Recent Updates#
Version locking packages for Ubuntu / Debian#
Driver pinning packages have been introduced for Debian and Ubuntu to track specific driver branches and versions across the various releases.
For more information please refer to the version locking section for APT.
Hint
For the best experience when locking a branch, we suggest to install the pinning package prior to installing the driver.
This has been introduced mainly for these new cases:
Lock systems into tracking specific driver branches
Lock systems to specific driver versions
Allow easy upgrades/downgrades/switching between releases and branches
Consistency in the documentation (always the same instructions regardless of driver release)
Ubuntu 590 and later packages#
Starting with branch 590, the Ubuntu packages will be renamed by removing the branch designation from the package name. Switching branches, installing specific driver versions and specific upgrade / downgrade requirements will be supported through these version locking (pinning) packages.
From 590 onwards, the default experience will be to upgrade the system to the latest drivers; like any other packages in the distribution; while the branch tracking will become an “opt in” choice.
Packages will be renamed as follows, and from 590 onwards, they will keep the same name:
Original name |
New name |
|---|---|
cuda-compat-13-0 |
no change |
cuda-drivers-580 |
will be removed |
cuda-drivers |
no change |
libnvidia-cfg1-580 |
libnvidia-cfg1 |
libnvidia-common-580 |
libnvidia-common |
libnvidia-compute-580 |
libnvidia-compute |
libnvidia-decode-580 |
libnvidia-decode |
libnvidia-encode-580 |
libnvidia-encode |
libnvidia-extra-580 |
libnvidia-extra |
libnvidia-fbc1-580 |
libnvidia-fbc1 |
libnvidia-gl-580 |
libnvidia-gl |
libnvidia-gpucomp-580 |
libnvidia-gpucomp |
libnvidia-nscq |
no change |
libnvsdm |
no change |
libxnvctrl0 |
no change |
libxnvctrl-dev |
no change |
nvidia-dkms-580 |
nvidia-dkms |
nvidia-dkms-580-open |
nvidia-dkms-open |
nvidia-driver-580 |
nvidia-driver |
nvidia-fabricmanager |
no change |
nvidia-firmware-580 |
nvidia-firmware |
nvidia-headless-580 |
nvidia-headless |
nvidia-headless-580-open |
nvidia-headless-open |
nvidia-headless-no-dkms-580 |
nvidia-headless-no-dkms |
nvidia-headless-no-dkms-580-open |
nvidia-headless-no-dkms-open |
nvidia-imex |
no change |
nvidia-kernel-common-580 |
nvidia-kernel-common |
nvidia-kernel-source-580 |
nvidia-kernel-source |
nvidia-kernel-source-580-open |
nvidia-kernel-source-open |
nvidia-modprobe |
no change |
nvidia-open-580 |
will be removed |
nvidia-open |
no change |
nvidia-persistenced |
no change |
nvidia-settings |
no change |
nvidia-xconfig |
no change |
xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-580 |
xserver-xorg-video-nvidia |
Compute-only HPC Node#
Starting in CUDA 12.8, the cuda meta-package now installs the compute-only part of the driver. By default, if nothing is specified on the command line, the installation will prefer the Open GPU kernel modules.
This is achieved by having the final dependency of cuda-runtime-X-Y on nvidia-driver-cuda/nvidia-compute-G06/libnvidia-compute, depending on the distribution.
Driver Helper Script#
A new script is available to detect and install the best NVIDIA driver packages for the user’s system. This piece of software is meant to help users decide on which NVIDIA graphics driver to install, based on the detected system’s hardware.
To install the driver helper script, install the nvidia-driver-assistant package using apt/dnf/tdnf/zypper.
The following table explains the different flags for the driver helper script:
Flags Used |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Install the recommended driver. |
|
Specify an NVIDIA Driver branch. |
|
Print out the list of the supported Linux distributions. |
|
Use a different |
|
Use a different |
|
Use a different path for the |
|
Linux distribution using the |
|
Kernel module flavor; |
|
[OPTIONAL] Verbose output. |
The following are example command outputs:
Command |
Example Output |
|---|---|
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