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Overview

NVIDIA Kubernetes Launch Kit

NVIDIA Kubernetes Launch Kit (l8k) helps platform teams configure NVIDIA networking for accelerated Kubernetes clusters. It discovers NIC and GPU topology, generates reviewable Network Operator and NIC Configuration Operator resources, applies them in dependency order, and checks the deployed result.

Use this site when you are deploying SR-IOV, RDMA shared-device, host-device, InfiniBand, or Spectrum-X networking. Start with Plan your deployment to choose a platform and profile, check what is qualified, and identify the site inputs and permissions you need.

The lifecycle commands operate on the host target by default. The reserved dpf target has no available lifecycle phases; see the target extension contract if you are extending Launch Kit.

Find Your Path

If you are a... Start here
Operator preparing a deployment Plan your deployment
Operator deploying SR-IOV Ethernet on Kubernetes Quick Start
OpenShift administrator Deploy on OpenShift
Operator inventorying a cluster Cluster Discovery
Platform engineer selecting a topology profile Deployment Profiles
Platform engineer managing mixed hardware Heterogeneous Clusters
Spectrum-X operator Spectrum-X
CI/CD or GitOps integrator Automation
Integrator adding an infrastructure target Target-aware CLI
AI agent integrator AI Skills
Operator confirming a deployment is ready for use Validation
Application owner connecting a workload Use the network in an application
Operator changing an existing deployment Change and upgrade
Operator removing a deployment Cleanup
Operator investigating a failed stage Troubleshooting

Workflow

Each stage is independently invocable:

  • l8k discover bootstraps a private NIC discovery daemon and writes cluster-config.yaml.
  • l8k generate renders a profile-specific manifest bundle under deployment/network-operator/.
  • l8k deploy installs or upgrades the Network Operator Helm chart, applies CRs in dependency order, and waits for reconciliation.
  • l8k validate runs deployment checks and produces a report. Review its completed checks and connectivity coverage before acceptance; exit success alone is insufficient.
  • l8k clean removes Network Operator custom resources and uninstalls its Helm release unless config marks the chart externally owned.

Review discovered inventory, site networking settings, and generated artifacts before deploying. Quick Start shows that checkpoint in one Kubernetes scenario. A successful validation exit alone does not demonstrate complete data-plane coverage; use the acceptance criteria.