About & Features

Bazzite is an OCI image that serves as an alternative operating system for the Steam Deck, and a ready-to-game SteamOS-like for desktop computers and living room home theater PCs.

Bazzite is built from ublue-os/main and ublue-os/nvidia using Fedora technology, which means expanded hardware support and built in drivers are included. Additionally, Bazzite adds the following features:

• Proprietary Nvidia drivers pre-installed.
• Full hardware accelerated codec support for H264 decoding.
• Full support for AMD's ROCM OpenCL/HIP run-times.
• xone, xpadneo, and xpad-noone drivers for Xbox controllers.
• Full support for DisplayLink.
• Includes Valve's KDE themes from SteamOS.
• LatencyFleX, vkBasalt, MangoHud, and OBS VkCapture installed and available by default
• Support for Wallpaper Engine. _{^{(Only on KDE)}}
• ROM Properties Page shell extension included.
• Distrobox preinstalled with automatic updates for created containers.
• Automated duperemove and rmlint services for reducing the disk space used by wine prefix contents.
• System76-Scheduler preinstalled, providing automatic process priority tweaks to your focused application and keeping CPU time for background processes to a minimum.
• Customized System76-Scheduler config with additional rules and CFS parameters from Linux-TKG.
• Uses Google's BBR TCP congestion control by default.
• Input Remapper preinstalled and enabled. _{^{(Available but default-disabled on the Deck variant)}}
• Bazzite Portal provides an easy way to install numerous applications and tweaks, including installing CoreCtrl and GreenWithEnvy.
• Nix package manager and Fleek optionally available for install via Bazzite Portal.
• Waydroid preinstalled for running Android apps. Future releases will offer to set this up for you through Bazzite Portal. _{^{(Not available on Nvidia builds)}}
• OpenRGB i2c-piix4 and i2c-nct6775 drivers for controlling RGB on certain motherboards.
• OpenRazer drivers built in, Select OpenRazer in Bazzite Portal or run just install-openrazer in a terminal to begin using it.
• GCAdapter_OC driver for overclocking Nintendo's Gamecube Controller Adapter to 1000hz polling.
• Out of the box support for Wooting keyboards.
• Built in support for Southern Islands _{^{(HD 7000)}} and Sea Islands _{^{(HD 8000)}} AMD GPUs under the amdgpu driver.
• A fix is available for a TF2 bug that makes the game crash on launch - just fix-tf2-tcmalloc

Desktop

Common variant available as bazzite, suitable for desktop computers.

• Runs Steam and Lutris in a custom Arch Linux OCI via Distrobox.
• Automatic updates for the OS, Flatpaks, Nix packages ^{_{(Via Fleek)}}, and all Distrobox containers.

Important

ISOs can be downloaded from our releases page here, and a helpful install guide can be found here.

If you're on an existing Universal Blue image follow these instructions. To rebase an existing upstream Fedora Silverblue/Kinoite ostree system to this image:

rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite:latest

or for devices with Nvidia GPUs:

rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite-nvidia:latest

For users with Secure Boot enabled: Once you've installed or rebased to a Nvidia build, be sure to follow step 3 from the ublue-os/nvidia guide.

Steam Deck/Home Theater PCs (HTPCs)

Important

Devices that are NOT the Steam Deck can still use the bazzite-deck images, but must use an AMD/Intel GPU.

Variant designed for usage as an alternative to SteamOS on the Steam Deck, and for a console-like experience on HTPCs, available as bazzite-deck:

• Directly boots to Gamemode matching SteamOS's behavior.
• Automatic duperemove greatly trims the size of compatdata.
• Latest version of Mesa creates smaller shader caches and does not require them to prevent stutter.
• Able to be booted even if the drive is full.
• Support for every language supported by upstream Fedora.
• Optionally use Wayland on the desktop with full support for Steam input.
• Features ported versions of most SteamOS packages, including drivers, firmware updaters, and fan controllers from the evlaV repository.
• Patched Mesa for proper framerate control from Gamescope.
• Comes with patches from SteamOS BTRFS for full BTRFS support for the SD card by default.
• Ships with a ported copy of SDGyroDSU, enabled by default.
• Option to install Decky Loader, EmuDeck, RetroDECK, and ProtonUp-Qt, among numerous other useful packages on installation.
• Custom update system allows for the OS, Flatpaks, Nix packages ^{_{(Via Fleek)}}, and Distrobox images to be updated directly from the Gamemode UI.
• Built in support for Windows dual-boot thanks to Fedora's installation of GRUB being left intact.
• Update break something? Easily roll back to the previous version of Bazzite thanks to rpm-ostree's rollback functionality. You can even select previous images at boot.
• Steam and Lutris preinstalled on the image as layered packages.
• Discover Overlay for Discord pre-installed and automatically launches in both Gamemode and on the Desktop if Discord is installed and feature is enabled. See /etc/default/discover-overlay to enable automatic launching.
• Exclusively uses ZRAM by default with the option to switch back to a swap file and set a custom size if desired. _{^{(1GB by default)}}
• BFQ I/O scheduler to prevent I/O starvation when installing games or during background duperemove and rmlint processes.
• TLS/SSL secured DNS and NTP by default. ^{_{(This is a handheld PC you're likely to use on random public networks after all)}}
• Applies SteamOS's kernel parameters.
• Color calibrated display profiles for matte and reflective Steam Deck screens included.
• Default-disabled power-user features, including:
  • Service for low-risk undervolting of the Steam Deck via RyzenAdj and Ryzen SMU, see ryzenadj.service and /etc/default/ryzenadj.
  • Service for limiting the max charge level of the battery, see batterylimit.service and /etc/default/batterylimit. ^{_{(Works even when the device is off)}}
  • Built in support for display overclocking. For example, add GAMESCOPE_OVERRIDE_REFRESH_RATE=40,70 to /etc/environment.
  • Ability to enable Wayland on the desktop if desired by editing /etc/default/desktop-wayland.
  • 32GB RAM mod your Steam Deck? Enjoy double the maximum VRAM amount, automatically applied. ^{_{(Can you share your soldering skills?)}}
• Steam Deck hardware-specific services can be disabled by running just disable-deck-services in the terminal, useful for trying this image on other handhelds or for use on HTPCs.

