A brief tutorial on running NVIDIA SDK Manager in a container

NVIDIA SDK Manager is a UI tool used by NVIDIA to connect edge devices (modules), and perform tasks such as downloading startup programs, installing drivers, and configuring parameters. It can be run in Ubuntu and CentOS, and it can also be run in Docker. For host systems that are not currently supported, running in Docker is currently the only method.

Supported OS Versions:
- Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04 and 20.04 on x86_64 system
- CentOS 7.6, 8.0 and 8.2 on x86_64 system
Related references:
- Source of this article, https://docs.nvidia.com/sdk-manager/docker-containers/index.html
- nvidia-sdk-manager，https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-sdk-manager
- Jetson Developer Forum, https://developer.nvidia.com/blog
- Jetson Download Center, https://developer.nvidia.com/en-us/embedded/downloads#?search=Jetson%20AGX%20Xavier%20Developer%20Kit%20User%20Guide
- Jetson Mate，https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Jetson-Mate/#installing-kubernetes

1. Download and install

Download and install Docker engine: Install Docker Engine @ Docker Documentation .

For Linux users, managing Docker as a non-root user is strongly recommended, see Post-installation steps for Linux @ Docker Documentation .
Go to the download page: https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-sdk-manager-docker-image .
Download the file to the host computer.

Open the console and load the Docker image:

docker load -i ./sdkmanager_[version].[build#]_docker.tar.gz

2. Use SDK Manager Docker Image

2.1. Guidelines

The image is built for using SDK Manager CLI mode only. See Install with the Command Line for more information.
Flashing the target device requires full access to the USB port on the host machine.

Note:

Creating a DRIVE image for DRIVE Software 10.0 is not currently supported.

2.2. Base Usage

The Docker image is designed to be executed directly from the host, without the need to open the terminal inside the docker itself. The sdkmanager executable is the entrypoint.

SDK Manager CLI arguments should be used directly when running a new container:

SDK Manager CLI
```
sdkmanager --view
```
SDK Manager CLI with Docker
```
docker run -it --rm sdkmanager –-ver
```

See Install with the Command Line for more information.

3. Other Considerations

By default, the initial container has a clean profile and local database. This needs to be taken into consideration as far as how to use the image, and when to save the changes (commit) into a new image. This will depend on the usage plans for the container, if there is a plan to re-use it after installation or start each time from a clean phase. Alter your plans according to whether you intend to have a different container for each SDK release or a unique one.
Flashing requires privileged access and mapping USB ports into the container:
```
--privileged -v /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb/
```
Depending on your local network's security settings, you may need to set access to your local network with --network host. This is primarily needed if you wish to interact with Jetson devices via L4T USB Device mode.
The local user inside the Docker is nvidia with nvidia as the password. The home folder is /home/nvidia.

Examples for setting the container for flashing and re-use are as follows:

Initial install and flash; this example uses JetPack 4.4.1 and the Jetson Nano NX Devkit.

docker run -it --privileged -v /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb/ --name JetPack_NX_Devkit sdkmanager --cli install --logintype devzone --product Jetson --target P3668-0000 --targetos Linux --version 4.4.1 --select 'Jetson OS' --deselect 'Jetson SDK Components' --flash all --license accept --staylogin true --datacollection enable --exitonfinish

After install and flash, commit the container as a new image.

docker commit JetPack_NX_Devkit jetpack_nx_devkit:4.4.1_flash

docker container rm  JetPack_NX_Devkit

Next, flash can be executed from the created image directly, without additional arguments. The container can then be removed after flash is complete.
```
docker run -it --rm --privileged -v /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb/ jetpack_nx_devkit:4.4.1_flash
```

4. Known issues

WSL / Docker in Windows 10 Desktop Host

Currently, flashing the target device is not supported, due to lack of USB porting support.

When installing JetPack SDK using the SDK Manager Docker image, you should first install qemu-user-static on your host machine. Without qemu-user-static package, you will get the following error during installation from the File System and OS component:
```
'dpkg': Exec format error
```