Intel Releases Packaged Arc Graphics Driver For Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

If as an Ubuntu Linux user you have been held off on purchasing one of the new Arc Graphics discrete graphics cards due to the prospects of having to upgrade your own kernel, Mesa, and linux-firmware packages, Intel has a solution for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS users in the form of a packaged driver.

Intel has spun a packaged driver solution that deploys the updated Mesa driver stack and then backported the i915 kernel module to work as a DKMS module atop Ubuntu 22.04's 5.17 OEM kernel option. So long story short, it's much easier to get going now with Arc Graphics on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS that otherwise lacks out-of-the-box support for the DG2/Alchemist graphics processors.

This packaged driver for Ubuntu 22.04 is akin to AMD's Radeon Software for Linux "AMDGPU-Open" driver stack option for supported enterprise / Long-Term Support distributions. This Intel packaged driver is derived from the same sources as their upstream open-source driver stack, just that it's been built as Debian packages for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and then the DKMS module on the kernel graphics driver side. It's still the same open-source driver just distributed in a convenient binary form.

For those comfortable in rolling your own kernel and Mesa build or using third-party PPAs like Oibaf and the Ubuntu Mainline Kernel PPA, you'll still likely be best off going that route. Due to having yet to see how frequently Intel will be updating this packaged driver and needing additional time for QA/validation, it will be behind the latest upstream Mesa ANV Vulkan and Iris OpenGL driver state as well as for what is the latest code in the upstream i915 kernel driver. So enthusiasts and gamers comfortable with managing your own software stack, I would recommend keeping to that while this packaged driver is nice for convenience and more novice users just wanting to easily enjoy Intel Arc Graphics on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Given that it's derived from the same upstream sources, this Arc Graphics Driver for Ubuntu will also work on Gen11 / Tiger Lake graphics and newer too up through Raptor Lake S... Granted, there is less of a need on that side, but this is an option for those wanting to try something different.

This packaged driver for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS can be downloaded from the Intel.com download center. For those not on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or wanting to roll your own open-source driver build for Intel Arc Graphics, see my earlier overview of the Linux driver support that basically amounts to needing Linux 6.0+ (with a module option), Mesa 22.2+, linux-firmware.git, and optionally the various Compute Runtime components for oneAPI Level Zero / OpenCL.