generic/updates/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe.ko
 version: 5.0.4
 license: GPL
 description: Intel(R) 10GbE PCI Express Linux Network Driver
 author: Intel Corporation, <[email protected]>
 srcversion: BA7E024DFE57A92C4F1DC93
    After rebooting, you should see the interfaces.