How to enable nested virtualization in KVM

Fedora Documentation Team Version F36 onwards Last review: 2023-02-21
Nested virtualization allows you to run a virtual machine (VM) inside another VM while still using hardware acceleration from the host.

Checking if nested virtualization is supported

For Intel processors, check the /sys/module/kvm_intel/parameters/nested file. For AMD processors, check the /sys/module/kvm_amd/parameters/nested file. If you see 1 or Y, nested virtualization is supported; if you see 0 or N, nested virtualization is not supported.

For example:

cat /sys/module/kvm_intel/parameters/nested
Y

Enabling nested virtualization

To enable nested virtualization for Intel processors:

  1. Shut down all running VMs and unload the kvm_probe module:

    ---- sudo modprobe -r kvm_intel

. Activate the nesting feature:
+

sudo modprobe kvm_intel nested=1

+
. Nested virtualization is enabled until the host is rebooted. To enable it permanently, add the following line to the `/etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf` file:
+

options kvm_intel nested=1

To enable nested virtualization for AMD processors:

. Shut down all running VMs and unload the `kvm_amd` module:
+

sudo modprobe -r kvm_amd

. Activate the nesting feature:
+

sudo modprobe kvm_amd nested=1

. Nested virtualization is enabled until the host is rebooted. To enable it permanently, add the following line to the `/etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf` file:
+

options kvm_amd nested=1

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// include::{partialsdir}/proc_configuring-nested-virtualization-in-virt-manager.adoc[leveloffset=+1]
// ===========================================
// [[proc_configuring-nested-virtualization-in-virt-manager]]
== Configuring nested virtualization in virt-manager

Configure your VM to use nested virtualization:

. Open virt-manager, double-click the VM in which you wish to enable nested virtualization, and click the *Show virtual hardware details* icon.

. Click *CPUs* in the side menu. In the *Configuration* section, there are two options - either type `host-passthrough` in the *Model:* field, or select the *Copy host CPU configuration* check box (that fills the `host-model` value in the *Model* field). + NOTE: Using host-passthrough is not recommended for general usage. It should only be used for nested virtualization purposes. + . Click *Apply*.


// =========================================== // include::{partialsdir}/proc_testing-nested-virtualization.adoc[leveloffset=+1] // =========================================== // [[proc_testing-nested-virtualization]]
== Testing nested virtualization

. Start the virtual machine. . On the virtual machine, run: +

sudo dnf group install virtualization

+
. Verify that the virtual machine has virtualization correctly set up:
+

sudo virt-host-validate QEMU: Checking for hardware virtualization : PASS QEMU: Checking if device /dev/kvm exists : PASS QEMU: Checking if device /dev/kvm is accessible : PASS QEMU: Checking if device /dev/vhost-net exists : PASS QEMU: Checking if device /dev/net/tun exists : PASS …​

== Additional resources

* https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1055002
* https://kashyapc.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/nested-virtualization-with-kvm-intel/
* https://kashyapc.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/nested-virtualization-with-kvm-and-amd/

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