Ubuntu

For all projects that require Ubuntu you are strongly suggested to start with the managed Ubuntu installation from the OS-Kiosk and modify it later as required

Local Home Directory

By default, your network student home directory is used when you log in. This has a very limited size and is not very fast, but all data is backed up. You can switch to use the local disk home (your student home directory will still be accessible at /nas/$USERNAME).

You can do this at installation time in OS-Kiosk (https://os-kiosk.inf.ethz.ch) through the option "Local Home" (can be true or false). If you need to change it on a running installation, write a mail to support@inf.ethz.ch (hint to set the option users_local_home: true).

Your local home directory is not backed up by default! If the computer breaks or somebody intentionally re-installs it, all data will be lost!

You can activate backup for your system at https://backupbox.inf.ethz.ch/ More information about the backup service can be found here.

nVidia Drivers and Cuda

All computers in CNB D 102 are equipped with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphic card.

The easiest way to install CUDA automatically is by selecting a suitable cuda version in OS-Kiosk under "Special Software". This will install the cuda-toolkit and recommended nvidia-driver-open as dependencies and this version will be kept by the configuration manager.

Do not replace it with some other version, without removing the preinstalled version from configuration!

Contact support@inf.ethz.ch to change it on a running installation.

See the graphic card, driver version, supported and installed cuda version with nvidia-smi and nvcc commands, if everything is installed correctly.

$ nvidia-smi
$ /usr/local/cuda/bin/nvcc --version
$ apt list --installed |grep -i nvidia
$ apt list --installed |grep -i cuda
$ apt-cache depends cuda

You can also install CUDA manually from nvidia

Choose "dev(network)" installer type for your Ubuntu version on nVidia Download site

Follow the cuda and driver installation instructions.

There are also different ways to install nvidia drivers manually if necessary:

Install using the standard Ubuntu Repository

First, detect the graphics card and see the list of available drivers:

$ ubuntu-drivers devices

udevadm hwdb is deprecated. Use systemd-hwdb instead.
== /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/0000:02:00.0 ==
modalias : pci:v000010DEd00001E82sv00001043sd000086C7bc03sc00i00
vendor   : NVIDIA Corporation
model    : TU104 [GeForce RTX 2080]

driver   : nvidia-driver-565-open - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-570-open - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-570 - third-party non-free recommended
driver   : nvidia-driver-555-open - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-560 - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-550 - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-550-open - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-560-open - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-555 - third-party non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-565 - third-party non-free

driver   : xserver-xorg-video-nouveau - distro free builtin

Then install a driver. Usually, the recommended version of the -open driver is a good choice.

$ sudo apt install nvidia-driver-570-open

Then reboot:

$ sudo reboot

Install using the PPA repository for the newest drivers

First install the necessary PPA repository:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
$ sudo apt update

Again, detect the graphics card and the available drivers:

$ ubuntu-drivers devices
== /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.0 ==
modalias : pci:v000010DEd00001E04sv00001043sd00008675bc03sc00i00
vendor   : NVIDIA Corporation
driver   : nvidia-driver-435 - third-party free
driver   : nvidia-driver-410 - third-party free
driver   : nvidia-driver-415 - third-party free
driver   : nvidia-driver-430 - third-party free
driver   : nvidia-driver-440 - third-party free recommended
driver   : xserver-xorg-video-nouveau - distro free builtin

And install the driver of your choice (or the recommended one):

$ sudo apt install nvidia-driver-440

Then reboot:

$ sudo reboot

Install locally

First, detect the model of your graphics card:

$  lshw -numeric -C display

$ lspci -vnn | grep VGA

Then download the corresponding driver from the official Nvidia website and save it to your home directory. Modify it such that it is executable.

$ chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-418.56.run

Save your current work and move to a terminal without GUI by pressing CTRL+ALT+F1. Now we should stop the current display server. This depends heavily on the GUI you installed. If your running an x-server then the following command should stop the server:

$ sudo service lightdm stop

Afterwards execute the downloaded file.

$ sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-418.56.run

Then reboot:

$ sudo reboot