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Today I wanted to install Kubuntu 18.10 on my computer, but I was surprised that during installation there's information: "Installing third-party drivers requires configuring Secure Boot", which doesn't make much sense to me as third-party drivers are the ones that can't be installed with Secure Boot turned on. I don't need secure boot, but I'm curious, if something changed and now we can use third-party drivers with Secure Boot or is that information wrong?

Here's the image of how this looks in installation window:

Image

DK Bose
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Jackenmen
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    I'm not an expert in these things but I provided a secure boot password and went ahead with the installation. After a reboot, there was no sign of "secure boot". – DK Bose Dec 24 '18 at 13:13
  • Maybe you didn't enable it in UEFI Setup, that would probably explain. I know I don't need the secure boot or anything, it's just the thing that I'm interested if something changed with the whole secure boot situation. – Jackenmen Dec 24 '18 at 13:15
  • Let's hope someone can clarify! – DK Bose Dec 24 '18 at 13:16
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    There's nothing new about this. If you want to install drivers while using secure boot you have to sign them yourself using a Machine Owner Key. This is just a gui for that. https://www.kvaser.com/developer-blog/secure-boot-linux-systems/ – Organic Marble Dec 24 '18 at 14:29
  • Still, there's one thing that doesn't make sense - third-party drivers doesn't require Secure Boot. – Jackenmen Dec 24 '18 at 14:40
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    Third-party "drivers" are kernel modules in Linux, and fall well within Secure Boot's remit to prevent unsigned/unauthorized kernel changes. They CAN be installed with Secure Boot...but the change must be authorized...which is what the setting is for. Perhaps you thought SB was disabled on your system? – user535733 Dec 24 '18 at 14:57
  • Okay, you're actually right, Secure Boot somehow wasn't disabled on my computer. It has strange thing - there's Secure Boot switch (Enabled/Disabled) and Secure Boot status and even though I had Secure Boot switch set to Disabled the Secure Boot status still showed Enabled. After several tries with switching the switch, it finally changed in Secure Boot status as well. Thanks, I thought that Secure Boot is disabled (as I theoritically turned it off, lol) – Jackenmen Dec 24 '18 at 15:13
  • There is a change. It used to be you could only install those drivers with UEFI Secure Boot off. Now you can provide your own UEFI key to say those drivers are authorized. Canonical cannot as it has not verified them, but a user can, assuming he knows it is a reliable source. – oldfred Dec 24 '18 at 15:35

1 Answers1

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You can either just add a password, and Ubuntu will sign kernel drivers with that password, OR you can go into your BIOS and disable secure boot, which will disable this message.

Both are safe, although it's possible the former could lead to problems updating drivers later. See Is it safe to disable Secure Boot? for more discussion of this question.

naught101
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  • I have UN-CHECKED the secure boot for Installation. As I dont want hazzle for updates. Checking for Windows is not useful either. This was helpful. – Mayank Goyal Feb 12 '23 at 05:53