# Nvcf Self Managed Installation > Install and operate NVCF self-hosted control-plane and separate compute-plane stacks. Covers Helmfile values and CLI profile installation flows, teardown, values overrides, pull secrets, and troubleshooting. Use for nvcf-self-managed-stack, nvcf-compute-plane-stack, split compute-plane installation, control-plane installation, CLI-generated control-plane profiles, Helmfile, self-managed, or self-hosted deployments. Do NOT use for local k3d environments; use the local k3d development workflow instead. - Skill: `nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-installation` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 8 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-installation` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-installation/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Productivity - License: Apache-2.0 - Author: NVIDIA (https://skillmd.com/u/nvidia) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-installation --- # NVCF Self-Managed Stack Operations Operational guide for matching NVCF control-plane and compute-plane Helmfile bundles. ## Instructions Use this skill for install, upgrade, or teardown work in matching `nvcf-self-managed-stack` and `nvcf-compute-plane-stack` bundles; keep Helmfile values and CLI profile handoffs separate. For `functionType: "LLM"`, read [LLM Function Enablement](references/helmfile-structure.md#llm-function-enablement). ## Prerequisites Ask for the extracted `nvcf-self-managed-stack` path. For split installation, also require the matching-version `nvcf-compute-plane-stack` path. Verify both: ```bash ls /helmfile.d/ /environments/ /secrets/ /global.yaml.gotmpl ls /helmfile.d/ /environments/ /global.yaml.gotmpl ``` If either directory is missing, download matching bundle versions from NGC: ```bash ngc registry resource download-version /nvcf-self-managed-stack: ngc registry resource download-version /nvcf-compute-plane-stack: ``` Control-plane commands below assume the control-plane bundle root. Split-flow commands and root substitution are in [Split Compute-Plane Installation](references/compute-plane-installation.md). ## Before You Start Verify tooling and context before any operation: ```bash helmfile --version # Must be 1.1.x (1.2.0 removed sequential mode) helm version # Must be >= 3.12 helm plugin list # Must include helm-diff >= 3.11 kubectl version # Client must be within 1 minor version of cluster ``` Control-plane commands run from the extracted `nvcf-self-managed-stack/` root: ```bash cd path/to/nvcf-self-managed-stack ls helmfile.d/ environments/ secrets/ global.yaml.gotmpl ``` Identify the environment from `environments/.yaml` and `secrets/-secrets.yaml`; for EKS, use the canonical [CSP End-to-End Example](https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/v0.6.0-rc/csp-end-to-end-example). ## How Values Flow Understanding value precedence prevents the most common configuration mistakes. ``` environments/base.yaml (defaults) -> merged with environments/.yaml (your overrides) -> consumed by global.yaml.gotmpl (Go template, constructs per-chart values) -> consumed by secrets/-secrets.yaml (sensitive values) -> overridden by release inline values: blocks (highest precedence) ``` Critical: `global.yaml.gotmpl` only passes through specific keys to each chart (image registries, node selectors, storage, replica counts). Setting an arbitrary chart value in the environment file will be silently ignored if `global.yaml.gotmpl` does not propagate it. To override arbitrary chart values, use a helmfile release `values:` block. See [Overriding Helm Chart Values](#overriding-helm-chart-values). ## Clean Installation ### 1. Create namespaces and image pull secrets (if using a private registry) ```bash for ns in cassandra-system nats-system nvcf api-keys ess sis vault-system cert-manager; do kubectl create namespace "$ns" --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f - done # Only if pulling from a private registry (e.g., NGC nvcr.io) export NGC_API_KEY="" for ns in cassandra-system nats-system nvcf api-keys ess sis vault-system cert-manager; do kubectl create secret docker-registry nvcr-creds \ --docker-server=nvcr.io \ --docker-username='$oauthtoken' \ --docker-password="$NGC_API_KEY" \ --namespace="$ns" \ --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f - done ``` If using pull secrets, you must also configure each helmfile release to reference them. See [Image Pull Secrets](#image-pull-secrets). ### 2. Authenticate helm to your chart registry Both `docker login` AND `helm registry login` are required for NGC. Helmfile uses helm (not docker) to pull OCI charts, so the helm credential store must be authenticated separately. ```bash # NGC -- both commands are required docker