How to install NVIDIA CUDA on Debian 10 (buster)

In this tutorial we will be be installing NVIDIA CUDA on Debian 10 (buster) Linux. We will perform direct network installation from the CUDA developer repository.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to install CUDA
  • How to confirm CUDA installation

How to install NVIDIA CUDA on Debian 10 (buster)

How to install NVIDIA CUDA on Debian 10 (buster)

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System Debian 10 (buster) Linux/a>
Software N/A
Other Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

NVIDIA CUDA on Debian 10 (buster) step by step instructions

  1. Install CUDA developer keys:
    # apt-key adv --fetch-keys https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/debian10/x86_64/7fa2af80.pub
    


  2. Add CUDA Debian 10 repository and enable contrib repository:
    # add-apt-repository "deb https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/debian10/x86_64/ /"
    # add-apt-repository contrib
    # apt update
    
  3. Install CUDA:
    # apt-get install cuda
    
  4. Reboot your Debian 10 System:
    # reboot
    


  5. Confirm CUDA installation:
    $ /usr/local/cuda-*/bin/nvcc --version
    nvcc: NVIDIA (R) Cuda compiler driver
    Copyright (c) 2005-2021 NVIDIA Corporation
    Built on Wed_Jun__2_19:15:15_PDT_2021
    Cuda compilation tools, release 11.4, V11.4.48
    Build cuda_11.4.r11.4/compiler.30033411_0
    

    Alternatively execute the following nvidia-smi command to get more verbose output:

    $ nvidia-smi
    Wed Jun 30 14:57:30 2021       
    +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    | NVIDIA-SMI 470.42.01    Driver Version: 470.42.01    CUDA Version: 11.4     |
    |-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
    | GPU  Name        Persistence-M| Bus-Id        Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
    | Fan  Temp  Perf  Pwr:Usage/Cap|         Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. |
    |                               |                      |               MIG M. |
    |===============================+======================+======================|
    |   0  NVIDIA GeForce ...  On   | 00000000:01:00.0 Off |                  N/A |
    |  0%   50C    P8    31W / 370W |    293MiB / 10014MiB |      0%      Default |
    |                               |                      |                  N/A |
    +-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
                                                                                   
    +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    | Processes:                                                                  |
    |  GPU   GI   CI        PID   Type   Process name                  GPU Memory |
    |        ID   ID                                                   Usage      |
    |=============================================================================|
    |    0   N/A  N/A       659      G   /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg                129MiB |
    |    0   N/A  N/A       850      G   /usr/bin/kwin_x11                  35MiB |
    |    0   N/A  N/A       854      G   /usr/bin/krunner                    3MiB |
    |    0   N/A  N/A       856      G   /usr/bin/plasmashell               48MiB |
    |    0   N/A  N/A      1015      G   nvidia-settings                     0MiB |
    |    0   N/A  N/A      1370      G   ...bexec/kscreenlocker_greet       70MiB |
    +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+