Installing the NPU Driver and Firmware

In both PM and containerized deployment scenarios, you only need to install the NPU driver and firmware on the PM.

In VM deployment scenarios, refer to this section to install both the NPU driver and firmware on the PM and install only the NPU driver on the VM.

Installation Description

You can run the following command to check whether the driver has been installed in the current environment. If driver information is returned, the driver has been installed.

npu-smi info

First-time installation: If no driver is installed on the hardware device upon delivery, or if the previously installed driver and firmware have been uninstalled, the scenario is classified as a first-time installation. In this scenario, follow the driver > firmware installation sequence.
Overwrite installation: If the driver and firmware have been previously installed on the hardware device and are not uninstalled, and you need to reinstall them, the scenario is classified as an overwrite installation. In this scenario, follow the firmware > driver installation sequence.

Preparing Users

The following describes how to create installation and running users. If the users already exist, skip this section.

**Table 1** User types
Component	Installation User	Running User
NPU driver and firmware	root	Since the running user and user group are specified as HwHiAiUser by default during driver and firmware installation, you must create the HwHiAiUser running user and user group manually before installing the software packages. If the created user and user group are not HwHiAiUser (including root), you must specify the running user when installing the driver and firmware.

The users used in the example steps in this document are as follows:

Driver/Firmware installation user: root
Running user: Non-root user HwHiAiUser (default running user for the driver and firmware)

Run the following commands to create the HwHiAiUser user and user group:

       
            groupadd HwHiAiUser
useradd -g HwHiAiUser -d /home/HwHiAiUser -m HwHiAiUser -s /bin/bash

For the usage and configuration requirements of the default user HwHiAiUser, see Atlas Hardware Product Account List. You can create other non-root users on your own.

Note that if the --install-for-all parameter is not used during driver installation, the CANN software running user must belong to the same user group as the driver and firmware running user.

Installing Dependencies

Check whether the source is available.
Debian, Ubuntu, and veLinux:
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apt-get update
If the system reports an error or the waiting time becomes excessive, check whether the network is connected or modify the /etc/apt/sources.list file to configure an available repository. (For example, to configure the Huawei mirrored repository, you can see the configuration method of the mirrored repository in the Huawei Open-Source Mirror Site).
openEuler, CentOS, Kylin, BC-Linux, UOS, AntOS, CTyunOS, CULinux, Tlinux, MTOS, vesselOS:
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yum makecache
If the system reports an error or the waiting time becomes excessive, check whether the network is connected or modify the /etc/yum.repos.d/xxxx.repo file to configure an available repository. (For example, to configure the Huawei mirrored repository, you can see the configuration method of the mirrored repository in the Huawei Open-Source Mirror Site).

Install dependencies.

Debian, Ubuntu, and veLinux:

         
              apt-get install -y make dkms gcc linux-headers-$(uname -r)

openEuler, CentOS, Kylin, BC-Linux, UOS, AntOS, CTyunOS, CULinux, Tlinux, MTOS, vesselOS:

         
              yum install -y make dkms gcc kernel-headers-$(uname -r) kernel-devel-$(uname -r)

If an error is reported or any dependency does not exist, rectify the fault by referring to Installing Dependencies Required for Compiling Driver Source Code.

Installing the Driver and Firmware

Log in to the installation environment as the root user and upload the driver and firmware packages to any directory in the installation environment, for example, /home.

Go to the directory where the software package is stored and run the following command to add the execute permission:

        
             chmod +x Ascend-hdk-<chip_type>-npu-driver_<version>_linux-<arch>.run
chmod +x Ascend-hdk-<chip_type>-npu-firmware_<version>.run

Install the driver and firmware. The default installation path is /usr/local/Ascend.

Install the driver.

          
               ./Ascend-hdk-<chip_type>-npu-driver_<version>_linux-<arch>.run --full --install-for-all

If the following information is displayed, the driver is successfully installed:

           
                Driver package installed successfully!

If some Linux tools are missing after you run the preceding command, install them based on the command output. If an error message indicating that the DKMS or any dependency is missing is displayed, rectify the fault by referring to Driver Installation Errors.

Install the firmware.

          
               ./Ascend-hdk-<chip_type>-npu-firmware_<version>.run --full

If the following information is displayed, the firmware is successfully installed:

          
               Firmware package installed successfully!

If the running user and user group of the driver are not created as HwHiAiUser according to the example steps, you must specify the running user and user group when installing the driver and firmware packages. The example commands are as follows:

./Ascend-hdk-<chip_type>-npu-driver_<version>_linux-<arch>.run --full --install-username=<username> --install-usergroup=<usergroup>

Determine whether to reboot the system as prompted. If the system needs to be rebooted, run the following command. Otherwise, skip this step.
After the driver is installed, the following information is displayed: "Driver package installed successfully! Reboot needed for installation/upgrade to take effect!"

After the firmware is installed, the following information is displayed: "Firmware package installed successfully! Reboot now or after driver installation for the installation/upgrade to take effect."
Reboot the system.
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reboot
Check whether the driver is successfully loaded.
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npu-smi info
If the driver information is displayed, the driver is successfully loaded. Otherwise, the loading fails. Visit the Support website to seek help in the forum or submit a technical service ticket.