login nvcr.io -u '$oauthtoken' -p "$NGC_API_KEY" helm registry login nvcr.io -u '$oauthtoken' -p "$NGC_API_KEY" # ECR aws ecr get-login-password --region | \ helm registry login --username AWS --password-stdin .dkr.ecr..amazonaws.com ``` > Note: `helm registry login` keeps only the last login per host (multi-org gotcha). > The stack and the caches span several NGC orgs that need different keys, but they all > live under the one host `nvcr.io`. A second `helm registry login nvcr.io` (or > `docker login`) with a different key silently overwrites the first, so pulls for the > first org then fail with a misleading `403 Access Denied` (not a 401: the auth > succeeded, it's the wrong-org key). If you pull charts/images from more than one org, > either re-run the login with the correct key immediately before each pull, or pass > `--username '$oauthtoken' --password ` per `helm pull` invocation instead of relying > on the stored login. (Pulling everything from a single registry mirror avoids this > entirely.) ### 2b. (Recommended) Pull from a registry the cluster authenticates to automatically If you mirror the NVCF images into a registry that the cluster can pull from without an explicit image pull secret (for example, a registry where the node or workload identity is granted pull access automatically), point the stack at it and skip the credential steps above. 1. Point the stack at the mirror in `environments/.yaml`: ```yaml global: image: registry: # e.g. registry.example.com repository: helm: sources: # only if you also mirrored the helm charts registry: repository: ``` > The manifest has a mix of OCI and non-OCI artifacts, so convert non-OCI charts before > mirroring. Container images (`nvcr.io/...`) are already OCI and mirror as-is. Some Helm > charts, though, are published to an `https://` Helm repository (for example > `helm.ngc.nvidia.com`). Those are not OCI and cannot be resolved by `global.helm.sources` > (OCI) or mirrored directly. Before pointing the stack at your mirror, convert each > `https://` chart to OCI: `helm repo add`/`helm pull` the `.tgz`, then > `helm push .tgz oci:///`. Only OCI charts can live > under `global.helm.sources`. 2. Skip the credential steps above. When the cluster authenticates to the registry automatically (the node or workload identity has pull access), the pull needs no Kubernetes secret, so you do not need: the per-namespace `nvcr-creds` from step 1 (still create the namespaces, just not the secret), the `global.imagePullSecrets` entry, or the `docker login`/`helm registry login nvcr.io` from step 2. > One residual credential: nvcf-api still validates the user function image at > `function create` via the account registry credential, so that credential must point at > whichever registry holds the user image (set it to your mirror if the image is mirrored > there). ### 3. Set the route domain `global.domain` sets the hostname suffix for routes such as `api.`. It does not configure the Gateway or its load balancer. Query the exact existing Gateway: ```bash GATEWAY_ADDRESS=$(kubectl get gateway -n -o jsonpath='{.status.addresses[0].value}') test -n "$GATEWAY_ADDRESS" ``` The address may be a hostname or IP. Cloud provider and Gateway configuration determine the load balancer type and address format. The self-managed stack does not select either. For temporary testing without DNS, use a stable reserved suffix such as `global.domain: "nvcf.test"`, connect to `GATEWAY_ADDRESS`, and send `Host: api.nvcf.test`. For production, use your base DNS domain and point its route records to `GATEWAY_ADDRESS`. If the endpoint later changes, keep `global.domain` stable and update only DNS or the client destination. See Example 4 in [examples.md](examples.md). ### 4. Preview and deploy ```bash HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile template # Preview rendered manifests HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile sync # Deploy ``` > Set BOTH Cassandra passwords in the secrets file. The secrets file documents > `DEFAULT_CASSANDRA_PASSWORD`, but the cassandra chart has a second credential, > `cassandra.serviceRolePassword`, that defaults to `ch@ng3m3`. If you set only > `DEFAULT_CASSANDRA_PASSWORD`, the service role keeps that default and every DB-backed > service crash-loops with `Bad credentials` once it tries to authenticate. Set > `cassandra.serviceRolePassword` to the same value as `DEFAULT_CASSANDRA_PASSWORD`. ### 5. Deployment phases Helmfile deploys in order with dependencies: | Phase | Selector | Services | Wait time | |-------|----------|----------|-----------| | 1 | `release-group=dependencies` | NATS, OpenBao, Cassandra | 5-10 min | | 2 | `release-group=services` | API, SIS, ESS, invocation, grpc-proxy, notary, api-keys, optional LLM gateway/router, optional