Installing Pop!_OS (NVIDIA Edition) in Proxmox

Date: June 1st, 2025
Category: Virtualization / VM Guest OS Configuration
Backlink: Installing Proxmox VE 8.2 on a Standalone GPU Passthrough Server

Goal

Install Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS (NVIDIA ISO) as a Proxmox VM with a passed-through RTX 2070 Super GPU, ensuring full graphics acceleration and NVIDIA driver functionality.

Step 1: Download the Pop!_OS NVIDIA ISO

Download directly to Proxmox or to your workstation:

🔗 Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS NVIDIA ISO

Option 1: Upload via Proxmox GUI

• Go to Datacenter > local (proxmox89) > ISO Images

• Click Upload and choose the ISO file from your computer

Option 2: Download from URL

• In ISO Images, click **Download from URL`

• Paste the ISO link above and click Query URL

• Confirm filename and click Download

The ISO will appear in the list once it's downloaded.

Step 2: Create the Pop!_OS VM

General Tab

• Node: proxmox89

• VM ID: 100 (or next available)

• Name: POP_OS_NVIDIA

• ✅ Start at boot

OS Tab

• Use ISO: pop-os_22.04_amd64_nvidia_53.iso

System Tab

• BIOS: OVMF (UEFI)

• Machine: q35

• ✅ Add EFI Disk

• ❌ Pre-Enrolled Keys (disable Secure Boot)

• SCSI Controller: VirtIO SCSI single

• ✅ QEMU Agent

• Graphic Card: Default (or change to None later for passthrough)

Disks Tab

• Bus: SCSI

• Storage: Inland512

• Size: 200 GiB

• ✅ IO thread

CPU Tab

• Sockets: 1

• Cores: 6–8

• Type: host

Memory Tab

• Size: 16384 MiB

Network Tab

• Bridge: vmbr0

• Model: VirtIO (paravirtualized)

• ✅ Firewall (optional)

Click Finish to create the VM.

Step 3: Attach GPU (Passthrough)

1. Stop the VM.

2. Go to Hardware > Add > PCI Device

3. Select both:

   • 01:00.0 NVIDIA VGA Controller

   • 01:00.1 NVIDIA HD Audio

4. Enable:

   • ✅ All Functions

   • ✅ Primary GPU

   • ✅ ROM-Bar

Step 4: Boot and Install Pop!_OS

• Start the VM

• If passthrough is correct, output will show on monitor connected to GPU

• Use “Erase Disk and Install”

• Set username and password