Warning

Due to an upstream bug, Bazzite cannot be used on Steam Decks with 64GB eMMC storage at this time.

Important

ISOs can be downloaded from our releases page here, and a helpful install guide can be found here.

If you're on an existing Universal Blue image follow these instructions. To rebase an existing upstream Fedora Silverblue/Kinoite ostree system to this image:

rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite-deck:latest

GNOME

Builds with the GNOME desktop environment are available in both desktop and deck flavors. These builds come with the following additional features:

• Variable refresh rate support and fractional scaling enabled under Wayland.
• Custom menu in the top bar for returning to game mode, launching Steam, and opening a number of useful utilities. _{^{(Only on Steam Deck builds)}}
• GSConnect preinstalled and ready to use.
• Features optional Valve-inspired themes matching Vapor and VGUI2 from SteamOS.
• Hanabi extension included to offer similar features to Wallpaper Engine in KDE.
• Numerous optional extensions pre-installed, including important user experience fixes.
• Automatic updates for the Firefox GNOME theme and Thunderbird GNOME theme. ^{_{(If installed)}}

Important

ISOs can be downloaded from our releases page here, and a helpful install guide can be found here.

To rebase an existing ostree system to the desktop release:

rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite-gnome:latest

To rebase an existing ostree system to the desktop with Nvidia drivers release:

rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite-gnome-nvidia:latest

Warning

Due to an upstream bug, Bazzite cannot be used on Steam Decks with 64GB eMMC storage at this time.

To rebase an existing ostree system to the Steam Deck/HTPC release:

rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite-deck-gnome:latest

Why

Bazzite started as a project to resolve some of the issues that plague SteamOS, mainly out of date packages (despite an Arch base) and the lack of a functional package manager.

Despite this project also being image-based, you are able to install any Fedora package straight from the command line. These packages will persist across updates _{^{(So go ahead and install that obscure VPN software you spent an hour trying to get working in SteamOS)}}. Additionally, Bazzite is updated multiple times a week with packages from upstream Fedora, giving you the best possible performance and latest features - all on a stable base.

Bazzite ships with the latest Linux kernel and SELinux enabled by default with full support for secure boot _{^{(Run just enroll-secure-boot-keys and enter the password ublue-os if prompted to enroll our key)}} and disk encryption, making this a sensible solution for general computing. _{^{(Yes, you can print from Bazzite)}}

Check out the FAQ for other topics surrounding the project.

Custom Packages

Ported SteamOS and ChimeraOS packages, among others used by Bazzite, are built on Copr in bazzite and bazzite-multilib.

Package	Status
ds-inhibit
duperemove
extest
gamescope
gamescope-session
gnome-randr-rust
gnome-shell-extension-bazzite-menu
gnome-shell-extension-caribou-blocker
gnome-shell-extension-hanabi
gnome-shell-extension-search-light
gnome-shell-extension-compiz-windows-effect
jupiter-fan-control
jupiter-hw-support-btrfs
mangohud
mesa
powerbuttond
python3-hid
rmlint
ryzenadj
sddm-sugar-steamOS
sdgyrodsu
steamdeck-kde-presets
steamdeck-kde-presets-desktop
steam_notif_daemon
udisks2
vpower

Additionally, the following packages are used from other Copr repos:

Package	Status
discover-overlay
distrobox-git
gcadapter_oc-kmod
gnome-vrr
gradience
hl2linux-selinux
latencyflex-vulkan-layer
noise-suppression-for-voice
obs-vkcapture
openrgb-kmod
rom-properties
steamdeck-kmod
system76-scheduler
wallpaper-engine-kde-plugin

Verification

These images are signed with sigstore's cosign. You can verify the signature by downloading the cosign.pub key from this repo and running the following command:

cosign verify --key cosign.pub ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite

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Special Thanks

Bazzite is a community effort and wouldn't exist without everyone's support. Below are some of the people who've helped us along the way:

• evlaV - For making Valve's code available and for being this person.
• ChimeraOS - For gamescope-session and for valuable support along the way.
• Jovian-NixOS - For supporting us with technical issues and for creating a similar project. Seriously, go check it out. It's our Nix-based cousin.
• Steam Deck Homebrew - For choosing to support distributions other than SteamOS despite the extra work, and a special thanks to PartyWumpus for getting Decky Loader working with SELinux for us.
• cyrv6737 - For the initial inspiration and the base that became bazzite-arch.

Build Your Own

Bazzite is built entirely in GitHub and creating your own custom version of it is as easy as forking this repository, adding a private signing key, and enabling GitHub actions.

Familiarize yourself on keeping secrets in github. You'll need to generate a new keypair with cosign. The public key can be in your public repo _{^{(Your users need it to check the signatures)}}, and you can paste the private key in Settings -> Secrets -> Actions with the name SIGNING_SECRET.

We also ship a config for the popular pull app if you'd like to keep your fork in sync with upstream. Enable this app on your repo to keep track of Bazzite changes while also making your own modifications.

Join The Community

You can find us on the Universal Blue Discord.