Assign a Virtual Function to a Virtual Machine

To ensure that a virtual machine and a physical NIC can exchange data, you must associate a virtual machine with one or more virtual functions.

After you enable the virtual functions on the host, each of them becomes available as a PCI device.

Launch the vSphere Client and log in to a vCenter Server system.

Prerequisites

• Verify that the configuration of your environment supports SR-IOV. See SR-IOV Support.
• Verify that the virtual functions exist on the host.
• Verify that the passthrough networking device for the virtual function is active on the host.

Procedure

1. Select a virtual machine from the inventory panel of the vSphere Client.
2. Power off the virtual machine.
3. From the Inventory menu, select Virtual Machine > Edit Settings.
4. On the Resources tab, select Memory.
5. Select Unlimited.
6. On the Hardware tab, click Add.
7. Select PCI Device and click Next.
8. From the drop-down menu select the virtual function.
9. Click Finish.
10. Power on the virtual machine.

Results

Adding a virtual function as a PCI device to a virtual machine sets memory reservation to the memory size of the virtual machine.