“Could not initialize plugin '/usr/lib64/vmware/plugin/libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU "profile_name"” error when powering on the VM

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Unable to power on the virtual machine using nvidia graphics card.
• You see the error:
  
  The amount of graphics resource available in the parent resource pool is insufficient for the operation.
  An error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM <VM_name>
  Failed to start the virtual machine.
  Module 'DevicePowerOn' power on failed.
  Could not initialize plugin '/usr/lib64/vmware/plugin/libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU 'Profile_name'.
  No graphics device is available for vGPU 'Profile_name'.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the default GPU mode is Shared (vSGA) instead of Shared Direct (vGPU).

Resolution

To resolve this issue, change the GPU mode from Shared (vSGA) to Shared Direct (vGPU) using vCenter Server:

 

To change the GPU mode to Shared Direct (vGPU):

1. Select the ESXi host within the vCenter UI.
2. Select the Configure tab.
3. Click Graphics.
4. Select each GPUs that must use vGPU.
5. Click Edit to modify the Graphics device settings.
6. Select Shared Direct for vGPU.
7. Restart the xorg service or reboot the ESXi for the changes to take effect.
   
   Run this command through SSH to restart the xorg service:
   #/etc/init.d/xorg restart

 

Note: vGPU virtual machines starts normally.

Note: Xorg service is no longer required for Nvidia vGPU profiles in vSphere 7.0 U1 (81912)

Additional Information

打开虚拟机电源时报错：无法为 vGPU "profile_name" 初始化插件 "/usr/lib64/vmware/plugin/libnvidia-vgx.so" (Could not initialize plugin '/usr/lib64/vmware/plugin/libnvidia-vgx.so' for vGPU "profile_name")