Installing Client GPUs

This document explains how to choose the appropriate version of Ubuntu Desktop for your client GPU and install the necessary drivers.

Selecting the right operating system version

Intel actively collaborates with various upstream projects to enable the best possible experience using the software and drivers provided by Linux operating system distributions. For the best support of Intel graphics products on Linux, we recommend using the kernel, drivers, and packages supplied by your operating system vendor. As new hardware platforms enter the market, updating to the latest version of the operating system may be necessary to enable these platforms.

Selecting the right version of Ubuntu Desktop to support a specific platform can be confusing. To simplify this process, we recommend using the hardware table to locate your PCI device ID and identify the corresponding kernel version required for your platform. This will help you determine the minimum required kernel version and select the proper operating system version:

  • For hardware devices that require at least kernel version 6.12, use Ubuntu 24.10 (Oracular) or newer.

  • For hardware devices that require at least kernel version 6.8, use Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble) or newer.

  • For hardware devices that require at least kernel version 5.15, use Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy) or newer.

For general information on which kernel is provided by each Ubuntu Desktop release, refer to Ubuntu Kernel Lifecycle.

Installing Client GPUs on Ubuntu Desktop 24.10

Support for Lunar Lake and initial support for Battle Mage has been backported from kernel version 6.12 to version 6.11, which is included in Ubuntu 24.10. However, as this version of Ubuntu does not include the latest compute and media-related packages, we offer the intel-graphics Personal Package Archive (PPA). The PPA provides early access to newer packages, along with additional tools and features such as EU debugging.

Use the following commands to install the intel-graphics PPA and the necessary compute and media packages:

apt-get update
apt-get install -y software-properties-common

# Add the intel-graphics PPA for 24.10
add-apt-repository -y ppa:kobuk-team/intel-graphics

# Install the compute-related packages
apt-get install -y libze-intel-gpu1 libze1 intel-ocloc intel-opencl-icd clinfo

# Install the media-related packages
apt-get install -y intel-media-va-driver-non-free libmfx1 libmfx-gen1.2 libvpl2 libvpl-tools libva-glx2 va-driver-all vainfo

Installing Client GPUs on Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 LTS

The Ubuntu 24.04 repositories contain compute packages for various Intel graphics products. To install those packages, use the following commands:

# Install the Intel graphics GPG public key
wget -qO - https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/intel-graphics.key | \
  sudo gpg --yes --dearmor --output /usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg

# Configure the repositories.intel.com package repository
echo "deb [arch=amd64,i386 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg] https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/ubuntu noble client" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel-gpu-noble.list

# Update the package repository meta-data
sudo apt update

# Install the compute-related packages
apt-get install -y libze1 intel-level-zero-gpu intel-opencl-icd clinfo

The commands listed above install all the essential packages needed for most users, aiming to minimize the installation of unnecessary packages. However, if you plan to use PyTorch, install libze-dev and intel-ocloc additionally:

apt-get install -y libze-dev intel-ocloc

Installing Client GPUs on Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 LTS

The Ubuntu 22.04 repositories do not contain compute packages for various Intel graphics products. To install these packages, you can use Intel’s dedicated package repository.

# Install the Intel graphics GPG public key
wget -qO - https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/intel-graphics.key | \
  sudo gpg --yes --dearmor --output /usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg

# Configure the repositories.intel.com package repository
echo "deb [arch=amd64,i386 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg] https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/ubuntu jammy client" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel-gpu-jammy.list

# Update the package repository meta-data
sudo apt update

# Install the compute-related packages
apt-get install -y libze1 intel-level-zero-gpu intel-opencl-icd clinfo

The commands listed above install all the essential packages needed for most users, aiming to minimize the installation of unnecessary packages. However, certain scenarios may require you to install additional packages:

  • If you plan to use PyTorch, install libze-dev and intel-ocloc additionally:

    apt-get install -y libze-dev intel-ocloc

  • If you wish to enable hardware ray tracing support, install intel-level-zero-gpu-raytracing additionally:

    apt-get install -y intel-level-zero-gpu-raytracing

Verifying installation

To verify that the kernel and compute drivers are installed and functional, run clinfo:

clinfo | grep "Device Name"

You should see the Intel graphics product device names listed. If they do not appear, ensure you have permissions to access /dev/dri/renderD*. This typically requires your user to be in the render group:

sudo gpasswd -a ${USER} render
newgrp render

Alternatively, you can run the clinfo command as root.