How-To Enable NVIDIA GPU Performance Counters for Non-Admin Users

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Introduction

By default, NVIDIA drivers restrict access to GPU performance counters to administrator users. This restriction prevents non-admin users from using profiling tools such as NVIDIA Nsight Compute.

When this restriction is enabled, users may see the following error when running profiling commands:

==ERROR== ERR_NVGPUCTRPERM - The user does not have permission to access NVIDIA GPU Performance Counters on the target device

This guide explains how to enable access to NVIDIA GPU performance counters for non-admin users by modifying the NVIDIA driver configuration and updating the system initramfs.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following:

• A Linux system with NVIDIA GPU drivers installed

• Administrative (sudo) access

• A supported NVIDIA GPU installed (for example, NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3)

• NVIDIA Nsight Compute installed (ncu command available in the system PATH)

• Access to the system terminal

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Verify the Error

• Run the following command to query available GPU metrics using NVIDIA Nsight Compute:

  $ ncu --query-metrics

• Example output:

  Device NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 (GH100)
  
  ==ERROR== ERR_NVGPUCTRPERM - The user does not have permission to access NVIDIA GPU Performance Counters on the target device 0

• This indicates that GPU performance counters are restricted.

2. Check Current Profiling Configuration

• Verify whether profiling access is restricted to administrators:

  $ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/params | grep -i RmProfilingAdminOnly

• Example output:

  RmProfilingAdminOnly: 1

• A value of 1 indicates that only administrators can access GPU performance counters.

3. Enable GPU Profiling for Non-Admin Users

• Create a new NVIDIA modprobe configuration file:

  $ sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/ncu-permissions.conf

• Add the following line to the file:

  options nvidia NVreg_RestrictProfilingToAdminUsers=0

• This configuration allows non-admin users to access GPU performance counters.

4. Update initramfs

• If the NVIDIA kernel module loads before this configuration file is read, the change will not apply. Updating initramfs ensures the configuration is loaded during system boot.

• Run:

  $ sudo update-initramfs -u

• Example output:

  update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-140-generic

5. Reboot the System

• Restart the system so the updated configuration takes effect.

  $ sudo reboot

6. Verify Profiling Permissions

• After the system reboots, verify the profiling configuration:

  cat /proc/driver/nvidia/params | grep -i RmProfilingAdminOnly

• Example Output: If the configuration was applied successfully, the restriction should no longer prevent profiling tools from accessing GPU counters.

  RmProfilingAdminOnly: 0

Example

After enabling GPU profiling access, querying metrics should return a list of available counters.

Run:

ncu --query-metrics

Example output:

Device NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3 (GH100)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Metric Name                                                                           Metric Type     Metric Unit     Metric Description                                                    
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
FBSP.TriageCompute.dramc__cycles_elapsed                                              Counter         cycle           DEPRECATED: use dram__cycles_elapsed instead                          
FBSP.TriageCompute.dramc__cycles_in_frame                                             Counter         cycle           # of cycles in user-defined frame                                     
FBSP.TriageCompute.dramc__cycles_in_region                                            Counter         cycle           # of cycles in user-defined region                                    
FBSP.TriageCompute.dramc__read_throughput                                             Throughput      %               DRAMC Read Throughput (TriageCompute Configuration)                   
FBSP.TriageCompute.dramc__read_throughput_internal_activity                           Throughput      %               DRAMC Read Throughput (TriageCompute Configuration), internal activity
...
...

This confirms that GPU performance counters are accessible to non-admin users.

Common Issues

• Issue: ERR_NVGPUCTRPERM still appears after configuration

  Resolution

  Ensure the initramfs was updated and the system was rebooted:

  $ sudo update-initramfs -u
  $ sudo reboot

   Also verify that the configuration file exists:

  cat /etc/modprobe.d/ncu-permissions.conf

Additional Resources

• NVIDIA Nsight Compute Documentation

• NVIDIA Developer Documentation for GPU Profiling Permissions