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 as required

Local Home Directory

By default your 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 change this to use the local disk (your student home directory will still be accessable at /nas/$USERNAME).

Your local home directory is not backed up! If the computer breaks or somebody intentionally re-installs it, all data will be lost! Go to https://backupbox.inf.ethz.ch/ to activate backup for your system. More information about the backup service can be found here.

For Ubuntu > 18.04

This is defined at installation time in OS-Kiosk 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).

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 is by selecting it in OS-Kiosk under "Special Software".

There are 3 ways to install nvidia drivers manually.

Install using the standard Ubuntu Repository

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

$ ubuntu-drivers devices
== /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/0000:02:00.0 ==
modalias : pci:v000010DEd00001E82sv00001043sd000086C7bc03sc00i00
vendor   : NVIDIA Corporation
driver   : nvidia-driver-465 - distro non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-450-server - distro non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-460-server - distro non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-418-server - distro non-free
driver   : nvidia-driver-460 - distro non-free recommended
driver   : xserver-xorg-video-nouveau - distro free builtin

Then install a driver. Usually, the recommended selection is a good choice.

$ sudo apt install nvidia-460

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 manually

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