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The g4dn instance comes with NVIDIA T4 GPU. I assume you have installed NVIDIA driver and configured Ubuntu graphical desktop to use it. VMware workstation does not have NVIDIA GPU, so GUI will most likely not work.
Ubuntu with preinstalled Nice DCV
Note that using Amazon DCV on a non-EC2 instances required additional licensing
where I can store the VMDK locally, make changes (e.g., uninstall software), and reimport it as an AMI while ensuring compatibility.
Why not just make changes to the EC2 instance? It takes time to export and import. Use AWS Backup if you need to protect EC2 instance data.
If you are in a supported Region, you can also consider G6f instances with fractional GPUs over the g4dn. Refer to this article for help installing NVIDIA Grid driver and DCV.
When exporting EC2 instances to use in VMware and then reimporting them back to AWS, several issues can arise due to differences in virtualization environments and hardware configurations. Let me address your specific concerns:
For the boot and GUI issues in VMware:
- The VM Import/Export process only exports the boot disk, and any secondary disks must be detached before export. This could be causing some of your boot problems if your system relies on additional volumes.
- The journal corruption and GRUB issues suggest that the VM wasn't cleanly shut down before export or there are compatibility issues between the AWS environment and VMware.
- The "no screens found" error with Xorg indicates that the graphics drivers from your g4dn.xlarge instance (which has NVIDIA GPUs) aren't compatible with the virtual hardware presented by VMware Workstation.
For the DCV authentication failure: This is likely because DCV's configuration is tied to the specific instance hardware or configuration that changed during the export/import process. DCV may need to be reconfigured or reinstalled after reimporting.
To improve your workflow:
- Before exporting:
- Ensure the instance is cleanly shut down
- Remove any AWS-specific drivers or configurations that might conflict with VMware
- Detach any secondary volumes
- Consider installing VMware Tools or open-vm-tools before export
- For graphics/GUI issues:
- The g4dn.xlarge uses NVIDIA GPUs which won't be available in VMware Workstation
- You'll need to reconfigure the system to use basic graphics drivers in VMware
- Consider adding a script that detects the environment (AWS vs VMware) and loads appropriate drivers
- For DCV issues:
- You may need to reinstall or reconfigure DCV after reimporting to AWS
- Create a script that handles the reconfiguration automatically
The exported VMDK doesn't work "out of the box" in VMware because the hardware environment is significantly different between AWS Nitro-based instances and VMware's virtualized hardware. This is especially true for GPU-accelerated instances like g4dn.xlarge.
For a bidirectional workflow, you might need to create scripts that detect the environment and reconfigure the system accordingly, or maintain separate configurations for AWS and VMware environments.
Sources
Troubleshooting VM Import/Export - VM Import/Export
Use CreateInstanceExportTask with a CLI - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
Use CreateInstanceExportTask with a CLI - AWS SDK Code Examples
VMWare Workstation on Bare metal EC2 instance. | AWS re:Post
For the DCV authentication failure: This is likely because DCV's configuration is tied to the specific instance hardware or configuration that changed during the export/import process. DCV may need to be reconfigured or reinstalled after reimporting.May it have to do with the fact that before the export I unencrypted the volume using an instance rescue, attaching and detaching the volumes? I've checked and even the original AMI before exporting (the encrypted one) has the problem with DCV now, before it was working fine..
So it means that I have install VMware drivers? I tried in VirtualBox, but didn't work either. Perhaps Hyper-V is different?
VMware Workstation, Virtual Box and Hyper-V VMs does not support NVIDIA GPUs. Installing drivers will not help.
Well I guess the only thing I can do with the VMDK is use it as a backup format, right? Thank you for the suggestion of the G6f types, I didn't know about them, I guess they are very new. Seems like the best option for a workstation, actually this is for 3D work, I've been checking out and it seems like the best option for 3D performance. The only thing is that it is not intel, and I don't know how would be in terms of compatibility, but seems that it has RTX at least.