How to Install nvidia-smi Command on Ubuntu

If you are using Ubuntu and trying to use the nvidia-smi command but getting a “command not found” error, it means that the NVIDIA System Management Interface (nvidia-smi) tool is not installed on your system.

Installation Steps

To install the nvidia-smi command on Ubuntu, follow these steps:

1. Update the package list and install the NVIDIA drivers:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-470

2. Verify that the NVIDIA drivers are installed correctly:

nvidia-smi

3. If the nvidia-smi command still does not work, you can install it separately by installing the nvidia-utils package:

sudo apt install nvidia-utils-470

4. Verify the installation by running nvidia-smi again:

nvidia-smi

Compatibility Issue Solution

If any of the above commands are not compatible with your Ubuntu version, you can try the following workaround:

1. Check the available NVIDIA driver versions for your Ubuntu release:

ubuntu-drivers devices

2. Install the recommended NVIDIA driver version:

sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

3. Verify the installation and check if nvidia-smi is now working:

nvidia-smi

Conclusion

The nvidia-smi command is a useful tool for monitoring NVIDIA GPU performance and managing GPU resources. By following the installation steps outlined in this tutorial, you should now have the nvidia-smi command available on your Ubuntu system.