NVIDIA Driver Installer TUI

A beautiful terminal user interface for installing NVIDIA proprietary drivers on Linux systems.

Features

Core Functionality

Automatic GPU detection with driver-stream selection: current, 580xx legacy (Maxwell/Pascal/Volta), 470xx legacy (Kepler)
Secure Boot detection with detailed MOK enrollment guidance
LUKS encryption detection with automatic initramfs/dracut configuration
Idempotent - detects existing installations and skips unless forced
Non-interactive auto mode for scripting and automation
Support for both RPM and DEB-based distributions

User Interface

TUI with Unicode box-drawing characters (╭╮╰╯│─)
Color-coded status messages:
- Green (✓) for success
- Yellow (⚠) for warnings
- Red (✗) for errors
- Cyan (●) for in-progress operations
Green highlighted selection in Yes/No dialogs for clear visual feedback
Centered dialog text and navigation hints
Context-aware prompts ("Press any key to exit..." when exiting, "Press any key..." otherwise)
Vim-style keyboard navigation (h/j/k/l) in addition to arrow keys
Dynamic box sizing based on content (adjusts for Secure Boot/LUKS information)

Supported Systems

RPM-based (DNF)

Fedora
RHEL / CentOS / Rocky Linux / AlmaLinux

DEB-based (APT)

Ubuntu
Kubuntu / Xubuntu / Lubuntu
Linux Mint
Pop!_OS

Requirements

Root privileges (sudo)
NVIDIA GPU
Internet connection (for package downloads)

System Detection

The installer automatically detects and handles:

Detection	Method	Action
Distribution	`/etc/os-release`	Selects DNF or APT package manager
NVIDIA GPU	`lspci -nn`	Identifies GPU model, selects the driver stream (current / 580xx / 470xx) from the chip codename
Existing drivers	`nvidia-smi`, `modinfo`, package manager	Offers reinstall option or skips
Secure Boot	`mokutil --sb-state`	Shows detailed MOK enrollment instructions
LUKS encryption	`lsblk -f`	Configures initramfs with NVIDIA modules

Installation

git clone https://github.com/iamteedoh/nvidiaInstaller.git
cd nvidiaInstaller
chmod +x nvidia-installer.sh

Usage

Interactive Mode (TUI)

Run the installer with the full terminal user interface:

sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh

This will guide you through:

System detection (distro, GPU, Secure Boot, LUKS)
Driver already installed check (if applicable)
Secure Boot warning (if enabled)
Installation confirmation
Package installation
Reboot prompt

Automatic Mode

Run the installer non-interactively, accepting all defaults:

sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh -y

In auto mode:

Clean console output instead of TUI (suitable for scripts and logs)
If drivers are already installed, installation is skipped (displays message with current version)
Use --force to reinstall even when drivers exist
If Secure Boot is enabled, a warning is displayed but installation proceeds
After installation, prompts for reboot confirmation (use --reboot for automatic reboot, --no-reboot to skip)

Auto mode output example:

NVIDIA Driver Installer - Automatic Mode

● Checking system...
✓ Running as root
✓ Distribution: Fedora 41
✓ GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
✓ Secure Boot: Disabled
✓ No LUKS encryption

Installing:
  ● RPM Fusion repositories (if needed)
  ● akmod-nvidia (latest driver)
  ● xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

● Starting installation...
✓ RPM Fusion Free already enabled
✓ RPM Fusion Non-Free already enabled
✓ NVIDIA drivers installed

✓ Installation completed successfully!

