/ Welcome Rocky Linux
Jorge Vidal
After several years using Centos, it is time to upgrade to Rocky Linux. I will share my experience here, regarding VFX use
/ Installing Rocky Linux (v9) easy and fast
Just download ISO, boot and install. Same instructions as Centos, but a more likeable interface.
Regarding partitions we have same trouble as Centos. Automatic partition just will keep 70 GB as root, so I recommend to increase it at least to 100 GB to avoid the annoying issue regarding lack of space when you need to install strong software as DaVinci, etc.
In case, 70GB looks enough if you manage your apps and temporal files.
I recommend to have an external disk for apps, this way you don´t need to reinstall any time you have a crash or an update. Some apps can be executed using alias, so I manage them outside root disk and I can run same on different linux as they share code. Each three months aprox you will need to upgrade, so this way I can just use the uncompressed folder and upgrade my alias without needing to delete older versions or fight against elements. On my post regarding .nuke desktop I explain how to do that.
As first look Rocky looks like a Mac Os, very beatiful and fast. Lots of ready to use apps preinstalled.
You can have a little headhache installing your Nvidia drivers. By default nouveau driver works fine, but definetely you will need to upgrade your drivers to manage CUDA or other needs as DaVinci asks, etc.
Here is a fast guide and some websites for reference.
It is need to have nvidia working (I’m using GTX SUPER 1660).
Best way should go to Nvidia web, but you can manage to get it faster from alternative sites as sometimes you would need additional packs. This web down worked to me:Enable Rpm Fusion Repository
Here you can find another guide to get this repo:
https://www.linuxcapable.com/how-to-install-rpm-fusion-on-rocky-linux/
sudo dnf install --nogpgcheckhttps://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm -ysudo dnf install akmod-nvidianvidia-xconfigFor running DaVinci you also will need libGLU
https://rockylinux.pkgs.org/9/rockylinux-appstream-x86_64/mesa-libGLU-9.0.1-6.el9.x86_64.rpm.html
dnf install mesa-libGLU
It can happens that upgrading Rocky you would need to reinstall nvidia drivers. This happens because cuda would need a kernel update also.
After upgrading Rocky you can get down your x screen configuration. My nvidia-xconfig didn´t worked and it didn´t detect my card despite everything was working previously.
To avoid headhaches, best way is to have downloaded the latest nvidia driver to an accesible folder and reinstall or upgrade from terminal. I create a dir named NVIDIA at home and there I keep my latest drivers, then I can run by terminal faster, just straight:./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-535.86.05.runDepending on your boot configuration it cannot be done automatically.
After upgrading your Nvidia you can run the DaVinci installer and everything will go ok.
Blender 3.5, Nuke, Natron, etc. keeps working same as Centos 7 without issues. In case of Blender 3.5 as it has some lib requests looks running better on Rocky.
So this is my fast guide. As usual I will update my experience along the next months flagging any issue.
Thanks Rocky people!
(Updated September 2024)
MY ISSUES REPORT: I cannot reccord audio on fairlight using daVinci, as ALSA doesn´t detect my devices. Looks like Resolve has some troubles in Linux. I need some time to work on that. Instead, audicity, kdenlive, OBS, etc. can detect my micro without issues.