RPM Fusion repositories contain software that neither Fedora nor Red Hat wishes to ship by default in their official repositories due to licensing restrictions, patent considerations, or proprietary code constraints. Essential packages provided through RPM Fusion include popular software like the VLC media player and proprietary NVIDIA graphics card drivers.
Important Note: Avoid downloading and installing NVIDIA drivers directly from the official NVIDIA website (.run installers). Using native RPM Fusion packages ensures seamless integration with your system kernel, automatic dependency resolution, and stable updates.
This tutorial is valid for NVIDIA GPUs released after 2010, namely the GeForce 400 series, 500 series, 600 series, 700 series, 800M series, 900 series, 10 series, 20 series, 30 series, 40 series, and newer hardware.
Step 1: Add RPM Fusion Free and Nonfree Repositories
To configure and enable both the Free and Nonfree repositories on your Fedora or RHEL system, run the following command in your terminal:
Bash
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
After adding the repository packages, update your system metadata:
Bash
sudo dnf update
Step 2: Install VLC Media Player
Once the RPM Fusion repositories are active, installing the fully featured VLC media player (complete with proprietary decoders and multimedia codecs) is straightforward:
Bash
sudo dnf install vlc
Step 3: Install NVIDIA Drivers, CUDA, OpenCL, and Vulkan Support
Once your repositories are updated, install the comprehensive suite of NVIDIA drivers, 32-bit compatibility libraries, CUDA compute tools, hardware video acceleration, and Vulkan support packages.
1. Core Drivers and 32-Bit Libraries
Run the following commands to install the main proprietary driver, kernel module builder (akmod-nvidia), and 32-bit libraries required for 3D hardware acceleration in 32-bit applications (such as Wine or legacy games):
Bash
sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia akmod-nvidia
sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.i686
(Note: The akmod-nvidia package automatically builds kernel modules for your specific Linux kernel version whenever your kernel updates, preventing driver breakage upon reboot.)
2. CUDA and OpenCL Compute Support
To enable high-performance parallel computing, OpenCL, and CUDA development/runtime libraries:
Bash
sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda
sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda-libs
3. Hardware Video Acceleration (VDPAU / VA-API)
Install video decode/encode acceleration packages to ensure smooth hardware-accelerated video playback:
Bash
sudo dnf install vdpauinfo libva-vdpau-driver libva-utils
4. Vulkan Graphics API Support
If your GPU is a GeForce 600 series or later, install Vulkan packages to support modern graphics engines and high-performance rendering:
Bash
sudo dnf install vulkan*
Step 4: Reboot Your System
After the installation processes complete, restart your computer to load the proprietary NVIDIA kernel modules:
Bash
sudo reboot
⚠️ Kernel Compilation Notice: Every time a new Linux kernel is installed via system updates, your computer’s first boot into that kernel may take an extra 1 to 2 minutes. This is normal behavior as
akmodcompiles the custom NVIDIA kernel modules in the background for the newly installed kernel version.