Command-Line Options

Option	Description
`-y`, `--auto`, `--yes`	Run in automatic mode (still prompts for reboot confirmation)
`-f`, `--force`	Force reinstall even if drivers are already installed
`--reboot`	Automatically reboot without confirmation (use with `-y` for fully unattended)
`--no-reboot`	Do not reboot after installation
`-h`, `--help`	Show help message and exit

Examples

# Interactive TUI mode
sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh

# Automatic installation (prompts for reboot)
sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh -y

# Fully unattended with automatic reboot
sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh -y --reboot

# Force reinstall automatically
sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh -y -f

# Auto install without rebooting
sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh -y --no-reboot

# Force reinstall without reboot (useful for scripting)
sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh -y -f --no-reboot

# Show help
./nvidia-installer.sh --help

What Gets Installed

Fedora / RPM-based Systems

RPM Fusion repositories (Free and Non-Free) - if not already enabled
Driver packages (by GPU architecture):
- Modern GPUs (Turing / RTX 2000 and newer): akmod-nvidia, xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda
- Legacy Maxwell / Pascal / Volta (GTX 900-1000 series): akmod-nvidia-580xx, xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-580xx-cuda, xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-580xx
- Legacy Kepler (GTX 600-700 series): akmod-nvidia-470xx, xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-470xx-cuda, xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-470xx
Dracut configuration - if LUKS encryption is detected

Note: If RPM Fusion has not yet published the 580xx packages for your Fedora release, the installer stops and prints manual pin/versionlock steps instead of falling back to the current driver, which dropped Maxwell/Pascal/Volta support.

Ubuntu / DEB-based Systems

ubuntu-drivers-common
Recommended NVIDIA driver (auto-detected, fallback to nvidia-driver-535)
initramfs update - if LUKS encryption is detected

Post-Installation

After installation completes:

Reboot your system
Verify the installation:
```
nvidia-smi
```

Secure Boot Handling

If Secure Boot is enabled, the NVIDIA kernel module must be signed and enrolled in your system's MOK (Machine Owner Key) database.

What the installer does:

Detects Secure Boot status via mokutil --sb-state
Displays a detailed warning explaining the MOK enrollment process
Proceeds with installation (the driver packages handle key generation)

What you must do manually after reboot:

A blue "MOK Management" screen will appear - this is normal
Select "Enroll MOK"
Select "Continue"
Select "Yes" to enroll the key
Enter the password you created during installation
Select "Reboot"

⚠️ WARNING: If you skip this step, select "Continue boot", or enter the wrong password, the NVIDIA driver will NOT load. Your system will fall back to the nouveau driver and you won't have GPU acceleration.

If you missed MOK enrollment:

# Re-import the MOK key
sudo mokutil --import /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub

# You'll be prompted to create a password
# Then reboot and complete enrollment
sudo reboot

Verifying MOK enrollment:

# Check if NVIDIA module is loaded
lsmod | grep nvidia

# If empty, check Secure Boot status
mokutil --sb-state

# List enrolled keys
mokutil --list-enrolled

LUKS Encryption Handling

If your system uses LUKS disk encryption, the NVIDIA driver modules need to be included in the initramfs for proper early-boot graphics support.

What the installer does automatically:

On Fedora/RPM systems:

Creates /etc/dracut.conf.d/nvidia.conf with:

add_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm "

Regenerates initramfs with dracut --force

On Ubuntu/DEB systems:

Updates initramfs with update-initramfs -u

Why this matters:

Without NVIDIA modules in the initramfs, you may experience:

Black screen or low resolution during LUKS password prompt
Graphics issues during early boot
Plymouth (boot splash) problems

Manual verification:

# Fedora - check dracut config
cat /etc/dracut.conf.d/nvidia.conf

# Fedora - list modules in initramfs
lsinitrd | grep nvidia

# Ubuntu - check initramfs
lsinitramfs /boot/initrd.img-$(uname -r) | grep nvidia

Idempotent Behavior

The installer checks for existing NVIDIA driver installations before proceeding:

Interactive mode: Displays current installation details and asks if you want to reinstall (default: No)
Auto mode (-y): Skips installation and exits cleanly with a message
Force mode (-y -f): Proceeds with reinstallation regardless of existing installation