Vanity Gateway, NVCF UI when the stack package includes the addon | 5-10 min | | 3 | `release-group=ingress` | Gateway routes | 1-2 min | | 4 | `release-group=observability` | Observability stack (if enabled) | 1-2 min | Monitor in a separate terminal: ```bash kubectl get pods -A -w ``` ### 6. Enable Vanity Gateway (optional) Vanity Gateway is disabled by default and is only needed for customer-facing hostnames or path mappings in front of the standard NVCF API and invocation routes. It is available only in stack packages that include the Vanity Gateway addon. If the extracted stack package does not contain a `vanity-gateway` release and `vanityGateway` route values, skip these commands and use a newer stack package that includes them. If the stack package includes the addon, enable it in `environments/.yaml`: ```yaml addons: vanityGateway: enabled: true mappingConfig: {} ``` The default route host is `vanity.` and the backend is `vanity-gateway.nvcf:8080`. Put deployment-specific host and path mappings under `addons.vanityGateway.mappingConfig`. If you need custom vanity hosts instead of `vanity.`, use the route hostname overrides supported by the stack package and create matching DNS records. After confirming the package includes the `vanity-gateway` release, preview and apply the service and route: ```bash HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile --selector name=vanity-gateway template HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile --selector name=vanity-gateway sync HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile --selector release-group=ingress sync ``` Verify the route only when the addon is present and enabled: ```bash kubectl get deploy,svc -n nvcf -l app.kubernetes.io/name=vanity-gateway kubectl get httproute -A | grep -i vanity curl -H "Host: vanity." "http:///health" ``` Do not enable Vanity Gateway for standard API, API Keys, invocation, LLM invocation, or gRPC traffic. Those routes are provided by the base gateway routes. ### 7. Enable NVCF UI (optional) NVCF UI is an optional, customer-facing admin-panel UI. It is disabled by default and available only in stack packages that include the NVCF UI addon. If your extracted stack package does not contain a `nvcf-ui` release and `nvcfUi` route values, skip this section. The NVCF UI admin panel is currently unauthenticated; do not expose it to the public internet. For enablement, namespace and pull secret setup, apply, and verification steps, see [NVCF UI Addon](references/nvcf-ui-addon.md). ### 8. Install the separate compute-plane stack The control-plane stack does not install compute-plane components. After it is healthy, choose exactly one compute-plane handoff: - Helmfile values flow: author separate environment files, then register and install with the compute-plane Makefile. - CLI profile flow: use the profile generated by the CLI control-plane install, then run the complete CLI register and install commands. Do not mix these handoffs. Follow [Split Compute-Plane Installation](references/compute-plane-installation.md) for commands, EKS routing, pull secrets, verification, and teardown order. ## Clean Teardown Destroy every compute plane before the control plane, using the teardown for the same handoff; see [Split Compute-Plane Installation](references/compute-plane-installation.md#teardown). Scope: Only destroy releases managed by this control-plane helmfile stack. The NVCF releases are: `nats`, `openbao-server`, `cassandra`, `api-keys`, `sis`, `api`, `invocation-service`, `grpc-proxy`, `ess-api`, `notary-service`, optional `vanity-gateway`, `nvcf-ui`, `admin-issuer-proxy`, and `ingress`; `cert-manager` is included only when `certManager.enabled: true`. The control-plane namespace inventory also includes `cert-manager`, but default namespace cleanup preserves it. Namespace preservation does not preserve the Helm release. External cert-manager must use `certManager.enabled: false`; otherwise Helmfile treats the release as stack-managed. Do not delete other helm releases or namespaces on the cluster. Before control-plane destroy, identify whether cert-manager is external. For an external installation, require effective `certManager.enabled: false` and abort if it is true. For an intended stack-managed release with effective `certManager.enabled: true`, verify matching stack Helm release metadata and abort on missing or mismatched evidence. Preserve the namespace by default; only plan its removal after verifying namespace provenance and getting explicit confirmation. ### Standard teardown Run from inside the `nvcf-self-managed-stack/` directory: ```bash HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile destroy ``` ### Delete namespaces ```bash for ns in cassandra-system nats-system nvcf api-keys ess sis nvcf-ui