gcloud

1. Select an OS image or image family that supports gVNIC.For more information, seeOperating system details.

2. Using the OS image or image family selected in the previous step, createa custom OS image and tag this OS image withGVNIC. To create thecustom OS image, use thegcloud compute images create command.For example, the following command creates a custom OS image thatsupports gVNIC and that's based on a specific OS image.

   gcloud compute images createIMAGE_NAME \    --source-image=SOURCE_IMAGE \    --source-image-project=SOURCE_IMAGE_PROJECT \    --guest-os-features=GVNIC

   Replace the following:

   • IMAGE_NAME: the name of the image that youwant to create

   • SOURCE_IMAGE: a specific OS image thatsupports gVNIC—for example:rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp-v20220719

     If you want to use the latest OS image in animage family, replace the--source-image flag with the--source-image-family flag and setits value to an image family that supports gVNIC. For example:--source-image-family=rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp.

   • SOURCE_IMAGE_PROJECT: the name of the projectthat contains the source OS image or image family

   Example

   To create a Rocky Linux 8 Optimized for Google Cloud OS image using thelatest OS image from the Compute Enginerocky-linux-8-optimized-gcpimage family, run the following command:

   gcloud compute images createIMAGE_NAME \    --source-image-family=rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp \    --source-image-project=rocky-linux-cloud \    --guest-os-features=GVNIC

   For more information about when to use image families, seeImage family best practices.

REST

1. Select an OS image or image family that supports gVNICFor more information, seeOperating system details.

2. Using the OS image or image family selected in the previous step, createan OS image and tag this OS image withGVNIC. To create the OS image,use theimages.insert method.

   POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/images{  "name":"IMAGE_NAME",  "sourceImage":"SOURCE_IMAGE_URI",  "guestOsFeatures":[    {      "type":"GVNIC"    }  ]}

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project in which to create the new image
   • IMAGE_NAME: a name for the custom image

   • SOURCE_IMAGE_URI: the URI for the specificOS image or image family that you want to use

     For example:

     • Specific OS image:"sourceImage": "projects/rocky-linux-cloud/global/images/rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp-v20220719"
     • Image family:"sourceImage": "projects/rocky-linux-cloud/global/images/family/rocky-linux-8-optimized-gcp"

     When you specify an image family, Compute Engine creates a VMfrom the most recent, non-deprecated OS image in that family. Formore information about when to use image families, seeImage family best practices.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to theCreate an instance page.

   Go to Create an instance

2. Enter theName of your VM instance.

3. Select theZone to create your VM in.

4. In theBoot disk section, clickChange.

5. In theBoot disk panel, on theCustom images tab, complete the following:

   1. Choose theSource project that contains the OS image thatyou created previously.
   2. Select the image from theImage drop-down.
   3. ClickSelect.

6. To set gVNIC as the network interface, expand theAdvanced options section, and then do the following:

   1. Expand theNetworking section.
   2. ForNetwork interface card, selectgVNIC.

7. Make additional VM customizations as needed.

8. ClickCreate to create the VM instance.

gcloud

1. Create the VM by using thegcloud compute instances create command.For the boot disk, specify the custom OS image that you created earlier.For the network interface, set the value of thenic-type flag toGVNIC.

   gcloud compute instances createVM_NAME \    --zone=ZONE \    --machine-type=MACHINE_TYPE \    --image=IMAGE_NAME \    --image-project=YOUR_IMAGE_PROJECT \    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC

   Replace the following:

   • VM_NAME: the name of the new VM.
   • ZONE: the zone to create the VM in.
   • MACHINE_TYPE: the machine type to use whencreating the VM instance. If you don't specify a machine type, thedefault isn1-standard-1.
   • IMAGE_NAME: the OS image that was created inthe previous step.
   • YOUR_IMAGE_PROJECT: the name of your projectthat contains the OS image.

2. Optional: Verify that Compute Engine created the VM and that thenicType is set toGVNIC.

   gcloud compute instances describeVM_NAME \   --zone=ZONE

   Replace the following:

   • VM_NAME: the name of the VM.
   • ZONE: the zone that you created the VM in.

   Example

   To create a Rocky Linux 8 VM with ann1-standard-1 machinetype in zoneus-west1-b using an OS image namedmy-gvnic-rocky8that's in projectmy-project-12345, run the following command:

   gcloud compute instances createmy-rocky-linux-vm \    --zone=us-west1-b \    --image=my-gvnic-rocky8 \    --image-project=my-project-12345 \    --network-interface=nic-type=GVNIC

   Things to consider

   The--network-interface flag has sub-level flags such as thefollowing:

   • --address: Assign an IP address to the VM
   • --network: The network the interface will be a part of
   • --network-tier: The network tier of the interface
   • --subnet: The subnet that the interface will be part of. If--network is also specified, the subnet must be a part of the specified network.
   • --private-network-ip: Specify the RFC 1918 IP to assign to the VM.

   For a full list see, the--network-interface flag.

   Note: When enabling gVNIC, if you need to set any of these sub-levelflags, you must specify these as a comma separated list to the--network-interface flag. For example,-network-interface=subnet=SUBNET_NAME,nic-type=GVNIC.

REST

Create the VM by using theinstances.insert method.

• For the boot disk, specify the custom OS image that you created earlier.
• For the network interface, set the value of thenicType field toGVNIC.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instances{  "name":"VM_NAME",  "networkInterfaces":[    {      "network":"NETWORK",      "nicType":"GVNIC",      "subnet":"SUBNET_NAME"    }  ],  "disks":[    {      "initializeParams":{        "sourceImage":"projects/YOUR_IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/IMAGE_NAME"      },      "boot":true    }  ]}

Replace the following:

• PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project to createthe VM in.
• ZONE: the zone to create the VM in.
• VM_NAME: the name of the new VM.
• NETWORK: the URL of the network resource forthis VM. If neither the network nor the subnetwork is specified, thedefault networkglobal/networks/default is used.
• SUBNET_NAME: name of the subnet. The networkis inferred from the specified subnet. This is an optional field.
• YOUR_IMAGE_PROJECT: the name of your projectthat contains the OS image.
• IMAGE_NAME: the OS image that was created inthe previous step.

Linux

You can use thelshw tool to extract detailed information about thehardware configuration of the virtual machine.

To install thelshw tool on your Linux VM instance, open a SSH connectionto the VM, and then run the following command:

sudo apt-get install lshw -y

To determine if the VM is using the gVNIC network interface, run thefollowing command:

sudo lshw -class network

The output resembles the following:

*-network   description: Ethernet interface   product: Compute Engine Virtual Ethernet [gVNIC]   vendor: Google, Inc.   physical id: 3   bus info: pci@0000:00:03.0   logical name: ens3   version: 00   serial: 42:01:0a:80:00:6f   width: 32 bits   clock: 33MHz   capabilities: msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical   configuration: autonegotiation=off broadcast=yes driver=gve driverversion=1.0.0    duplex=full ip=10.128.0.111 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair   resources: irq:11 memory:c0203000-c0203fff memory:c0200000-c02000ff memory:c0100000-c01fffff

Windows

1. On your Windows VM Instance, open the Device Manager.
2. Under Network Adapters, you should see:"Google Ethernet Adapter"