holoscan-install-debian

holoscan-install-debian is an official NVIDIA install skill for installing the Holoscan SDK C++ runtime and headers natively on Ubuntu via apt. It solves the problem of choosing the correct holoscan-cuda-* package variant for the host's CUDA driver and configuring NVIDIA's apt repository, then verifying the install using the SDK's bundled C++ examples. Because apt does not provide Python bindings, the skill directs users needing Python to pair it with the /holoscan-install-wheel skill.

The workflow consults the official NVIDIA install docs first (authoritative on any disagreement), detects the Ubuntu version and CUDA driver via lsb_release and nvidia-smi, and applies a variant rule table to pick holoscan-cuda-13, holoscan-cuda-12, or holoscan (IGX). It checks prerequisites to skip redundant steps (cuda-keyring already installed, package already present), installs the cuda-keyring .deb and the chosen holoscan package via sudo apt-get, and then verifies by running the hello_world, tensor_interop, and video_replayer examples headless — patching the video_replayer YAML to stop after 10 frames. It handles the common 'CUDA driver version is insufficient' error by swapping the package variant. A skill-card and BENCHMARK.md document NVSkills-Eval results (security, correctness, discoverability, effectiveness, efficiency).

It targets developers and engineers building GPU-accelerated streaming AI applications who need a native Ubuntu C++ install of the Holoscan SDK. The operations are standard package management (wget of NVIDIA's signed cuda-keyring, sudo apt-get install) plus read-only verification runs, with no destructive or data-exfiltrating behavior.