Fedora Nvidia drivers: OutputClass for X server 1.16, GPU deployment kit, CUDA enablement, RHEL7 kABI modules

The Nvidia repository has been updated; here is the table that lists the current versions:

Operating systemCentOS / RHELFedorarawhide
Driver branchLong LivedShort Lived
Long Lived
Short Lived
Long Lived
Beta
Video Codec SDKYesYesYes
Architectures:

x86_64
YesYesYes
Basic nvidia driver:

nvidia-driver
nvidia-driver-libs
nvidia-libXNVCtrl
nvidia-kmod-common
YesYesYes
CUDA libraries and tools:

nvidia-driver-cuda
nvidia-driver-cuda-libs
nvidia-driver-NVML
nvidia-persistenced
YesYesYes
OpenGL Framebuffer Capture:

nvidia-driver-NvFBCOpenGL
YesYesYes
Nvidia tools:

nvidia-modprobe
nvidia-settings
nvidia-xconfig

YesYesYes
Binary kernel
modules (kABI):

kmod-nvidia
YesNoNo
DKMS kernel
modules:

dkms-nvidia
YesYesYes
aKMOD kernel
modules:

akmod-nvidia
NoYesYes
32 bit compatibility on x86_64:

nvidia-libXNVCtrl
nvidia-driver-libs
nvidia-driver-cuda-libs
nvidia-driver-NVML
YesYesYes
Development

nvidia-driver-devel
nvenc
nvenc-samples
YesYesYes
GLVND librariesYesYesYes
VDPAU librariesYesYesYes
EGLStream-based Wayland external platformYesYesYes
GBM EGL external platform libraryYesYesYes

Quite a few things have changed, the packages are going towards providing the complete packaged CUDA stack. So far, only the GPU deployment kit has been inclued; and the packages allow for parallel installation with the Nvidia CUDA repositories by osboleting/updating packages as required. Here is some details on the things that have been implemented.

X.org configuration

  • Starting from Fedora 21, all driver X.org configuration can be managed by simply adding/removing X.org configuration snippets in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d.
  • Use new OutputClass directive on Fedora 21 X.org server 1.16 (and later) to load the driver and do not rely on an edited /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. This also removes editing of the xorg.conf file from the package scriptlets.
  • Add the IgnoreABI directive by default on Fedora rawhide builds.

Kernel modules

  • Add a new UDev rule in nvidia-driver-cuda for the nvidia-uvm module and make X.org NVIDIA Files section to be loaded latest in case there are other packages providing a custom Files section (thanks Jan P. Springer for spotting these).
  • The binary nvidia-modprobe is now SETUID, but its package is no longer a mandatory requirement for the drivers, so it will not get installed by default.
  • Now that both Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 and CentOS 7 have been released, binary modules (kABI) are now provided for these distributions.

CUDA support

  • Added the GPU Deployment kit to the repository. This is constructed with NVML (NVIDIA Management Library) included with the drivers plus headers, docs and samples from a separate tarball. The separate tarball is using a different version number than the drivers. This is packaged in the nvidia-driver-NVML and nvidia-driver-NVML-devel packages. Installing these, the gpu-deployment-kit dependency provided by the CUDA repositories is preserved.
  • Along with NVML, the nvidia-healthmon package is provided to monitor TESLA GPU clusters.

Along this, there is the usual assortment of packages refinement (syntax, RPMLint, optimizations, etc.). For additional details, please see the Nvidia driver page.

If you would like to test the CUDA packages please contact me and I will point you to a repository hosting the CUDA packages.

2 thoughts to “Fedora Nvidia drivers: OutputClass for X server 1.16, GPU deployment kit, CUDA enablement, RHEL7 kABI modules”

  1. It’s really so frustrating. I’m trying to get CUDA working on Fedora 21. I’ve tried at least a dozen work-arounds, with no success. Why can’t there be any easy, sure-fire way to use my Tesla 20m on my computer, that used to be able to use it.
    Why has Fedora been abandoned?

    1. Sorry but I’m not following. And Fedora 21 has not been abandoned. A few users are using these CUDA packages and they are happy with it. Also upstream, Nvidia releases CUDA installers with Fedora 21 support.

Leave a Reply