NVIDIA and Red Hat Enhance GPU Driver Support for RHEL9 with Signed Modules

Rongchai Wang
Feb 12, 2025 09:00

NVIDIA and Red Hat collaborate to improve GPU driver support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 by providing signed open GPU kernel modules, enhancing security and ease of deployment.

NVIDIA and Red Hat have announced a significant advancement in GPU driver support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (RHEL9) by introducing signed open GPU kernel modules. This collaboration marks a step forward in simplifying the deployment of NVIDIA graphics hardware, according to NVIDIA’s official blog.

Improved Driver Deployment

The new initiative builds upon the precompiled NVIDIA Driver introduced in 2020, offering an easier path for enterprises to integrate NVIDIA’s open GPU driver modules. These modules, now compiled and signed by Red Hat, eliminate the need for additional key enrollment configurations, streamlining their use in datacenter environments, particularly for supporting Confidential Computing.

Tech Preview and Future Availability

Starting with RHEL 9.5, NVIDIA provides a tech preview repository available until April 30, 2025. This repository allows users to trial both the open GPU driver and legacy drivers using modularity streams. After the tech preview period, these signed modules will be included in the NVIDIA Compute package repositories, alongside CUDA-X libraries and CUDA-optimized applications.

Activating the Tech Preview

To activate the tech preview, users must enable specific Red Hat repositories, including RHEL9 AppStream, BaseOS, and CRB. The steps involve adding the CUDA network repository and installing the latest open GPU stream. This process is designed to be straightforward, enhancing user experience and system compatibility.

Addressing Secure Boot Challenges

Despite these advancements, NVIDIA acknowledges challenges related to Secure Boot. The legacy precompiled drivers require signing key enrollment and may face issues on systems with Secure Boot enabled, as they are signed with a key not included in the default trust chain. Users are advised to follow NVIDIA’s guidelines on enrolling the signing key to avoid disruptions.

Conclusion and Future Prospects

With signed packages from NVIDIA and Red Hat, secure boot with NVIDIA on RHEL 9 is poised to improve significantly. This development promises to enhance security and ease of use, paving the way for further innovations in GPU deployment. The driver source code is accessible on GitHub, allowing for community involvement and custom solutions.

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