VMware guest GL driver
======================
This page describes how to build, install and use the
`VMware `__ guest GL driver (aka the SVGA or
SVGA3D driver) for Linux using the latest source code. This driver gives
a Linux virtual machine access to the host's GPU for
hardware-accelerated 3D. VMware Workstation running on Linux or Windows
and VMware Fusion running on MacOS are all supported.
With the August 2015 Workstation 12 / Fusion 8 releases, OpenGL 3.3 is
supported in the guest. This requires:
- The VM is configured for virtual hardware version 12.
- The host OS, GPU and graphics driver supports DX11 (Windows) or
OpenGL 4.0 (Linux, Mac)
- On Linux, the vmwgfx kernel module must be version 2.9.0 or later.
- A recent version of Mesa with the updated svga gallium driver.
Otherwise, OpenGL 2.1 is supported.
OpenGL 3.3 support can be disabled by setting the environment variable
``SVGA_VGPU10=0``. You will then have OpenGL 2.1 support. This may be
useful to work around application bugs (such as incorrect use of the
OpenGL 3.x core profile).
Most modern Linux distros include the SVGA3D driver so end users
shouldn't be concerned with this information. But if your distro lacks
the driver or you want to update to the latest code these instructions
explain what to do.
For more information about the X components see these wiki pages at
x.org:
- `Driver Overview `__
- `xf86-video-vmware
Details `__
Components
----------
The components involved in this include:
- Linux kernel module: vmwgfx
- X server 2D driver: xf86-video-vmware
- User-space libdrm library
- Mesa/gallium OpenGL driver: "svga"
All of these components reside in the guest Linux virtual machine. On
the host, all you're doing is running VMware
`Workstation `__ or
`Fusion `__.
Prerequisites
-------------
- Kernel version at least 2.6.25
- Xserver version at least 1.7
- Ubuntu: For ubuntu you need to install a number of build
dependencies.
.. code-block:: bash
sudo apt-get install git-core
sudo apt-get install automake libtool libpthread-stubs0-dev
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-dev x11proto-xinerama-dev libx11-xcb-dev
sudo apt-get install libxcb-glx0-dev libxrender-dev
sudo apt-get build-dep libgl1-mesa-dri libxcb-glx0-dev
- Fedora: For Fedora you also need to install a number of build
dependencies.
.. code-block:: bash
sudo yum install mesa-libGL-devel xorg-x11-server-devel xorg-x11-util-macros
sudo yum install libXrender-devel.i686
sudo yum install automake gcc libtool expat-devel kernel-devel git-core
sudo yum install makedepend flex bison
Depending on your Linux distro, other packages may be needed. The
configure scripts should tell you what's missing.
Getting the Latest Source Code
------------------------------
Begin by saving your current directory location:
.. code-block:: bash
export TOP=$PWD
- Mesa/Gallium master branch. This code is used to build libGL, and the
direct rendering svga driver for libGL, vmwgfx\_dri.so, and the X
acceleration library libxatracker.so.x.x.x.
.. code-block:: bash
git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/mesa/mesa
- VMware Linux guest kernel module. Note that this repo contains the
complete DRM and TTM code. The vmware-specific driver is really only
the files prefixed with vmwgfx.
.. code-block:: bash
git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/mesa/vmwgfx
- libdrm, a user-space library that interfaces with drm. Most distros
ship with this but it's safest to install a newer version. To get the
latest code from git:
.. code-block:: bash
git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/mesa/drm
- xf86-video-vmware. The chainloading driver, vmware\_drv.so, the
legacy driver vmwlegacy\_drv.so, and the vmwgfx driver
vmwgfx\_drv.so.
.. code-block:: bash
git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/xorg/driver/xf86-video-vmware
Building the Code
-----------------
- Determine where the GL-related libraries reside on your system and
set the LIBDIR environment variable accordingly.
For 32-bit Ubuntu systems:
.. code-block:: bash
export LIBDIR=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu
For 64-bit Ubuntu systems:
.. code-block:: bash
export LIBDIR=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
For 32-bit Fedora systems:
.. code-block:: bash
export LIBDIR=/usr/lib
For 64-bit Fedora systems:
.. code-block:: bash
export LIBDIR=/usr/lib64
- Build libdrm:
.. code-block:: bash
cd $TOP/drm
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --libdir=${LIBDIR}
make
sudo make install
- Build Mesa and the vmwgfx\_dri.so driver, the vmwgfx\_drv.so xorg
driver, the X acceleration library libxatracker. The vmwgfx\_dri.so
is used by the OpenGL libraries during direct rendering, and by the
Xorg server during accelerated indirect GL rendering. The
libxatracker library is used exclusively by the X server to do
render, copy and video acceleration:
The following configure options doesn't build the EGL system.
.. code-block:: bash
cd $TOP/mesa
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --libdir=${LIBDIR} --with-gallium-drivers=svga --with-dri-drivers=swrast --enable-xa --disable-dri3 --enable-glx-tls
make
sudo make install
Note that you may have to install other packages that Mesa depends
upon if they're not installed in your system. You should be told
what's missing.
- xf86-video-vmware: Now, once libxatracker is installed, we proceed
with building and replacing the current Xorg driver. First check if
your system is 32- or 64-bit.
.. code-block:: bash
cd $TOP/xf86-video-vmware
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --libdir=${LIBDIR}
make
sudo make install
- vmwgfx kernel module. First make sure that any old version of this
kernel module is removed from the system by issuing
.. code-block:: text
sudo rm /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx.ko*
Build and install:
.. code-block:: bash
cd $TOP/vmwgfx
make
sudo make install
sudo depmod -a
If you're using a Ubuntu OS:
.. code-block:: bash
sudo update-initramfs -u
If you're using a Fedora OS:
.. code-block:: bash
sudo dracut --force
Add 'vmwgfx' to the /etc/modules file:
.. code-block:: bash
echo vmwgfx | sudo tee -a /etc/modules
**Note**: some distros put DRM kernel drivers in different directories.
For example, sometimes vmwgfx.ko might be found in
``/lib/modules/{version}/extra/vmwgfx.ko`` or in
``/lib/modules/{version}/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx/vmwgfx.ko``.
After installing vmwgfx.ko you might want to run the following
command to check that the new kernel module is in the expected place:
.. code-block:: bash
find /lib/modules -name vmwgfx.ko -exec ls -l '{}' \;
If you see the kernel module listed in more than one place, you may
need to move things around.
Finally, if you update your kernel you'll probably have to rebuild
and reinstall the vmwgfx.ko module again.
Now try to load the kernel module by issuing
.. code-block:: bash
sudo modprobe vmwgfx
Then type
.. code-block:: bash
dmesg
to watch the debug output. It should contain a number of lines prefixed
with "[vmwgfx]".
Then restart the Xserver (or reboot). The lines starting with
"vmwlegacy" or "VMWARE" in the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log should now have
been replaced with lines starting with "vmwgfx", indicating that the new
Xorg driver is in use.
Running OpenGL Programs
-----------------------
In a shell, run ``glxinfo`` and look for the following to verify that the
driver is working:
.. code-block:: text
OpenGL vendor string: VMware, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on SVGA3D; build: RELEASE;
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 8.0
If you don't see this, try setting this environment variable:
.. code-block:: bash
export LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose
then rerun glxinfo and examine the output for error messages.
If OpenGL 3.3 is not working (you only get OpenGL 2.1):
- Make sure the VM uses hardware version 12.
- Make sure the vmwgfx kernel module is version 2.9.0 or later.
- Check the vmware.log file for errors.
- Run ``dmesg | grep vmwgfx`` and look for "DX: yes".