vault-system; do kubectl delete namespace "$ns" --ignore-not-found done ``` ### Verify clean ```bash kubectl get ns | grep -E '(cassandra|nats|vault|nvcf|api-keys|ess|sis)' # Should return empty ``` ## Overriding Helm Chart Values ### Environment file (limited) Works only for keys that `global.yaml.gotmpl` propagates (e.g., `cassandra.replicaCount`, `global.storageClass`, `global.image`). ### Release values block (any chart value) Edit the release in `helmfile.d/*.yaml.gotmpl` and add a `values:` block. In the examples below, `` refers to the `secrets/` directory at the helmfile stack root. ```yaml - name: cassandra version: 0.8.0 condition: cassandra.enabled namespace: cassandra-system <<: *dependency values: - ../global.yaml.gotmpl - ..//{{ requiredEnv "HELMFILE_ENV" }}-secrets.yaml - cassandra: resources: limits: cpu: "8" memory: 8192Mi requests: cpu: "2" memory: 4096Mi ``` YAML merge gotcha: When a release uses `<<: *dependency` or `inherit`, specifying `values:` replaces the template's values list. You must re-include `global.yaml.gotmpl` and the secrets file. ### Preview and apply a single release ```bash HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile --selector name=cassandra template # Preview HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile --selector name=cassandra sync # Apply ``` ## Image Pull Secrets There are three distinct credential types. Do not conflate them, and mind the format rule below (two of them fail even with the correct key if the format is wrong): | | Control Plane Pull Secrets | API Bootstrap Registry Creds | Sidecar Image-Pull Secret | |---|---|---|---| | Purpose | K8s pulls NVCF service images | nvcf-api validates the user function image at `function create` | nvcf-api pulls the platform sidecars injected into every worker pod | | Where | K8s `docker-registry` Secrets + Kyverno ClusterPolicy | `/-secrets.yaml` (account-bootstrap) | `NVCF_API_SIDECARS_IMAGE_PULL_SECRET` in `-secrets.yaml` -> OpenBao `services/nvcf-api/kv/sidecars/image-pull-secret` (field `secret`) | | Format | standard `.dockerconfigjson` (kubectl builds it for you) | `base64("$oauthtoken:")` | `base64("$oauthtoken:")` | > Note: the account-bootstrap cred and the sidecar secret are NOT a > dockerconfigjson. The secrets template ships the placeholder > `REPLACE_WITH_BASE64_DOCKER_CREDENTIAL`, which reads as "base64 of a dockerconfigjson." > It isn't. Both values are consumed as a raw docker `auth` string: nvcf-api takes the > value verbatim and drops it into the `auth` field of the dockerconfig it builds. So the > value must be `base64("$oauthtoken:")`, e.g. `printf '$oauthtoken:%s' "$KEY" | openssl base64 -A`, > not `base64()`. > - Wrong account-bootstrap value: `function create` returns > `400 "must be base64 encoded username:password format"`. > - Wrong sidecar value: every worker's sidecar pull gets a malformed credential and > `403`s, regardless of which key is inside. The symptom looks like a bad or wrong-org > key, but the key is fine and the encoding is the bug. To repair an already-installed > stack without a full re-sync: > ```bash > AUTH=$(printf '$oauthtoken:%s' "$KEY" | openssl base64 -A) > bao kv put services/nvcf-api/kv/sidecars/image-pull-secret secret="$AUTH" > # if NVIDIA Cloud Tasks is enabled, repeat for services/nvct-api/kv/sidecars/image-pull-secret > kubectl rollout restart -n nvcf deploy/nvcf-api # picks up the new sidecar cred > ``` > Note (multi-org): when pulling from NGC (not a mirror), the user function image and > the platform sidecars often live in different nvcr.io orgs, each needing a different > key, so the account-bootstrap cred (function image) and the sidecar secret (sidecars) > are frequently two different keys. Mirroring everything into a single registry the > cluster authenticates to automatically collapses this to one credential path. ### Configuring with Kyverno (recommended) Use a Kyverno mutating admission policy to automatically inject `imagePullSecrets` into all pods in NVCF namespaces. This works uniformly for all charts -- no per-chart configuration or helmfile modifications needed. ```bash # 1. Install Kyverno helm repo add kyverno https://kyverno.github.io/kyverno/ helm repo update helm install kyverno kyverno/kyverno -n kyverno --create-namespace # 2. Create pull secret in each namespace export NGC_API_KEY="" for ns in cassandra-system nats-system nvcf api-keys ess sis vault-system cert-manager; do kubectl create secret docker-registry nvcr-creds \ --docker-server=nvcr.io \ --docker-username='$oauthtoken' \ --docker-password="$NGC_API_KEY" \ --namespace="$ns" \ --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f - done # 3. Apply the Kyverno ClusterPolicy kubectl apply -f kyverno-imagepullsecret-policy.yaml ``` The policy mutates every pod at