ESXi host setup for MI350P passthrough

ESXi host setup for MI350P passthrough#

This section describes the ESXi host configuration required before you create a virtual machine with MI350P GPU passthrough. A prerequisite for this setup is an ESXi installation on the host machine. This guide uses ESXi 9.1, but the procedure should be similar for other ESXi versions in the 9.x family.

Access the ESXi host web UI#

You need access to the host web UI. You can obtain the link from the system initial boot page after the ESXi host starts.

ESXi Direct Console User Interface showing the host management URL on the initial boot page

ESXi host web UI address from the initial boot page. The Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) displays the HTTPS management URL (for example, https://10.216.113.142/) that you use to open the VMware Host Client in a browser.#

After a successful login, the ESXi host welcome screen confirms that the installation is healthy and the host is ready for configuration.

VMware Host Client Summary page for the ESXi host after login

ESXi host welcome screen after login. The Summary tab shows host details, capacity and usage, and any active alarms (such as SSH enabled or license expiration notices).#

Enable SSH on the ESXi host#

You use SSH access during VM installation, for example, to download the Ubuntu installer ISO to a datastore. Enable SSH as follows:

  1. Navigate to Configure → Services.

  2. Select SSH from the Services list.

  3. Click Start.

Optionally, use Edit Startup Policy to set SSH to Start and stop with host so it remains available after a reboot.

ESXi Configure Services page with SSH selected and running

Enable SSH under Configure → Services. Select SSH from the Services list, confirm the daemon status is Running, and click Start. Use Edit Startup Policy to keep SSH available after a host reboot.#

Enable passthrough for MI350P GPUs#

Toggle passthrough mode for the MI350P GPUs before you assign them to a virtual machine:

  1. Navigate to Configure → Hardware → PCI Devices.

  2. Type Processing accelerators in the search bar to filter the list to MI350P GPUs. This label appears in the ESXi UI for the MI350P device class.

  3. Select the device, or all devices if you are assigning more than one, by ticking the checkbox.

  4. Click Toggle passthrough.

ESXi PCI Devices page showing MI350P GPUs before passthrough is enabled

Enable passthrough for MI350P GPUs under Configure → Hardware → PCI Devices. Filter by Processing accelerators, select the target device or devices, and click Toggle passthrough. Before toggling, the Passthrough column shows Disabled.#

After the operation completes, refresh the PCI Devices page. The Passthrough column should show Active for each selected MI350P device.

ESXi PCI Devices page showing passthrough status Active for the MI350P GPU

Passthrough status Active after refresh. Each selected MI350P GPU should show Passthrough: Active before you proceed to VM creation.#

Note

Passthrough must be enabled at the host level before you can add a GPU to a VM as a Fixed DirectPath IO PCI device.

Continue to guest setup#

After SSH is enabled and passthrough is active for all target MI350P GPUs, proceed to Ubuntu 24.04 guest setup to create and configure the virtual machine.

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