Optimizing NVIDIA vGPU on Omnissa Horizon Cloud for Microsoft Azure

In this blog post, we'll explore the optimizations when leveraging NVIDIA vGPU on the Omnissa Horizon Cloud for Azure, and provide practical tips and strategies.

As the demand for high-performance computing continues to grow, organizations are increasingly turning to virtualized GPU (vGPU) solutions to power their most resource-intensive workloads. One such is the integration of NVIDIA vGPU technology with the Omnissa Horizon Cloud platform on Microsoft Azure.

Agenda:

1.      Install NVIDIA drivers certified for MS Azure on the Golden Image / Master

2.      Perform OS Optimization on the Golden Image / Master

3.      Install NVIDIA Control Panel using Omnissa DEM

 

Install NVIDIA drivers certified for MS Azure on the Golden Image / Master

The N series based instances contain NVIDIA GPUs utilizing the vGPU technology.

The Microsoft recommended vGPU driver version (currently 17.5) can be downloaded here

Install it on the Master Image and reboot the machine.

 

Perform OS Optimization on the Golden Image / Master

Running the Omnissa OS Optimization Tool for Windows based images is highly recommended.

However, if run with default settings, it will disable Windows UI and some application based graphics acceleration, increasing CPU load and reducing user experience by introducing performance or UI penalties.

A XML file for the OS Optimization Tools enables all 3D acceleration options. It can be downloaded here.

 

Install NVIDIA Control Panel using Omnissa DEM

 
Microsoft Windows 10 and 11 operating systems contain several Modern UI / Windows Store Apps by default.

Some of these apps can cause issues with the Microsoft System Preparation (Sysprep) utility. The Omnissa Horizon Cloud Next Gen publishing workflow depends on that utility.  That’s the reason why Omnissa removes most of the Modern UI apps when publishing a Master. Only some whitelisted Apps remain. That’s the reason why the NVIDIA Control Panel gets automatically removed after installing the NVIDIA driver and the control panel on the Golden Image / Master.

Have a look into the Omnissa documentation about that topic.

However, the NVIDIA control panel is important to apply optimized 3D application settings for 3D apps like CAD apps, which benefit from these settings. Therefore, it is important to install the control panel for cloned production desktops.

1.      Download the NVIDIA control panel app into the Master or at another location. There are several ways to download Modern UI based apps manually. One is https://store.rg-adguard.net/

2.      Deploy it as an application to the virtual desktop. This could be performed by packaging an Omnissa AppVolumes MSI-X based package, Microsoft GPO, or Omnissa Dynamic Environment Manager (DEM), The DEM way is shown below.

 

In DEM use a Logon Task to provide the App at logon.
Use the following command
powershell.exe -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Path 'C:\Sources \NVIDIACorp.NVIDIAControlPanel_8.1.967.0_x64__56jybvy8sckqj.appx'"
Use the check box Run asynchronously to tune the logon performance.

Use as Condition so that all virtual Desktops, which have the NVIDIA vGPU driver installed, should get the Control panel.

 C:\Windows\System32\drivers\NVIDIA Corporation