Install, Update, and Uninstall on Ubuntu (Local)#

Learn how to install, update, or remove AI Workbench on Ubuntu Desktop.

Agree to the NVIDIA AI Product Agreement

Before downloading or installing, please read the NVIDIA AI Product Agreement, the NVIDIA AI Workbench Shared Security Model, and our Data Privacy Policy.

By downloading, installing, or using the NVIDIA AI Workbench software, you agree to the terms of the NVIDIA AI Product Agreement (EULA). If you do not agree to the terms of the EULA, you are not authorized to download, install, or use NVIDIA AI Workbench. Before downloading and using NVIDIA AI Workbench, please read our Shared Security Model.

Debian package#

AI Workbench recently moved to a package based install for the Desktop App on Ubuntu Desktop. The Debian package install path is recommended, but it does require you to add the relevant information to your system’s APT package manager.

The previous AppImage method is still available, but it will be deprecated in the future.

Prerequisites for Your Ubuntu System#

  • A system with Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 or 22.04

  • The curl command line tool installed

  • System resources:

    • 500 MB of disk space for the AI Workbench application

    • 30-40 GB of disk space for containers

    • 16 GB of RAM

Warning

You cannot install Workbench on related distributions like Mint.

Install AI Workbench on Ubuntu Desktop#

Debian package (recommended):

  1. Download and add NVIDIA’s public gpg key for the repository:

    1curl -fsSL  https://workbench.download.nvidia.com/stable/linux/gpgkey  |  sudo tee -a /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/ai-workbench-desktop-key.asc

  2. Add the Workbench Debian repository to sources.list

    1echo "deb https://workbench.download.nvidia.com/stable/linux/debian default proprietary" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

  3. Run sudo apt update

  4. Then install the Desktop App with:

    sudo apt install nvidia-ai-workbench

  5. Once the installer begins, follow the prompts to complete the installation.

    • Select Docker or Podman as the container runtime (if prompted).

    • Choose whether to install NVIDIA GPU drivers (if prompted).

  6. Reboot if prompted (required if GPU drivers were installed)

  7. Follow the onboarding steps to clone the Tutorial Project and get started.

If you instead want to use the AppImage, see here.

Update AI Workbench#

Updates for the AI Workbench Desktop App are handled through the standard APT package manager.

  1. Check for updates and install available upgrades:

    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade nvidia-ai-workbench

  2. Start the AI Workbench Desktop App, and follow any on-screen prompts during the update process.

Uninstall AI Workbench#

1sudo apt-get remove --purge nvidia-ai-workbench
2sudo apt-get autoremove

To fully remove all AI Workbench files and project repositories, delete the following directories:

1rm -rf $HOME/.nvwb
2rm -rf $HOME/nvidia-workbench/

FAQs#

What gets installed and where?#

  • The application binaries: nvwb-cli, wb-svc, and credential-manager into $HOME/.nvwb/bin.

  • Git and Git-LFS: Installed or updated system wide.

  • Docker or Podman: Installed or updated system wide.

  • (If GPU): NVIDIA GPU Drivers, if not already installed

  • (If GPU): NVIDIA Container Toolkit, installed or updated system wide.

Can I just install the Workbench CLI instead of the Desktop App?#

Yes. On Ubuntu Desktop you do not need to install the Desktop App.

  1. Open a terminal, copy, paste and run the following command:

    1mkdir -p $HOME/.nvwb/bin && \
2curl -L https://workbench.download.nvidia.com/stable/workbench-cli/$(curl -L -s https://workbench.download.nvidia.com/stable/workbench-cli/LATEST)/nvwb-cli-$(uname)-$(uname -m) --output $HOME/.nvwb/bin/nvwb-cli && \
3chmod +x $HOME/.nvwb/bin/nvwb-cli && \
4sudo -E $HOME/.nvwb/bin/nvwb-cli install

  2. Follow the text-based interface prompts to complete the installation:

    • Use arrow keys to navigate and Enter to select options

    • If you have an NVIDIA GPU without drivers, you can choose to install them

    • Select either Docker or Podman as your container runtime

  3. Reboot if prompted (required if GPU drivers were installed)

Note

You can update the CLI by running the same command as above.

You can uninstall the CLI with sudo -E $HOME/.nvwb/bin/nvwb-cli uninstall.

What if I have the AppImage installed but I want to switch to the Debian package?#

Just uninstall (see here) the AppImage and then install the Debian package.

Your projects and locations will be preserved.

How Do I install and use the AppImage?#

Note

The AppImage is not the recommended installation method and will be deprecated in the future.

  1. Install fuse3 and libfuse2 with the command: sudo apt-get install fuse3 libfuse2

  2. Download the Ubuntu Desktop App: AI Workbench

  3. Make the AppImage executable with the command: chmod +x <local-path-to-AppImage>

  4. Run the AppImage by double-clicking it or running it in a terminal, and then following the prompts. :

  5. Reboot if prompted (required if GPU drivers were installed)

How do I uninstall the AppImage?#

You can uninstall the AppImage by:

  • Running the CLI uninstall command: sudo -E $HOME/.nvwb/bin/nvwb-cli uninstall

  • Deleting the downloaded AppImage file manually: rm -f /path/to/NVIDIA-AI-Workbench.AppImage

Next Steps#