Intel Releases New Version Of XenGT Graphics Passthrough

The latest quarterly update to XenGT for Intel Graphics Virtualization Technology is now available that allows providing a complete vGPU solution with mediated GPU pass-through.

The XenGT 2014-Q4 update is the new version of this open-source software for Linux that provides a virtual GPU for each VM that in turn passes the calls onto the real Intel HD Graphics hardware of the system. With this latest update, Xen is still only supported but Intel GVT-g could be ported to other Linux hypervisors too.

This quarterly update to XenGT re-bases from the Linux 3.14.1 to Linux 3.17.0 kernel and provides bug-fixes, greater stability, initial work towards Broadwell although it doesn't work yet, interrupt virtualization support, and the IRQ-based context switch has been enabled in the VGT driver.

Intel's graphics virtualization team is still working towards integrating the GVT-g functionality into the upstream i915 DRM driver that's part of the mainline kernel. The next updated release to the XenGT stack is expected around April.

More details on this latest quarterly update for Intel's graphics virtualization technology on Linux can be found via the release announcement by Intel's Jike Song. This graphics virtualization support for Linux has been really coming about from Intel just over the past year. Hopefully this year we'll see this support working well (or another 3D pass-through solution like Virgil 3D) working for KVM+QEMU.