Canonical announces it will distribute NVIDIA DOCA-OFED in Ubuntu

Following the recent announcement regarding the distribution of the NVIDIA CUDA toolkit, Canonical, the publishers of Ubuntu, will integrate and distribute the NVIDIA DOCA-OFED networking driver with Ubuntu, further accelerating the enablement of NVIDIA platforms.

NVIDIA DOCA-OFED is a widely adopted high-performance networking stack, commonly used in large-scale AI factories and HPC clusters. By exposing advanced capabilities like RDMA (remote direct memory access) and NVIDIA GPUDirect, NVIDIA DOCA-OFED provides CPU offload, lower and more predictable tail latency, and sustained throughput under load. This enables ultra-low latency and high-throughput data transfers – essential for training large language models (LLMs) and running complex distributed simulations. DOCA‑OFED is delivered as the DOCA‑Host networking driver stack, including kernel drivers, user‑space libraries, and management tools for supported NVIDIA network adapters.

As data center workloads move toward massive-scale AI and HPC, the underlying networking fabric becomes the critical bottleneck. By bringing NVIDIA DOCA-OFED directly into Ubuntu, Canonical will enable infrastructure architects and developers to build faster, more reliable, and more securely designed networks.

NVIDIA DOCA-OFED with a single command

Historically, system administrators had to manage networking drivers through external installers or complex manual builds, often leading to version conflicts or kernel mismatch issues during OS updates.

The new workflow will remove common operational pain points such as kernel drift, driver incompatibility, and CI breakage following kernel or OS upgrades. The distribution of  NVIDIA DOCA-OFED through Ubuntu’s repositories will enable a “single-command” installation experience.

• Ubuntu integration: NVIDIA DOCA-OFED will be included in Ubuntu’s repositories, ensuring that drivers are tested and optimized for the specific Ubuntu kernel you are running.
• Simplified lifecycle management: Once integrated, application developers and system administrators can manage networking updates through standard apt commands, significantly reducing the operational overhead of maintaining high-performance clusters.
• Predictable deployments: Organizations can now declare networking dependencies in their automation scripts, with Ubuntu managing the installation and hardware compatibility across diverse NVIDIA networking hardware.

A great match for the Ubuntu ecosystem

Ubuntu is the world’s most popular Linux distribution for the cloud and edge. Organizations choosing Ubuntu benefit from a platform that is trusted and easy to use: 

• Long-term support (LTS): Ubuntu offers LTS releases, which are guaranteed to receive security updates for at least five years.
• Familiar Tooling: Using the Advanced Package Tool (APT), projects can scale from a single developer workstation to thousands of decentralized nodes while preserving the integrity of the open source software supply chain.
• Ubuntu Pro: Ubuntu Pro is Canonical’s comprehensive subscription for open source security, support, and compliance. It gives you access to a trusted open source repository, compliance profiles for the most stringent security standards, and up to 15 years of security maintenance. This ensures that even as networking standards evolve, your mission-critical infrastructure remains protected against emerging vulnerabilities.

Ubuntu Pro is free for personal use on up to 5 machines, and enterprises can try it for free for 30 days. 

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro

Making high-performance networking operationally sustainable

High-performance networking has quietly become one of the hardest operational problems in modern data centers, but by distributing NVIDIA DOCA-OFED in Ubuntu, Canonical is helping enterprises address the problem. Infrastructure teams no longer need to choose between speed and stability, or between vendor innovation and OS consistency.

For operators building AI factories, HPC clusters, or accelerated cloud platforms, this integration offers a cleaner supply chain, simpler upgrades, and a networking stack that evolves in parallel with the operating system. It is a pragmatic step toward making high-performance networking a first-class, operationally manageable component of modern Linux infrastructure.

About Canonical

Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, provides open source security, support, and services. Our portfolio covers critical systems, from the smallest devices to the largest clouds, from the kernel to containers, from databases to AI. With customers that include top tech brands, emerging startups, governments and home users, Canonical delivers trusted open source for everyone. 

Learn more at https://canonical.com/