Ubuntu Server/Desktop 22.04 / 24.04 / 26.04 Pre-Configuration Guide for High-Load VMS

This guide describes the recommended initial configuration of Ubuntu systems for stable operation of a high-load video surveillance platform based on Cluebase VMS running in Docker containers.

The recommendations apply to:

The system is expected to operate under:

1. Fully Update the System

Update package indexes and install all available updates.

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove -y && sudo apt autoclean && sudo snap refresh

Reboot after updates:

sudo reboot

2. Disable Automatic System Updates

Automatic updates may restart services unexpectedly and affect VMS stability.

Disable unattended upgrades:

sudo systemctl stop unattended-upgrades && sudo systemctl disable unattended-upgrades

Disable periodic APT updates:

sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades

Set:

APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "0";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "0";

Save the file.

3. Install Additional System Packages

Install useful administration and monitoring utilities:

sudo apt install -y \
mc \
htop \
curl \
unzip \
apt-transport-https \
ca-certificates \
gnupg \
lsb-release \
gnupg2 \
iotop \
net-tools \
iftop \
nvme-cli \
smartmontools \
jq

Package purpose:

Package Purpose
mc File manager
htop Process monitoring
iotop Disk I/O monitoring
iftop Network traffic monitoring
smartmontools Disk health monitoring
nvme-cli NVMe SSD management

4. Check Secure Boot Status

Secure Boot must be disabled in BIOS/UEFI before installing proprietary NVIDIA drivers.

Check status:

mokutil --sb-state

Possible output:

SecureBoot enabled

or

SecureBoot disabled

If Secure Boot is enabled:

  1. Reboot the server

  2. Enter BIOS/UEFI

  3. Disable:

    • Secure Boot

    • Fast Boot (recommended)

  4. Save settings and reboot

5. Install NVIDIA Driver and NVIDIA Container Toolkit

Install NVIDIA drivers only if the server has an NVIDIA GPU.

sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

Reboot:

sudo reboot

Verify driver installation:

nvidia-smi

Expected result:

Install NVIDIA Container Toolkit only after installing Cluebase VMS or Docker

Official documentation:

NVIDIA Container Toolkit Install Guide

curl -fsSL https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/gpgkey | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-keyring.gpg \
  && curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/stable/deb/nvidia-container-toolkit.list | \
    sed 's#deb https://#deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-keyring.gpg] https://#g' | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-container-toolkit.list

Update the packages list from the repository:

sudo apt update

Install the NVIDIA Container Toolkit packages:

export NVIDIA_CONTAINER_TOOLKIT_VERSION=1.19.0-1
  sudo apt-get install -y \
      nvidia-container-toolkit=${NVIDIA_CONTAINER_TOOLKIT_VERSION} \
      nvidia-container-toolkit-base=${NVIDIA_CONTAINER_TOOLKIT_VERSION} \
      libnvidia-container-tools=${NVIDIA_CONTAINER_TOOLKIT_VERSION} \
      libnvidia-container1=${NVIDIA_CONTAINER_TOOLKIT_VERSION}

Configure runtime:

sudo nvidia-ctk runtime configure --runtime=docker

Restart Docker:

sudo systemctl restart docker

6. Enable TCP BBR Congestion Control

BBR improves network throughput and reduces latency under heavy traffic.

Open sysctl configuration:

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

Add:

net.core.default_qdisc=fq
net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr

Apply settings:

sudo sysctl -p

Verify:

sysctl net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control

Expected output:

net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control = bbr

7. Configure Static IP Address

Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/24.06 uses Netplan.

Find interface name:

ip a

Example interface:

ens18

Edit Netplan configuration:

sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

Example configuration:

network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    ens18:
      dhcp4: false
      addresses:
        - 192.168.1.100/24
      routes:
        - to: default
          via: 192.168.1.1
      nameservers:
        addresses:
          - 1.1.1.1
          - 8.8.8.8

Apply configuration:

sudo netplan apply

Verify:

ip a
ip route

8. Configure Additional fs.aio-max-nr Parameter

Increase asynchronous I/O limits for high-load applications.

Edit sysctl configuration:

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.d/99-aio.conf

Add:

fs.aio-max-nr = 1048576

Apply:

sudo sysctl --system

Verify:

sysctl fs.aio-max-nr

Additional Recommended Optimizations for High-Load Cluebase VMS Systems

Increase File Descriptor Limits

Large video systems require high open-file limits.

Edit:

sudo nano /etc/security/limits.conf

Add:

* soft nofile 1048576
* hard nofile 1048576
root soft nofile 1048576
root hard nofile 1048576

Also configure systemd:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system.conf

Add or modify:

DefaultLimitNOFILE=1048576

Edit:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/user.conf

Add:

DefaultLimitNOFILE=1048576

Reload:

sudo systemctl daemon-reexec

Increase Network Buffers

Edit:

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

Add:

net.core.rmem_max = 67108864
net.core.wmem_max = 67108864
net.core.rmem_default = 262144
net.core.wmem_default = 262144
net.ipv4.tcp_rmem = 4096 87380 67108864
net.ipv4.tcp_wmem = 4096 65536 67108864
net.core.netdev_max_backlog = 250000

Apply:

sudo sysctl -p

Set Performance CPU Governor

Install tools:

sudo apt install -y linux-tools-common linux-tools-generic

Set performance mode:

sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance

Verify:

cpupower frequency-info

Enable TRIM for SSD/NVMe

sudo systemctl enable fstrim.timer
sudo systemctl start fstrim.timer

Verify:

systemctl status fstrim.timer

Recommended BIOS Settings

For stable 24/7 operation:

Disable:

Enable:

Monitoring Recommendations

Useful commands:

CPU:

htop

Disk I/O:

iotop

GPU:

watch -n 1 nvidia-smi

Network:

iftop

Disk health:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda

Final Recommendations

For production Cluebase VMS servers:

Revision #3
Created 2026-05-21 20:07:36 UTC by Zalim
Updated 2026-05-21 20:27:19 UTC by Zalim