GPU Passthrough Setup Guide¶
Debian 13 · VFIO · KubeVirt · RTX 2080
Overview¶
This guide walks through configuring an NVIDIA RTX 2080 GPU for VFIO passthrough on Debian 13, enabling GPU-accelerated virtual machines in KubeVirt environments. While written specifically for Debian 13, these instructions should work on other distributions with minor modifications.
What we're doing¶
- Uninstalling NVIDIA drivers to expose the raw GPU hardware
- Binding the GPU to VFIO drivers instead of native graphics drivers
- Configuring the system to maintain VFIO bindings across reboots
- Integrating with Juno's GPU operator for KubeVirt passthrough
Prerequisites¶
- Both KubeVirt and NVIDIA GPU Operator require VFIO drivers to pass devices to guest VMs
- The GPU must not be in use by the host OS (no native drivers loaded)
- IOMMU support must be enabled in BIOS and kernel
Info
If you're using the GPU directly on the host through the NVIDIA GPU Operator (without passthrough), the setup process is simpler and doesn't require VFIO configuration.
GPU Device Reference¶
The RTX 2080 (TU104 architecture) presents as four separate PCI functions. All functions must be bound to VFIO for passthrough to work.
| PCI Address | Function | Device ID | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
0000:08:00.0 |
VGA / GPU Core | 10de:1e82 |
Primary graphics processor |
0000:08:00.1 |
HD Audio | 10de:10f8 |
HDMI/DisplayPort audio |
0000:08:00.2 |
USB Controller | 10de:1ad8 |
USB 3.1 host controller |
0000:08:00.3 |
USB-C / UCM-UCSI | 10de:1ad9 |
USB Type-C controller |
Note
Enterprise GPU Note: Not all NVIDIA enterprise cards include audio and USB controllers. Consumer cards like the RTX 2080 typically have all four functions.