docs/vmware-guest.html

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  10 <div class="header">
  11   <h1>The Mesa 3D Graphics Library</h1>
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  16
  17 <h1>VMware guest GL driver</h1>
  18
  19 <p>
  20 This page describes how to build, install and use the
  21 <a href="https://www.vmware.com/">VMware</a> guest GL driver
  22 (aka the SVGA or SVGA3D driver) for Linux using the latest source code.
  23 This driver gives a Linux virtual machine access to the host's GPU for
  24 hardware-accelerated 3D.
  25 VMware Workstation running on Linux or Windows and VMware Fusion running on
  26 MacOS are all supported.
  27 </p>
  28
  29 <p>
  30 With the August 2015 Workstation 12 / Fusion 8 releases, OpenGL 3.3
  31 is supported in the guest.
  32 This requires:
  33 <ul>
  34 <li>The VM is configured for virtual hardware version 12.
  35 <li>The host OS, GPU and graphics driver supports DX11 (Windows) or
  36     OpenGL 4.0 (Linux, Mac)
  37 <li>On Linux, the vmwgfx kernel module must be version 2.9.0 or later.
  38 <li>A recent version of Mesa with the updated svga gallium driver.
  39 </ul>
  40 </p>
  41
  42 <p>
  43 Otherwise, OpenGL 2.1 is supported.
  44 </p>
  45
  46 <p>
  47 OpenGL 3.3 support can be disabled by setting the environment variable
  48 SVGA_VGPU10=0.
  49 You will then have OpenGL 2.1 support.
  50 This may be useful to work around application bugs (such as incorrect use
  51 of the OpenGL 3.x core profile).
  52 </p>
  53
  54 <p>
  55 Most modern Linux distros include the SVGA3D driver so end users shouldn't
  56 be concerned with this information.
  57 But if your distro lacks the driver or you want to update to the latest code
  58 these instructions explain what to do.
  59 </p>
  60
  61 <p>
  62 For more information about the X components see these wiki pages at x.org:
  63 </p>
  64 <ul>
  65 <li><a href="https://wiki.x.org/wiki/vmware">
  66 Driver Overview</a>
  67 <li><a href="https://wiki.x.org/wiki/vmware/vmware3D">
  68 xf86-video-vmware Details</a>
  69 </ul>
  70
  71
  72 <h2>Components</h2>
  73
  74 The components involved in this include:
  75 <ul>
  76 <li>Linux kernel module: vmwgfx
  77 <li>X server 2D driver: xf86-video-vmware
  78 <li>User-space libdrm library
  79 <li>Mesa/gallium OpenGL driver: "svga"
  80 </ul>
  81
  82 <p>
  83 All of these components reside in the guest Linux virtual machine.
  84 On the host, all you're doing is running VMware
  85 <a href="https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation/">Workstation</a> or
  86 <a href="https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/">Fusion</a>.
  87 </p>
  88
  89
  90 <h2>Prerequisites</h2>
  91
  92 <ul>
  93 <li>Kernel version at least 2.6.25
  94 <li>Xserver version at least 1.7
  95 <li>Ubuntu: For ubuntu you need to install a number of build dependencies.
  96   <pre>
  97   sudo apt-get install git-core
  98   sudo apt-get install automake libtool libpthread-stubs0-dev
  99   sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-dev x11proto-xinerama-dev libx11-xcb-dev
 100   sudo apt-get install libxcb-glx0-dev libxrender-dev
 101   sudo apt-get build-dep libgl1-mesa-dri libxcb-glx0-dev
 102   </pre>
 103 <li>Fedora: For Fedora you also need to install a number of build dependencies.
 104   <pre>
 105   sudo yum install mesa-libGL-devel xorg-x11-server-devel xorg-x11-util-macros
 106   sudo yum install libXrender-devel.i686
 107   sudo yum install automake gcc libtool expat-devel kernel-devel git-core
 108   sudo yum install makedepend flex bison
 109   </pre>
 110 </ul>
 111
 112 <p>
 113 Depending on your Linux distro, other packages may be needed.
 114 The configure scripts should tell you what's missing.
 115 </p>
 116
 117
 118
 119 <h2>Getting the Latest Source Code</h2>
 120
 121 Begin by saving your current directory location:
 122   <pre>
 123   export TOP=$PWD
 124   </pre>
 125
 126 <ul>
 127 <li>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.
 128   <pre>
 129   git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/mesa/mesa
 130   </pre>
 131 <li>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.
 132   <pre>
 133   git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/mesa/vmwgfx
 134   </pre>
 135 <li>libdrm, a user-space library that interfaces with drm.
 136 Most distros ship with this but it's safest to install a newer version.
 137 To get the latest code from git:
 138   <pre>
 139   git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/mesa/drm
 140   </pre>
 141 <li>xf86-video-vmware. The chainloading driver, vmware_drv.so, the legacy driver vmwlegacy_drv.so, and the vmwgfx driver vmwgfx_drv.so.
 142   <pre>
 143   git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/xorg/driver/xf86-video-vmware
 144   </pre>
 145 </ul>
 146
 147
 148 <h2>Building the Code</h2>
 149
 150 <ul>
 151 <li>
 152 Determine where the GL-related libraries reside on your system and set
 153 the LIBDIR environment variable accordingly.
