Setting up nvidia-smi on WSL 2
This article provides an ultra-simplified guide to settign up nvidia-smi in WSL 2 on Windows Operating System.
Why Install nvidia-smi on WSL 2
WSL 2 allows Windows user to run Linux applications alongside and interact with other Windows-based programs on Windows operating system. If such applications requires acceleration using Nvidia Graphical Processing Units (GPU), setting up nvidia-smi is a must.
Installing WSL 2
1. Run the following command in terminal, running with administrative privileges:
ℹ️ Note that the installation requires a minimum of 20.2 GB.
# Install WSL 2 and Ubuntu
wsl.exe --install
# Update WSL 2 to latest version
wsl.exe --update
Verify
You should see the following successful terminal output:
...
Installing: Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows Subsystem for Linux has been installed.
Installing: Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows Subsystem for Linux has been installed.
Installing: Ubuntu
Ubuntu has been installed.
The requested operation is successful. Changes will not be effective until the system is rebooted.
...
2. Restart PC to allow WSL 2 to take effect.
3. Run the following command in terminal, running with administrative privileges:
# Update WSL 2 to latest version
wsl.exe --update
# Unregister the distribution to avoid the following error [3].
wsl --unregister Ubuntu
Verify
You should see the following successful terminal output:
Checking for updates.
Updating Windows Subsystem for Linux to version: X.X.XX.
Installing nvidia-smi
1. Once you are done installing WSL 2, open the Ubuntu Desktop app. A Ubuntu bash terminal should appear.
Set your username and password, following instructions in terminal.
2. Run the following commands in the Ubuntu terminal:
ℹ️ The commands below uses the example of downloading CUDA Toolkit 12.3, as of this writing. The runfile is 4.07 GB.
# Remove old GPG key. For the reason, please refer to [1]
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-key del 7fa2af80
# Get the runfile from official Nvidia download site
wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/12.3.2/local_installers/cuda_12.3.2_545.23.08_linux.run
# Install gcc required for Nvidia CUDA Toolkit
sudo apt-get update && apt-get install build-essential
Run the runfile and follow instructions in terminal to fully download
sudo sh cuda_12.3.2_545.23.08_linux.run
Export PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/cuda-12.3/bin:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/cuda-12.3/lib64:
Verification
You should see a similar output as shown below:
Sat Jan 13 14:41:21 2024
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 535.104.07 Driver Version: 537.34 CUDA Version: 12.2 |
|-----------------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| 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 RTX 3060 ... On | 00000000:01:00.0 On | N/A |
| N/A 52C P8 11W / 85W | 111MiB / 6144MiB | 1% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|=======================================================================================|
| No running processes found |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Uninstall WSL 2 and nvidia-smi :fire:
In case you need to remove all that is downloaded using this guide, please follow the instructions in [4].
Remember to restart PC after all is done.