If you need to use Windows GPU-accelerated compute-optimized instances or Windows vGPU-accelerated instances in graphics computing scenarios such as Open Graphics Library (OpenGL) and Direct3D scenarios, you must install a Windows GRID driver. If your GPU-accelerated instance is not configured with a GRID driver, you must install a GRID driver on the instance to ensure the performance of your instance. For example, you must install a GRID driver when you purchase an image that is not configured with a GRID driver from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace and use the image to create a GPU-accelerated instance, or when you cannot find the OS type and version that you want to use for your GRID driver. This topic describes how to install a GRID driver on a Windows GPU-accelerated instance and activate the GRID license.

Prerequisites

  • A GPU-accelerated instance is created. The instance can access the Internet. For more information, see Create a GPU-accelerated instance that is not configured with a driver.
    Note We recommend that you click Public Image and select a Windows image in the Image section.
  • A remote connection tool is installed on your computer.
  • The GRID license and the installation package for the GRID driver are obtained. To obtain the license and the package, submit a ticket.
    Note The version of the GRID driver must match the specifications of your GPU-accelerated instance and the region where the instance is deployed. Therefore, you must specify the specifications and the region in the ticket that you submit.

Background information

The operations that you perform to install a GRID driver on a Windows GPU-accelerated compute-optimized instance are similar to those that you perform to install a GRID driver on a Windows vGPU-accelerated instance. This topic describes how to install a GRID driver only on a vGPU-accelerated instance and activate the GRID license. In this example, a vGPU-accelerated instance that belongs to the instance family vgn6i and runs Windows Server 2019 is used.

Procedure

  1. Connect to the vGPU-accelerated instance. For more information, see Connect to a Windows instance by using a username and a password.
  2. Install the GRID driver that you have obtained.
    1. Double-click the installation package. In the dialog box that appears, click OK.
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      The package is decompressed.

    2. On the NVIDIA software installation page, click AGREE AND CONTINUE.
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    3. Use the default values and click NEXT.
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    4. After the driver is installed, click RESTART NOW.
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  3. After the instance restarts, connect to the instance and check whether the GRID driver is installed.
    1. Connect to the instance. For more information, see Connect to a Windows instance by using a username and a password.
    2. On your Windows desktop, move the pointer over the 2021-09-15_17-12-27 icon, right-click the icon, and then click Device Manager.
    3. In the Device Manager dialog box, click Display adaptors and check whether the driver appears. In this example, an NVIDIA GRID T4-8Q driver is used.

      The following figure shows that the NVIDIA GRID T4-8Q driver is installed.

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  4. Add a license server and activate the license.
    1. On your Windows desktop, right-click anywhere on the screen and select NVIDIA Control Panel.
      Select NVIDIA Control Panel
    2. The NVIDIA Control Panel dialog box appears. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Licensing > Manage License.
      Enter the IP address and port number of the license server
    3. On the Manage License page, enter the IP address and port number of your license server, and click Apply.
      Open the NVIDIA Control Panel dialog box again. If the message in the following figure appears, the license is activated. 2021-09-15_16-51-54