How to Fix “SGX Disabled by BIOS" in Ubuntu

This error appears when the Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) feature is disabled in your system’s BIOS/UEFI. You’ll need to manually enable SGX through your BIOS or UEFI settings to fix this error. Below is a complete step-by-step guide.

1. 🔧 Enable SGX from BIOS/UEFI Settings

1. Restart your computer and access the BIOS or UEFI setup screen during the initial boot phase.

This is typically done by pressing one of these keys during boot: F2, Del, Esc, or F12 (depends on your system’s manufacturer).

2. Navigate to:

Advanced → CPU Configuration

3. Look for Intel SGX setting.

4. Change the value from Disabled to either:

Enabled, or

Software Controlled

5.Save the settings (usually with F10) and reboot your system.

📝 Note: If you can’t find SGX in BIOS, your system might not support it, or you may need a BIOS update.

2. ✅ Check SGX Status in Ubuntu

After rebooting into Ubuntu, open a terminal and run:

If you’re new to Ubuntu, check out our Ubuntu tutorials for more helpful guides.

dmesg | grep -i sgx

or

cpuid | grep -i sgx

If SGX is enabled correctly, these commands will return SGX-related information.

3. 📦 (Optional) Install Intel SGX Packages

To work with applications that rely on SGX, install the necessary libraries:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install libsgx-enclave-common

For additional development tools:

sudo apt install libsgx-urts libsgx-dcap-ql libsgx-dcap-default-qpl

4. Check Linux Kernel Compatibility

Make sure your current kernel version supports SGX:

uname -r

If your kernel is outdated, upgrade it:

sudo apt upgrade linux-generic

5. 🔁 Final Check

After completing the steps, reboot your system and check if SGX is enabled successfully.

dmesg | grep -i sgx

If it still shows as disabled:

Recheck your BIOS settings

Consider updating your BIOS firmware

💡 Extra Tip:

Some systems hide SGX settings by default. In that case, try enabling Advanced Mode in BIOS or refer to your motherboard’s manual.