→ Applies to: Hyperion 9.x and above

IMPORTANT

VirtIO drivers on Linux distributions are included within the kernel packages (newer kernel versions provide newer VirtIO drivers); therefore, since a kernel upgrade will be performed, it is highly recommended to ensure a recent VM backup or snapshot is available to allow rollback in case any issues occur.

Step 1. Connect to the VM via SSH as root (replace <your_ip_address_or_hostname> with the VM ip/hostname)

ssh root@<your_ip_address_or_hostname>

Step 2. Become Super User

sudo su

Check Current VirtIO Version

Step 1. List current Kernel Version

uname -r

Step 2. List active VirtIO modules

lsmod | grep virtio

Step 3. Check available VirtIO modules

modinfo virtio_pci | grep version

Upgrade VirtIO on Rocky Linux / RHEL

Step 1. Update kernel version

dnf update kernel

Step 2. Reboot the system

reboot

Step 3. Verify new kernel version after reboot

uname -r

Step 4 (Optional). Rebuild initramfs to ensure VirtIO loads early at boot (converted VMs only)

dracut -f

Upgrade VirtIO on Ubuntu

Step 1. Update repository

apt update

Step 2. Upgrade VirtIO drivers

apt upgrade

Step 3 (optional). Install latest HWE kernel

apt install linux-generic-hwe-22.04

Step 4. Reboot the system

reboot

Step 5 (Optional). Rebuild initramfs to ensure VirtIO loads early at boot (converted VMs only)

update-initramfs -u -k all

Upgrade VirtIO on Debian

Step 1. Update repository

apt update

Step 2. Upgrade VirtIO drivers

apt full-upgrade

Step 3 (optional). Check available kernels

apt search linux-image

Step 4 (optional). Install latest kernel version

apt install linux-image-amd64

Step 5. Reboot the system

reboot

Step 6 (Optional). Rebuild initramfs to ensure VirtIO loads early at boot (converted VMs only)

update-initramfs -u -k all

Check After Upgrade

Step 1. Check VirtIO drivers status

dmesg | grep -i virtio

Step 2. Check disk bus

lsblk -o NAME,MODEL,TRAN

Ensure “vda” connection type is displayed