# NVIDIA driver on a Proxmox HYPERVISOR, for a GPU that an LXC uses through the # host's kernel module. Host-generic since 2026-09-25 (was esh-pve-nvidia-host). # # host GPU LXC run # esh-pve RTX 2000E Ada (01:00.0) esh-ml1 (CT 110) 2026-09-24 # nh3-pve RTX 2000E Ada (01:00.0) nh3-ml1 (CT 109) 2026-09-25 # # WHY A HOST DRIVER: Prime's decision 2026-09-24 — LXC + host driver, NOT a # VFIO VM. Both esh-pve hangs this year (the 2026-08-19 hard freeze and the # 2026-09-10 vzdump that left `kvm -id 102` in D state for 14 days) came from # VFIO passthrough on that box. An LXC shares the host kernel's driver, so no # passthrough, no pinned VM RAM. Accepted cost: a driver on the hypervisor, # rebuilt by DKMS on every PVE kernel update, and the LXC's userspace libraries # must be the SAME version as this kernel module (see playbooks/gpu-lxc.yaml, # which installs from the same .run file). # # WHY THE .run FILE, NOT AN APT REPO: the LXC must match the host module # exactly. One file, installed with the kernel module here and with # --no-kernel-module in the container, makes the match true by construction. # An apt repo on both sides would let a routine `apt upgrade` move one side # and not the other, which breaks every CUDA call in the container. # # WHY 580: the fleet's vLLM image (vllm/vllm-openai:v0.24.0) is a CUDA 13.0 # build and needs a >= 580 driver. fv-ml1 runs 580.65.06; this is the newest # point release on the same branch. `-no-compat32` because a headless compute # box has no use for 32-bit libraries. ONE version fleet-wide for the RTX 2000 # hosts, so a container image that works on one works on the other. # # NO REBOOT NEEDED, on either host, and each PVE host is its site's DNS/mesh # path, so avoid one. esh-pve: nouveau was blacklisted and never loaded, and the # T400's vfio-pci ids matched nothing. nh3-pve: nouveau auto-loaded at boot but # FAILED to bind the Ada card (`gsp ctor failed: -2`, no GSP firmware), so the # module holds nothing and unloads cleanly. The unload step refuses if nouveau # has actually bound a device; then the blacklist plus a reboot is the only way. # # ⚠ SECURE BOOT: a DKMS-built module only loads under Secure Boot if its signing # key is enrolled as a MOK, and enrolling needs a person at the console at boot # (MokManager). esh-pve has Secure Boot OFF. nh3-pve has it ON (lockdown = # integrity), and the 2026-09-25 install failed there with "module failed to load". # The installer rolled itself back. The first step below now refuses early # instead of getting that far. # # Upgrading the driver: bump driver_version + driver_sha256 here AND # driver_version in playbooks/gpu-lxc.yaml, run this on every GPU host, then # gpu-lxc.yaml for every GPU LXC. Until both have run, CUDA in the container # fails with "driver/library version mismatch". # # Run: scripts/elway root@esh-pve --playbook playbooks/pve-nvidia-host.yaml # scripts/elway root@nh3-pve.nh3.internal --playbook playbooks/pve-nvidia-host.yaml vars: driver_version: 580.178.04 # From download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/580.178.04/*.run.sha256sum driver_sha256: 1833c8c5c53481dfab46df442c3de26ec5d4c35084e03d94ad93746d29899750 stage_dir: /root/nvidia # What `nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name` must contain on this host. gpu_match: RTX 2000 steps: - name: Pre-flight — Secure Boot off, or the DKMS signing key already enrolled shell: | if mokutil --sb-state 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'SecureBoot enabled'; then if [ -f /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub ] && mokutil --test-key /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub 2>&1 | grep -q 'already enrolled'; then exit 0 fi echo "Secure Boot is ON and no enrolled DKMS key: the nvidia module would be refused." >&2 echo "Needs the console at boot: disable Secure Boot in the BIOS, or enroll /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub via MokManager." >&2 exit 1 fi changed_when: "false" # DKMS needs the headers for the RUNNING kernel (built now) and the series # meta-package (so each future kernel's headers arrive with it and DKMS # rebuilds on upgrade). nh3-pve had neither, nor dkms or a compiler. # ⚠ The series meta depends on the NEWEST headers, which drags the # proxmox-kernel meta and the newest kernel image in with it. On nh3-pve # (2026-09-25) this installed 6.8.12-43 next to the running -11, and the next # reboot silently booted -43. Expect a kernel change on the next reboot of any # host that was behind, and before that reboot check that `dkms status` lists # nvidia for the kernel that will boot, not only for `uname -r`. - name: Kernel headers (running kernel + series meta), dkms, build tools shell: | set -e export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive k=$(uname -r); series=$(echo "$k" | cut -d. -f1,2) apt-get update -qq apt-get install -y -qq "proxmox-headers-$k" "proxmox-headers-$series" dkms build-essential when: "! dpkg -s proxmox-headers-$(uname -r) proxmox-headers-$(uname -r | cut -d. -f1,2) dkms build-essential >/dev/null 2>&1" - name: Stage the driver .run and check it against NVIDIA's published sha256 shell: | set -e mkdir -p {{ stage_dir }} f={{ stage_dir }}/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-{{ driver_version }}-no-compat32.run if ! echo "{{ driver_sha256 }} $f" | sha256sum -c --status 2>/dev/null; then curl -fsSL -o "$f.part" \ https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/{{ driver_version }}/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-{{ driver_version }}-no-compat32.run