Example output when drivers are already installed (auto mode):

✓ NVIDIA drivers already installed (Package: akmod-nvidia, Version: 560.35.03)
ℹ Use --force to reinstall
ℹ [No Changes] Existing installation kept

Keyboard Navigation (Interactive Mode)

The TUI supports both arrow keys and Vim-style navigation:

Key	Action
`↑` / `k`	Move selection up
`↓` / `j`	Move selection down
`←` / `h`	Toggle Yes/No selection left
`→` / `l`	Toggle Yes/No selection right
`Enter`	Confirm selection
`q`	Quit (in menus)
Any key	Continue (on info screens)

Dialog Highlights

Selected option is shown in green and bold
Unselected option is shown in dim/gray
Navigation hints are centered below the options

Troubleshooting

Driver not loading after reboot

Check if the module exists but isn't loaded:

modinfo nvidia          # Should show module info
lsmod | grep nvidia     # Should show nvidia modules

If Secure Boot is the issue:

# Check Secure Boot status
mokutil --sb-state

# If enabled and driver not loading, re-enroll MOK:
sudo mokutil --import /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub
sudo reboot
# Complete MOK enrollment at boot

Black screen after installation

Boot into recovery mode or TTY (Ctrl+Alt+F2)
Check if nouveau is conflicting:
```
lsmod | grep nouveau
```

If nouveau is loaded, blacklist it:

echo "blacklist nouveau" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf
sudo dracut --force  # Fedora
sudo update-initramfs -u  # Ubuntu
sudo reboot

LUKS password prompt has no graphics

Regenerate initramfs with NVIDIA modules:

# Fedora
echo 'add_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm "' | sudo tee /etc/dracut.conf.d/nvidia.conf
sudo dracut --force

# Ubuntu
sudo update-initramfs -u

Check installation status

# Fedora - check installed packages
rpm -qa | grep nvidia

# Ubuntu - check installed packages
dpkg -l | grep nvidia

# Check driver version
nvidia-smi

# Check module version
modinfo -F version nvidia

Reinstall drivers

sudo ./nvidia-installer.sh -y -f

Complete removal (if needed)

# Fedora
sudo dnf remove '*nvidia*'
sudo rm -f /etc/dracut.conf.d/nvidia.conf
sudo dracut --force

# Ubuntu
sudo apt purge '*nvidia*'
sudo update-initramfs -u

Contributing

Contributions are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md for the issue workflow, validation commands, and PR process. Bug reports should include the output of lspci -nn | grep -i nvidia.

Security

This tool runs as root and modifies system configuration. Report vulnerabilities privately per SECURITY.md, not in public issues.

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 — see LICENSE.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 11 Commits
.github		.github
.gitignore		.gitignore
.gitleaks.toml		.gitleaks.toml
.release-please-manifest.json		.release-please-manifest.json
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
nvidia-installer.sh		nvidia-installer.sh
release-please-config.json		release-please-config.json

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NVIDIA Driver Installer TUI

Features

Core Functionality

User Interface

Supported Systems

RPM-based (DNF)

DEB-based (APT)

Requirements

System Detection

Installation

Usage

Interactive Mode (TUI)

Automatic Mode

Command-Line Options

Examples

What Gets Installed

Fedora / RPM-based Systems

Ubuntu / DEB-based Systems

Post-Installation

Secure Boot Handling

What the installer does:

What you must do manually after reboot:

If you missed MOK enrollment:

Verifying MOK enrollment:

LUKS Encryption Handling

What the installer does automatically:

Why this matters:

Manual verification:

Idempotent Behavior

Keyboard Navigation (Interactive Mode)

Dialog Highlights

Troubleshooting

Driver not loading after reboot

Black screen after installation

LUKS password prompt has no graphics

Check installation status

Reinstall drivers

Complete removal (if needed)

Contributing

Security

License

About

Resources

License

Code of conduct

Contributing

Security policy

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