If you chose not to download and install the NVIDIA driver during the initial boot of the vSphere Bitfusion server virtual machine, you must install the driver manually.

There are two different installation methods of the NVIDIA driver depending on your vSphere Bitfusion cluster environment.
  • Installation directly from the Internet.
  • Installation in an air-gapped network environment with or without a local web server.

How to install the NVIDIA Driver for vSphere Bitfusion from the Internet

You can manually install the NVIDIA driver for your vSphere Bitfusion deployment. Follow this procedure if you chose not to download and install the NVIDIA driver during the initial boot of the vSphere Bitfusion server virtual machine (VM) and your vSphere Bitfusion has access to the Internet.

You can skip this procedure if you chose to download and install the NVIDIA driver during the initial boot of the vSphere Bitfusion server VM.

Prerequisites

  • The use of the NVIDIA driver implies acceptance of the NVIDIA Software License Agreement. See License For Customer Use of NVIDIA Software.
  • Verify that you use a certified NVIDIA driver version with your vSphere Bitfusion server.
    • The NVIDIA driver certified for use with vSphere Bitfusion 4.5.0 and 4.5.1 is NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-460.73.01.run.
    • The NVIDIA driver certified for use with vSphere Bitfusion 4.5.2 is NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-470.129.06.run.
    • The NVIDIA driver certified for use with vSphere Bitfusion 4.5.3 and 4.5.4 is NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-525.85.12.run.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the appliance shell of the vSphere Bitfusion server VM, where bitfusion_server_IP_address is the IP address of your vSphere Bitfusion server. 
    ssh customer@bitfusion_server_IP_address
  2. To install the NVIDIA driver, run the sudo install-nvidia-packages --defaults --yes command.
  3. Restart the VM.

Results

As the vSphere Bitfusion server VM powers on, allow the VM to run for 10 minutes or longer before performing any further configuration tasks or operations. During this time, the vSphere Bitfusion server registers with vCenter Server.

What to do next

Verify that the vSphere Bitfusion plug-in registers with vCenter Server

How to install the NVIDIA Driver in an air-gapped network environment

You can manually install the NVIDIA driver in an environment with an air-gapped network. Follow this procedure task if you chose not to download and install the NVIDIA driver during the initial boot of the vSphere Bitfusion server virtual machine (VM) and your vSphere Bitfusion does not have access to the Internet.

You can skip this procedure if you chose to download and install the NVIDIA driver during the initial boot of the vSphere Bitfusion server VM.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. Download the NVIDIA driver. 
    wget https://us.download.nvidia.com/tesla/525.85.12/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-525.85.12.run
  2. Move and install the NVIDIA driver.
    Follow the procedure to install the NVIDIA driver with by using either a local web server, or no web server, as appropriate for your vSphere Bitfusion network environment.
    Option Description
    Option Action
    With a local web server
    1. To copy the NVIDIA driver folder to the root directory or a similar directory on the local web server, run the scp command, where mylocalwebserver is the address of your local web server.
      scp ~/nvidia-packages/* mylogin@mylocalwebserver:/var/www/html/
    2. To log into the local web server, run the mylogin command, where mylocalwebserver is the address of your local web server.
      ssh mylogin@mylocalwebserver@mylocalwebserver
    3. To give read permission to the NVIDIA driver, run the chmod command.
      chmod +r /var/www/html/*
    4. To log into the vSphere Bitfusion server, run ssh customer@bf_server_IP_address, where bf_server_IP_address is the IP address of the vSphere Bitfusion server.
    5. To install the NVIDIA driver from the local web server, run the install-nvidia-packages command, where mylocalwebserver is the address of your local web server.
      sudo install-nvidia-packages --driver http://mylocalwebserver/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-525.85.12.run
    No web server
    1. To copy the NVIDIA driver to the vSphere Bitfusion server, run the scp command, where bf_server_IP_address is the IP address of the vSphere Bitfusion server.
      scp NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-525.85.12.run customer@bf_server_IP_address:~/nvidia-packages/
    2. To log into the vSphere Bitfusion server, run ssh customer@bf_server_IP_address, where bf_server_IP_address is the IP address of the vSphere Bitfusion server.
    3. To install the NVIDIA driver from the local file, browse to the nvidia-packages folder and run the install-nvidia-packages command.
      cd ~/nvidia-packages
sudo install-nvidia-packages --driver ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-525.85.12.run
  3. Restart the VM.

Results

As the vSphere Bitfusion server VM powers on, allow the VM to run from 10 to 30 minutes before performing any further configuration tasks or operations. During this time, the vSphere Bitfusion server registers with vCenter Server.

What to do next

Verify that the vSphere Bitfusion plug-in registers with vCenter Server