You must install an NVIDIA GRID driver if your compute optimized instances with GPU capabilities require Open Graphics Library (OpenGL). By default, the NVIDIA GRID license that is granted to NVIDIA GPUs is not activated. You can activate the license by using a trial license to build a license server. This topic describes how to install an NVIDIA GRID driver for instances that are running 64-bit Windows Server 2016 of the lightweight vgn6i and vgn5i compute optimized instance families with GPU capabilities.

Prerequisites

  • A vgn6i or vgn5i instance that can access the Internet is created. For more information, see Create a compute optimized instance with GPU. We recommend that you select a Public Image when you create an instance.
  • A remote connection tool such as VNC Viewer is installed on your local machine.
  • An NVIDIA GRID license is obtained. To obtain a license, you can:
    • Submit a ticket to obtain a temporary license for trial. You do not need to build a license server to use this method.
      Note You can submit a ticket to obtain a temporary license for trial only when you use vgn6i or vgn5i instances.
    • Purchase a license from NVIDIA. You must build a license server to use this method. You can purchase an ECS instance and build a license server by following the tutorial that is on the official website of NVIDIA.

Procedure

  1. Remotely connect to an ECS instance. For more information, see Overview.
  2. Download the NVIDIA GRID driver package.
  3. Double-click the package and follow the prompts to complete the installation.
    Note On Windows instances where the installed GPU drivers have taken effect, Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) may not support graphics-related applications such as DirectX and OpenGL. In this case, you must install the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) server and client or use other protocols that support these applications, such as PC over IP (PCoIP) and XenDesktop HDX 3D.
  4. Restart the instance.
  5. Add a license server and activate the license.
    1. Connect to the instance.
    2. Right-click the desktop and click NVIDIA Control Panel.
      Click NVIDIA Control Panel
    3. Choose Licensing > Manage License.
    4. Enter the IP address and port number of the license server. Click Apply.
      Enter the IP address and port number of the license server
      If "Your system is licensed for GRID vGPU" is displayed, the license is activated.