adding gpu for virtual machine

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brainbuddy

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Hello

I want to ad a GPU so that I can use it for a virtual machine.
Is this just as easy as putting in the GPU and it works or do I need to do a ton of different stuff in order to get this to work?
 

pirateghost

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There is no support for such a configuration?

You can attempt to get iohyve working with PCI passthrough, but if you're actually going to ask if the GPU will "just work" with no configuration, I don't see this happening. It won't work with virtual box either.

For what purpose do you think this will benefit you? Please don't say you plan on using your FreeNAS as a workstation or gaming machine...
 

golfleep

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For what purpose do you think this will benefit you? Please don't say you plan on using your FreeNAS as a workstation or gaming machine...

I'm not the OP, but I've often wished I could access the GUI of a VM directly on my FreeNAS build, rather than through another computer via VNC. I have a linux VM running for the purposes of Crashplan, for instance, and my NAS is located in my home office. Most of the time the VM is relatively idle, and rather than firing up another computer, it would be nice to be able to plug in a monitor and access the VM directly on the NAS to check email, check the freeNAS forums, have the FreeNAS web GUI running in the background, or even just to use as another HTPC.
 

pirateghost

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I'm not the OP, but I've often wished I could access the GUI of a VM directly on my FreeNAS build, rather than through another computer via VNC. I have a linux VM running for the purposes of Crashplan, for instance, and my NAS is located in my home office. Most of the time the VM is relatively idle, and rather than firing up another computer, it would be nice to be able to plug in a monitor and access the VM directly on the NAS to check email, check the freeNAS forums, have the FreeNAS web GUI running in the background, or even just to use as another HTPC.
Sounds like you need a base freebsd install then.
 

golfleep

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The graphical interface of FreeNAS and the relative ease of setup is a very appealing aspect of FreeNAS, and not ones that I would want to give up by going to a base FreeBSD installation! Having PCI passthrough just seems like it would be a nice feature if it could be safely implemented.
 

pirateghost

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Supposedly, in FreeNAS 10 we should see some better hypervisor integration, and possibly a supported way of doing some PCI passthrough.

I treat FreeNAS like an appliance, and always have, always will. I have purpose machines to do the things you are talking about. Pi3's handle all my media center functions on all the TVs, we have gaming machines for playing games, and laptops/desktops for browsing...
 

tvsjr

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I treat FreeNAS like an appliance, and always have, always will. I have purpose machines to do the things you are talking about. Pi3's handle all my media center functions on all the TVs, we have gaming machines for playing games, and laptops/desktops for browsing...
Amen. Let FreeNAS be FreeNAS. If you want to run high-performance VMs with GPUs, build a VM host. ESXi 6.5 works very nicely, for free, or get the $200/year VMUG package and run a big vSphere.
 

Ericloewe

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and possibly a supported way of doing some PCI passthrough.
That's the long-term plan, but it's not going to happen for Release, last I checked.
 

nexusjosh

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Sep 30, 2018
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Is there any work on this? My friend recommended that I install FreeNAS, after just finishing my DIY Server, purchased from Ebay, and put together myself. The biggest thing I want to do is run a Plex Server, and one of the big things with plex is GPU Accelerated Encoding. I installed a 1060 for that purpose. Is there any update on PCI Pass through before I move on to a different solution?
 
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