admission time, adding `imagePullSecrets: [{name: nvcr-creds}]`. Verify with: ```bash kubectl get pod -n -o jsonpath='{.spec.imagePullSecrets}' # Should show: [{"name":"nvcr-creds"}] ``` Not needed if using a CSP built-in credential helper (e.g., ECR with IAM node roles). For the Kyverno policy YAML and pull secret creation script, see [references/pull-secrets.md](references/pull-secrets.md). ## Debugging ### Quick status check ```bash kubectl get pods -A -o wide # All pods helm list -A # All helm releases kubectl get events -n --sort-by='.lastTimestamp' # Recent events ``` ### Common failure patterns | Symptom | Cause | Fix | |---------|-------|-----| | `ImagePullBackOff` + `401 Unauthorized` | Missing or wrong pull secret | Check secret exists, check SA has imagePullSecrets | | `Init:0/1` stuck on service pods | Vault-agent waiting for OpenBao | Check OpenBao pods + migration job status | | `Init:0/1` + `vault-agent-init` shows `auth/jwt/login` -> `400 ... no known key successfully validated the token signature` | OpenBao JWT auth configured with a static pubkey instead of the cluster's live JWKS -- the base default `openbao.migrations.issuerDiscovery.enabled: false`. Common on AKS / any OIDC-issuer cluster | Set `openbao.migrations.issuerDiscovery.enabled: true`, delete job `openbao-server-migrations`, re-sync `openbao-server`. See [references/debugging.md](references/debugging.md) "Init:0/1 Stuck" fix #4. | | `OOMKilled` on Cassandra | Default resources too small | Override `cassandra.resources` via values block | | DB-backed services crash-loop `Bad credentials` connecting to Cassandra | Secrets file set only `DEFAULT_CASSANDRA_PASSWORD`; `cassandra.serviceRolePassword` still defaults to `ch@ng3m3` | Set `cassandra.serviceRolePassword` in the secrets file equal to `DEFAULT_CASSANDRA_PASSWORD`, then re-sync cassandra + the DB-backed services | | `Pending` pods | Node selector mismatch or no storage class | `kubectl describe pod`, check labels and storage | | Helm release in `failed` state | First install failed partway | `helmfile destroy` the release, then `sync` again | | Account bootstrap timeout | Wrong base64 credentials in secrets file | Check `kubectl logs job/nvcf-api-account-bootstrap -n nvcf` | | function / account calls return `404 Unknown client_id` | The account-bootstrap post-install hook never ran: the `api` release install failed, or was repaired with live patches instead of a clean re-sync, so the hook (and the account) was skipped | Verify and re-run the hook; see [Verify the account bootstrap ran](#verify-the-account-bootstrap-ran) | | Services fail to read vault secrets; `secrets.json` not found | Vault path hardcoded to `/home/app/vault/` in `_helpers.tpl`; the runtime resolves the mounted path relative to the working directory and drops the leading `/` | Override `podAnnotations` and set `JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS: "-Duser.dir=/"` in release values | | NATS connection fails at startup; placement tag mismatch | NATS server tags hardcoded to `dc:ncp`; app derives tag from `AWS_REGION` (e.g., `us-gov-west-1`) | Set `AWS_REGION=ncp` and `NVCF_AWS_REGION=ncp` in env config | ### Verify the account bootstrap ran The default account is created by a **`post-install` hook on the `api` release** (`job/nvcf-api-account-bootstrap` in `nvcf`). Because it is a post-install hook, it only fires on a successful `api` install. If that install failed and you repaired it with live patches (rather than a clean re-sync), the hook never runs, no account is created, and every subsequent function/account call returns a cryptic `404 Unknown client_id` with nothing obviously wrong in the running pods. Verify it ran after the first sync: ```bash kubectl get job -n nvcf nvcf-api-account-bootstrap \ -o jsonpath='{.status.succeeded}' # expect 1 ``` If the job is absent or `0`, re-run it by re-syncing the `api` release so the hook fires again (delete the prior job first if it lingers in a completed/failed state and blocks the hook): ```bash kubectl delete job -n nvcf nvcf-api-account-bootstrap --ignore-not-found HELMFILE_ENV= helmfile --selector name=api sync kubectl logs -n nvcf job/nvcf-api-account-bootstrap # confirm the account was created ``` ## Additional Resources - Installation: [examples.md](examples.md), the [CSP End-to-End Example](https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/v0.6.0-rc/csp-end-to-end-example), and [split compute-plane workflows](references/compute-plane-installation.md) - Operations: [Helmfile structure](references/helmfile-structure.md), [pull secrets](references/pull-secrets.md), and [debugging](references/debugging.md) After deployment, use the `nvcf-self-managed-cli` skill to create functions, create tasks, manage API keys, and invoke endpoints.