Project: Proxmox Standalone GPU Passthrough Server Build

This Chapter is for a proxmox build and passing a GPU into one of the virtual machines.

Project: Proxmox Standalone GPU Passthrough Server Build

Date: May 31st 2025
Category: Virtualization / Homelab Build

Hardware Overview

Component Model / Spec
Motherboard Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite AX V2
CPU AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8-core / 16-thread)
GPU NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super
RAM 32GB DDR4 3200 MHz
Drive 1 (OS) Kioxia 512GB NVMe Gen4
Drive 2 (VMs) Inland 512GB NVMe Gen3
Host OS Proxmox VE 8.2.7
Primary VM Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS (NVIDIA ISO)

BIOS Setup for Proxmox + GPU Passthrough

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite AX V2

1. Enter BIOS

2. Load Optimized Defaults (Recommended)

3. Enable Virtualization (SVM Mode)

4. Enable IOMMU

5. Enable Above 4G Decoding

6. Set Initial Display Output

7. Disable CSM for UEFI Boot

8. Resizable BAR Support (Optional)

9. Fan Control (Optional)

10. Save and Exit

Now its time to install proxmox on the new setup.

Installing Proxmox VE 8.2 on a Standalone GPU Passthrough Server

Date: June 1st, 2025
Category: Virtualization / Proxmox Deployment
Backlink: Project: Proxmox Standalone GPU Passthrough Server Build

Requirements

Step 1: Download and Flash Proxmox ISO

  1. Go to Proxmox Downloads

  2. Download the latest ISO: proxmox-ve_8.2-1.iso (or newer)

  3. Use Balena Etcher or Rufus to flash it to a USB drive

    • Select ISO

    • Select USB

    • Click Flash

Step 2: Install Proxmox VE

  1. Boot from the USB using UEFI Boot Mode

  2. Select Install Proxmox VE from the menu

  3. Accept license agreement

  4. Choose the Gen4 NVMe (Kioxia in this case) as the target disk

  5. Configure:

    • Region & Timezone

    • Strong root password & email

    • Hostname (e.g. proxmox-node2.local)

    • Static IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.101) or use DHCP for testing

Step 3: First Boot and Web GUI Access

Step 4: Secondary Drive (Optional)

If you have a second NVMe (like an Inland Gen3):

  1. Go to Datacenter > Disks

  2. Select /dev/nvme1n1

  3. Wipe the disk

  4. Initialize it with GPT

  5. Create a new storage:

    • As LVM-Thin for VM disk storage

    • Or as Directory for ISOs/backups

Installing Pop!_OS (NVIDIA Edition) in Proxmox

Date: June 1st, 2025
Category: Virtualization / VM Guest OS Configuration
Backlink: Installing Proxmox VE 8.2 on a Standalone GPU Passthrough Server

Goal

Install Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS (NVIDIA ISO) as a Proxmox VM with a passed-through RTX 2070 Super GPU, ensuring full graphics acceleration and NVIDIA driver functionality.

Step 1: Download the Pop!_OS NVIDIA ISO

Download directly to Proxmox or to your workstation:

🔗 Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS NVIDIA ISO

Option 1: Upload via Proxmox GUI

Option 2: Download from URL

The ISO will appear in the list once it's downloaded.

Step 2: Create the Pop!_OS VM

General Tab

OS Tab

System Tab

Disks Tab

CPU Tab

Memory Tab

Network Tab

Click Finish to create the VM.

Step 3: Attach GPU (Passthrough)

  1. Stop the VM.

  2. Go to Hardware > Add > PCI Device

  3. Select both:

    • 01:00.0 NVIDIA VGA Controller

    • 01:00.1 NVIDIA HD Audio

  4. Enable:

    • ✅ All Functions

    • ✅ Primary GPU

    • ✅ ROM-Bar

Step 4: Boot and Install Pop!_OS

 

Setting Up SSH Access in Pop!_OS (Proxmox VM)

Date: June 1st, 2025
Category: Remote Access / Virtual Machine Setup
Backlink: Installing Pop!_OS (NVIDIA Edition) in Proxmox with GPU Passthrough

Goal

Enable secure remote access to your Pop!_OS virtual machine via SSH.

Step 1: Install and Enable OpenSSH Server

Open a terminal in your Pop!_OS VM and run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openssh-server -y

Then start and enable the service:

sudo systemctl enable ssh
sudo systemctl start ssh

image.png

Step 2: Verify SSH is Running

Check the status of the SSH server:

sudo systemctl status ssh

You should see:

image.png

Step 3: Find the IP Address

You can find the IP address in two ways:

ip a | grep inet

image.png

Step 4: SSH From Another Machine

From your host machine or another computer on the LAN, connect:

ssh zippyb@192.168.1.151

You’ll be prompted to accept the fingerprint and then enter your user password.

image.png

Optional: Use SCP to Transfer Files

scp file.txt zippyb@192.168.1.151:/home/nate/

Or use rsync for large/recurring syncs:

rsync -avz project/ zippyb@192.168.1.151:/home/nate/project/

Step 4: Enable and Configure UFW Firewall

  1. Enable UFW:

sudo ufw enable

  1. Allow SSH through the firewall:

sudo ufw allow ssh

  1. Check firewall status:

sudo ufw status verbose

image.png

Done

I can now securely connect to my Pop!_OS VM using SSH for remote configuration and file transfers.

 

NVIDIA GPU Passthrough in Pop!_OS (Proxmox VE 8.2.7)

Date: June 1st, 2025
Category: Virtualization / GPU Passthrough
Backlink: Setting Up SSH Access in POP_OS Proxmox

This enable's GPU Passthrough as I'm going to use this VM for Local AI projects

Step 1: Enable IOMMU in Proxmox

Edit the GRUB configuration:

nano /etc/default/grub

Set this line for AMD CPUs:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet amd_iommu=on"

Update GRUB and reboot:

update-grub
reboot

Step 2: Bind GPU to vfio-pci

Get the NVIDIA GPU and related device IDs:

lspci -nn | grep -i nvidia

Example output:

07:00.0 VGA compatible controller [10de:1e84]
07:00.1 Audio device [10de:10f8]
07:00.2 USB controller [10de:1ad8]
07:00.3 Serial bus controller [10de:1ad9]

Bind them to vfio-pci:

echo "options vfio-pci ids=10de:1e84,10de:10f8,10de:1ad8,10de:1ad9" > /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf

Then:

update-initramfs -u
reboot

Step 3: Confirm vfio-pci Binding

Check if vfio-pci is now in use:

lspci -nnk | grep -A 3 -i nvidia

You should see something like:

Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci

Step 4: Attach GPU to Pop!_OS VM

In the Proxmox Web GUI:

  1. Power off the Pop!_OS VM.

  2. Go to Hardware > Add > PCI Device.

  3. Add only the VGA compatible controller (e.g., 07:00.0).

  4. Enable the following checkboxes:

    • ROM-Bar

    • Primary GPU

    • Optional: You can try passing the other 3 GPU functions (Audio, USB, Serial Bus) if needed.

Start the VM.

Step 5: Verify GPU Access in Pop!_OS

Inside the VM, run:

nvidia-smi

To check for CUDA:

nvcc --version

(Optional if GUI is installed):

glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"

Completion Notes