 154 <br><br>
 155 For 32-bit Ubuntu systems:
 156 <pre>
 157   export LIBDIR=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu
 158 </pre>
 159 For 64-bit Ubuntu systems:
 160 <pre>
 161   export LIBDIR=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
 162 </pre>
 163 For 32-bit Fedora systems:
 164 <pre>
 165   export LIBDIR=/usr/lib
 166 </pre>
 167 For 64-bit Fedora systems:
 168 <pre>
 169   export LIBDIR=/usr/lib64
 170 </pre>
 171
 172 </li>
 173
 174 <li>Build libdrm:
 175   <pre>
 176   cd $TOP/drm
 177   ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --libdir=${LIBDIR}
 178   make
 179   sudo make install
 180   </pre>
 181 <li>Build Mesa and the vmwgfx_dri.so driver, the vmwgfx_drv.so xorg driver, the X acceleration library libxatracker.
 182 The vmwgfx_dri.so is used by the OpenGL libraries during direct rendering,
 183 and by the Xorg server during accelerated indirect GL rendering.
 184 The libxatracker library is used exclusively by the X server to do render,
 185 copy and video acceleration:
 186 <br>
 187 The following configure options doesn't build the EGL system.
 188   <pre>
 189   cd $TOP/mesa
 190   ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --libdir=${LIBDIR} --with-gallium-drivers=svga --with-dri-drivers=swrast --enable-xa --disable-dri3 --enable-glx-tls
 191   make
 192   sudo make install
 193   </pre>
 194
 195 Note that you may have to install other packages that Mesa depends upon
 196 if they're not installed in your system.  You should be told what's missing.
 197 <br>
 198 <br>
 199
 200 <li>xf86-video-vmware: Now, once libxatracker is installed, we proceed with
 201 building and replacing the current Xorg driver.
 202 First check if your system is 32- or 64-bit.
 203   <pre>
 204   cd $TOP/xf86-video-vmware
 205   ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --libdir=${LIBDIR}
 206   make
 207   sudo make install
 208   </pre>
 209
 210 <li>vmwgfx kernel module. First make sure that any old version of this kernel module is removed from the system by issuing
 211 <pre>
 212   sudo rm /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx.ko*
 213 </pre>
 214 Build and install:
 215 <pre>
 216   cd $TOP/vmwgfx
 217   make
 218   sudo make install
 219   sudo depmod -a
 220 </pre>
 221 If you're using a Ubuntu OS:
 222 <pre>
 223   sudo update-initramfs -u
 224 </pre>
 225 If you're using a Fedora OS:
 226 <pre>
 227   sudo dracut --force
 228 </pre>
 229 Add 'vmwgfx' to the /etc/modules file:
 230 <pre>
 231   echo vmwgfx | sudo tee -a /etc/modules
 232 </pre>
 233
 234 Note: some distros put DRM kernel drivers in different directories.
 235 For example, sometimes vmwgfx.ko might be found in
 236 <code>/lib/modules/{version}/extra/vmwgfx.ko</code> or in
 237 <code>/lib/modules/{version}/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx/vmwgfx.ko</code>.
 238 <p>
 239 After installing vmwgfx.ko you might want to run the following command to
 240 check that the new kernel module is in the expected place:
 241 <pre>
 242   find /lib/modules -name vmwgfx.ko -exec ls -l '{}' \;
 243 </pre>
 244 If you see the kernel module listed in more than one place, you may need to
 245 move things around.
 246 <p>
 247 Finally, if you update your kernel you'll probably have to rebuild and
 248 reinstall the vmwgfx.ko module again.
 249 </ul>
 250
 251
 252 Now try to load the kernel module by issuing
 253   <pre>
 254   sudo modprobe vmwgfx</pre>
 255 Then type
 256   <pre>
 257   dmesg</pre>
 258 to watch the debug output. It should contain a number of lines prefixed with "[vmwgfx]".
 259
 260 <p>
 261 Then restart the Xserver (or reboot).
 262 The lines starting with "vmwlegacy" or "VMWARE" in the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log
 263 should now have been replaced with lines starting with "vmwgfx", indicating that
 264 the new Xorg driver is in use.
 265 </p>
 266
 267
 268 <h2>Running OpenGL Programs</h2>
 269
 270 <p>
 271 In a shell, run 'glxinfo' and look for the following to verify that the
 272 driver is working:
 273 </p>
 274
 275 <pre>
 276 OpenGL vendor string: VMware, Inc.
 277 OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on SVGA3D; build: RELEASE;
 278 OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 8.0
 279 </pre>
 280
 281 <p>
 282 If you don't see this, try setting this environment variable:
 283   <pre>
 284   export LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose</pre>
 285 <p>
 286 then rerun glxinfo and examine the output for error messages.
 287 </p>
 288
 289 <p>
 290 If OpenGL 3.3 is not working (you only get OpenGL 2.1):
 291 </p>
 292 <ul>
 293 <li>Make sure the VM uses hardware version 12.
 294 <li>Make sure the vmwgfx kernel module is version 2.9.0 or later.
 295 <li>Check the vmware.log file for errors.
 296 <li>Run 'dmesg | grep vmwgfx' and look for "DX: yes".
 297
 298
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