Pre-installation Actions#

Some actions must be taken before the NVIDIA driver can be installed on Linux:

  • Verify the system is running a supported version of Linux.

  • Verify the system has the correct kernel headers and development packages installed.

  • Select a driver version to install.

  • Handle conflicting installation methods.

Verify You Have a Supported Distribution of Linux#

The NVIDIA driver packages are supported on some specific distributions of Linux. Please see the table at Linux System Requirements.

To determine which distribution and release number you’re running, type the following at the command line:

$ hostnamectl

Verify the System has the Correct Kernel Packages Installed#

The NVIDIA driver requires that the kernel headers and development packages for the running version of the kernel be installed at the time of the driver installation, as well whenever the driver is rebuilt. For example, if your system is running kernel version 3.17.4-301, the 3.17.4-301 kernel headers and development packages must also be installed.

The rpm and deb installations of the driver will make an attempt to install the kernel header and development packages if no version of these packages is currently installed. However, it will install the latest version of these packages, which may or may not match the version of the kernel your system is using.

Therefore, it is best to manually ensure the correct version of the kernel headers and development packages are installed prior to installing the NVIDIA driver, as well as whenever you change the kernel version.

The version of the kernel your system is running can be found by running the following command:

$ uname -r

This is the version of the kernel headers and development packages that must be installed prior to installing the NVIDIA drivers. This command will be used multiple times below to specify the version of the packages to install. Note that below are the common-case scenarios for kernel usage. More advanced cases, such as custom kernel branches, should ensure that their kernel headers and sources match the kernel build they are running.

Note

If you perform a system update which changes the version of the Linux kernel being used, the packages should automatically rebuild the kernel modules unless precompiled modules are being used.

Select a driver version#

The driver Datacenter documentation lists all the driver versions available for installation that have been certified for Datacenter usage.

The list also contains release notes for each driver version.