echo "{{ driver_sha256 }} $f.part" | sha256sum -c mv "$f.part" "$f" chmod 0755 "$f" fi when: "! echo '{{ driver_sha256 }} {{ stage_dir }}/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-{{ driver_version }}-no-compat32.run' | sha256sum -c --status 2>/dev/null" # esh-pve only: the T400 was passed to VM 102 through vfio-pci by id. The card # and the VM are both gone; the ids match nothing. Kept (not deleted) so the # retirement is readable later. - name: Retire the T400's vfio-pci id binding shell: mv /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf {{ stage_dir }}/vfio.conf.retired-2026-09-24 when: "grep -q '10de:1ff2' /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf 2>/dev/null" # esh-pve only: blacklist.conf blacklisted `nvidia` alongside nouveau # (VM-passthrough era, when the host must never touch the card). nouveau # stays blacklisted. - name: Stop blacklisting the nvidia module (nouveau stays blacklisted) shell: | cp -n /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf {{ stage_dir }}/blacklist.conf.pre-nvidia sed -i '/^blacklist nvidia$/d' /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf when: "grep -qx 'blacklist nvidia' /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf 2>/dev/null" # nouveau is not in PVE's initramfs (checked on nh3-pve: 0 files), so the # rootfs modprobe.d is where udev's autoload reads the blacklist. No # initramfs rebuild or ESP sync needed. - name: Blacklist nouveau shell: | printf '# nvidia owns the GPU (the LXC uses it) — see playbooks/pve-nvidia-host.yaml\nblacklist nouveau\noptions nouveau modeset=0\n' \ > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf when: "! grep -rqx 'blacklist nouveau' /etc/modprobe.d/" - name: Unload nouveau (only when it holds no device) shell: | set -e if ls /sys/bus/pci/drivers/nouveau/ 2>/dev/null | grep -q '^0000:'; then echo "nouveau is BOUND to a device: it is blacklisted now, but only a reboot releases it" >&2 exit 1 fi modprobe -r nouveau when: "grep -q '^nouveau ' /proc/modules" - name: Install the driver with DKMS (open kernel modules) # --no-opengl-files: headless compute. --kernel-module-type=open: Ada # (Turing+) is supported by the open modules and fv-ml1 runs them too. # DKMS rebuilds the module whenever a new proxmox-headers package lands. shell: | sh {{ stage_dir }}/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-{{ driver_version }}-no-compat32.run \ --dkms --silent --no-x-check --no-opengl-files --kernel-module-type=open \ --kernel-name="$(uname -r)" when: "! dkms status -m nvidia -v {{ driver_version }} -k $(uname -r) 2>/dev/null | grep -q installed" - name: Load nvidia + nvidia_uvm at every boot shell: | printf '# GPU for the host GPU LXC — see playbooks/pve-nvidia-host.yaml\nnvidia\nnvidia_uvm\n' \ > /etc/modules-load.d/nvidia.conf when: "! grep -qx 'nvidia_uvm' /etc/modules-load.d/nvidia.conf 2>/dev/null" # The LXC binds /dev/nvidia0, /dev/nvidiactl and /dev/nvidia-uvm{,-tools}. # Those nodes do not exist until something asks for them, and `pct start` # refuses a dev passthrough whose host path is missing. This unit creates # them and keeps the GPU initialised (persistence mode), and runs BEFORE # pve-guests so onboot guests find them. If it fails, only the GPU LXC fails # to start; the other guests do not depend on it. - name: Install the GPU-init + persistence unit, ordered before pve-guests shell: | cat > /etc/systemd/system/nvidia-persistenced.service <<'EOF' # See playbooks/pve-nvidia-host.yaml [Unit] Description=NVIDIA persistence daemon + device nodes for the GPU LXC Before=pve-guests.service After=systemd-modules-load.service [Service] Type=forking # -c0 -u: load nvidia_uvm and create /dev/nvidia-uvm{,-tools} and /dev/nvidia0. ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/nvidia-modprobe -c0 -u ExecStart=/usr/bin/nvidia-persistenced --user root ExecStopPost=/bin/rm -rf /var/run/nvidia-persistenced [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target EOF systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable --now nvidia-persistenced.service when: "! systemctl is-active --quiet nvidia-persistenced.service || ! grep -q 'Before=pve-guests.service' /etc/systemd/system/nvidia-persistenced.service" verify: - name: nvidia-smi sees the {{ gpu_match }} at the pinned driver version shell: nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,driver_version --format=csv,noheader | grep -q '{{ gpu_match }}.*, {{ driver_version }}$' changed_when: "false" - name: Kernel module in use is the DKMS-built {{ driver_version }} shell: grep -q '{{ driver_version }}' /proc/driver/nvidia/version && dkms status -m nvidia -v {{ driver_version }} -k $(uname -r) | grep -q installed changed_when: "false" - name: Device nodes the LXC binds all exist shell: test -c /dev/nvidia0 && test -c /dev/nvidiactl && test -c /dev/nvidia-uvm && test -c /dev/nvidia-uvm-tools changed_when: "false" - name: Persistence mode is on shell: nvidia-smi --query-gpu=persistence_mode --format=csv,noheader | grep -qx Enabled changed_when: "false" - name: Survives a reboot (modules-load + unit enabled + nouveau blacklisted) shell: grep -qx nvidia_uvm /etc/modules-load.d/nvidia.conf && systemctl is-enabled --quiet nvidia-persistenced.service && ! grep -qx 'blacklist nvidia' /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf 2>/dev/null && grep -rqx 'blacklist nouveau' /etc/modprobe.d/ changed_when: "false" - name: DKMS will rebuild for the next kernel (series headers meta installed) shell: dpkg -s proxmox-headers-$(uname -r | cut -d. -f1,2) >/dev/null 2>&1 changed_when: "false"