Introduction

This document explains the installation and configuration of the NVIDIA DGX Software Stack on DGX systems installed with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

NVIDIA provides the NVIDIA DGX Software Stack targeted for installation on DGX systems that have been user-installed with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The software stack provides the same features and functionality that are provided by the original DGX OS built on the Ubuntu.

Note

NVIDIA acknowledges the wide use of Rocky Linux and understands that it is a community-developed derivative of the NVIDIA supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Support for Rocky Linux is available directly from the Rocky Linux community. NVIDIA ensures that NVIDIA provided software runs on tested Rocky Linux versions and will try to identify and correct issues related to NVIDIA provided software.

While it might be possible to use other derived Linux distributions, not all have been tested and qualified by NVIDIA. Refer to the Release Notes for the list of tested and qualified software and Linux distributions.

Prerequisites

The following are required (or recommended wherever indicated).

Red Hat Subscription

You need a Red Hat subscription if you plan to install and use Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the DGX. A subscription also lets you obtain update packages and additional packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. You can either purchase a subscription or obtain a free evaluation subscription from the Red Hat Software & Download Center.

Access to Repositories

The repositories can be accessed from the internet.

If you are using a proxy server, then follow the instructions in the section Configuring a System Proxy to make sure the system can access the necessary URIs.

NVIDIA Repositories

After installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the DGX system, you must enable the NVIDIA DGX software repository (https://repo.download.nvidia.com). The repository includes the NVIDIA drivers and software for supporting DGX systems.

See the section Enabling the DGX Software Repository for instructions on how to enable the repository.

Red Hat Repositories

Installation of the DGX Software over Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 requires access to several additional repositories.

  • Red Hat Enterprise BaseOS Repository: rhel-9-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms

  • Red Hat Enterprise AppStream Repository: rhel-9-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms

  • Red Hat Enterprise CodeReady Linux Builder Repository: codeready-builder-for-rhel-9-x86_64-debug-rpms

Network File System

On DGX servers, the data drives are meant to be used as a cache. DGX Station users can follow the same usage, or can alternatively opt to use these drives for storage. When using the data drives as cache, a network file system (NFS) is recommended to take advantage of the cache file system provided by the DGX software stack.

BMC Password

The NVIDIA DGX server includes a base management controller (BMC) for out-of-band management of the DGX system. NVIDIA recommends disabling the default username and creating a unique username and password as soon as possible.