# Prerequisites

Ensure the following requirements are met before using the HVM Network Plugin:

- General Requirements

  - The HPE Morpheus appliance must run version 9.0.0 or later.
  - A pre-existing HVM cluster must be available.
  - All cluster hosts must be reachable from the HPE Morpheus appliance.
  - Open vSwitch (OVS) must be installed and running on each host.
  - Deploy the plugin only on an HPE HVM KVM-based cluster .
- Standard Network Requirements

  - An OVS Bridge Domain virtual switch must exist in the cluster.
  - The bridge must be backed by a host network interface. For example, `mgmt` or `bond0`.
- Aruba CX Integration Requirements

  - Aruba CX switches must be configured and reachable.
  - The ArubaCX Network Plugin (Generic Integration) must be configured.
- Overlay, Private, Data, and SR-IOV Network Requirements

  - Each host in the cluster must have a suitable network interface available for these network types.
- SR-IOV Additional Requirements

  - SR-IOV must be enabled in the host BIOS/UEFI before creating SR-IOV networks.
  - AppArmor must be configured on each host to allow VFIO device access. For details, see [SR-IOV network](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/sd00008014en_us/render?page=GUID-1A9DC6EB-8D11-4539-8737-7B82CC3AF183.html).
  - The plugin automatically enables VFs on the host NIC and creates required libvirt network definitions, no manual VF configuration is required after BIOS setup.

NOTE

- Live migration of VMs using SR-IOV networks is not supported.
- The HVM Network Plugin is automatically installed and enabled on the HPE Morpheus appliance.
- No manual plugin upload is required for standard deployments. The HVM network plugin cannot be removed. Once installed, it must remain active on the appliance.
