Install KDB-X and the cuVS Module

This page explains how to install KDB-X with a cuVS-enabled license, install the required dependencies, and run the application on a host or in an NVIDIA container.

Install KDB-X

Install KDB-X by following the KDB-X install guide.

Download the cuVS module

Note

These instructions use the default KDB-X installation location $HOME/.kx. If you installed KDB-X elsewhere, adjust the commands to match your installation path.

Download the cuVS module from the KX downloads portal.

curl -L -O https://portal.dl.kx.com/assets/raw/kdb-x/modules/cuvs/~latest~/l64-cuvs.zip

Extract the contents of the zip file to the KDB-X installation directory. The default location is $HOME/.kx/mod/kx/cuvs.

unzip l64-cuvs.zip -d ~/.kx/mod/kx/cuvs/

The folder structure looks similar to:

~/.kx/mod/kx/
├── ai
├── cuvs/l64/cuvs.so ← (cuVS module)
├── kurl
├── objstor
├── pq
└── rest.q_

For more information on modules, refer to modules.

Install dependencies

The cuVS module requires CUDA 13.1 and cuVS 25.10 runtime libraries.

This script will download several gigabytes of CUDA dependencies required for cuVS. Installation time will vary depending on your internet connection speed.

Run the installation script to download and install them:

./install_deps.sh

The script prompts for an installation directory. The default is $HOME/miniforge3.

Note

Installation may take several minutes and will download several GBs of CUDA dependencies depending on your internet connection.

Once installed, export the library path:

INSTALL_PATH="$HOME/miniforge3"
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${INSTALL_PATH}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}"

This tells the system where to find the installed CUDA and cuVS libraries. By prepending the installation path, the module picks up the correct versions rather than any CUDA libraries already on your host system.

The installation script manages its own CUDA environment independently of your host system. The CUDA version displayed by nvidia-smi reflects your host system's driver and is not affected by this installation.

Tip

To persist this setting across sessions, add the export command to your shell startup file (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc).

Test the cuVS module

Start a q session and verify that the cuVS module loads:

.cuvs:use`kx.cuvs

If the module loads successfully, the command returns without error.