# Nvcf Self Managed Prerequisite > Install the prerequisites the NVCA operator / compute plane needs before nvcf-nvca-install can succeed: the operator tool nvcf-cli (required by the compute-plane stack's register-cluster step), KAI Scheduler (for the KAIScheduler feature gate), and the SMB CSI driver (for the sharedStorage Samba sidecar PVCs). The two cluster components are cloud-neutral helm installs at the NVCF-validated version pins; same install on AKS, EKS, GKE, k3d, or bare metal. Use when the user mentions NVCA prereqs, nvcf-cli, "nvcf-cli not found", ensure-nvcf-cli, register-cluster, KAI Scheduler, SMB CSI, csi-driver-smb, queue quotas, default-parent-queue, NVCA shared-storage PVCs stuck Pending, or asks how to prepare a cluster before installing the NVCA operator. - Skill: `nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-prerequisite` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-prerequisite` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-prerequisite/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - License: Apache-2.0 - Author: NVIDIA (https://skillmd.com/u/nvidia) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/nvidia/nvcf-self-managed-prerequisite --- # NVCA prerequisites — KAI Scheduler + SMB CSI One operator tool plus two cluster-level components the NVCA operator / compute plane depends on. Satisfy all three before running `nvcf-nvca-install`. | Prereq | Why it is needed | Detail | | ------ | ------------------ | ------ | | `nvcf-cli` | The compute-plane stack's `make register-cluster` (and `install`/`apply`/`sync`, which abort without the registration values it writes) shells out to `nvcf-cli`. The shipped stack defaults to building it from a sibling `../cli` checkout that the release does not include, so a green-field repo fails with `ensure-nvcf-cli` / "Registration values not found". | See Step 0b below | | KAI Scheduler | `selfManaged.featureGateValues` includes `KAIScheduler`; NVCA polls `Queue` CRs and refuses to become healthy until their quotas are `-1`. Skip the standalone helm step below when `addons.kaiScheduler.enabled` is set in `nvcf-compute-plane` (required when enabling Grove or Dynamo). | [references/kai-scheduler.md](references/kai-scheduler.md) | | SMB CSI driver (`smb.csi.k8s.io`) | NVCA's `selfManaged.sharedStorage` runs Samba sidecar pods that export file shares; the resulting PVCs need this CSI driver to bind | [references/smb-csi.md](references/smb-csi.md) | The KAI Scheduler and SMB CSI installs are cloud-neutral helm commands pinned to NVCF-validated versions. These are upstream third-party charts (not NVCF images), so they are not in `manifest.yaml`; the per-component reference docs carry the current pin and link the NVCF docs version table. `nvcf-cli` is an operator workstation tool, not an in-cluster install. ## Prerequisites - A running Kubernetes cluster (any cloud — AKS, EKS, GKE, k3d, MicroK8s) with `kubectl` configured and admin access. - `helm` **>= 3.12 and < 4**. **Helm 4 is NOT supported** (matches `nvcf-self-managed-stack/README.md`). On Helm 4 the KAI install below hangs silently for many minutes — Helm 4 runs the chart's pre-install `crd-manager` hook through a `before-hook-creation` delete and then waits `--timeout` *per already-absent hook resource*, so the release sits in `pending-install` with no pods and never errors cleanly. Use Helm 3.x. - Cluster has CPU headroom on a general-purpose node pool for KAI's 7 pods. ## Install ### 0 — Preflight: verify Helm 3.x (fail fast on Helm 4) Helm 4 is not supported and causes a silent multi-minute hang on the KAI install below. Check the major version before installing anything: ```bash helm_major="$(helm version --template '{{.Version}}' | sed -E 's/^v?([0-9]+).*/\1/')" if [ "$helm_major" != "3" ]; then echo "ERROR: Helm $helm_major detected; this prerequisite requires Helm 3.x (>= 3.12, < 4)." >&2 echo "Helm 4 hangs on the KAI Scheduler chart's crd-manager hook. Install a 3.x release and retry." >&2 exit 1 fi ``` ### 0b — nvcf-cli (compute-plane registration tool) The compute-plane stack (`nvcf-compute-plane-stack`) registers each GPU cluster with the control plane via `make register-cluster`, which shells out to `nvcf-cli` (`init` + `cluster register`) and writes `registration/-register-values.yaml`. The stack's `install`/`apply`/`sync` targets abort if that file is missing. By default the stack builds `nvcf-cli` from a sibling `../cli` checkout (`NVCF_CLI_REPO ?= $(MAKEFILE_DIR)/../cli`) that is not bundled with the release, so a fresh checkout fails at `ensure-nvcf-cli`. `nvcf-cli` is a convenience wrapper: its only job in this flow is to produce `registration/-register-values.yaml` (the `clusterID` / `selfManaged.clusterId`/`clusterGroupId` schema the NVCA helmfile loads). There are two ways to satisfy this prerequisite. Register without `nvcf-cli` (supported path for self-hosted deployments). Obtain the cluster registration data from the running control plane and hand-author `registration/-register-values.yaml` in the schema the NVCA helmfile expects, then run `make install CLUSTER_NAME= HELMFILE_ENV=` directly (no `register-cluster`). The step-by-step procedure for gathering that data without the CLI is being published by the NVCF team; until it lands, use an `nvcf-cli` build if NVIDIA has provided you one. Use an `nvcf-cli` binary if you have one. Point the stack at the binary with an absolute path so it does not try to build the missing `../cli`: ```bash cd nvcf-compute-plane-stack make register-cluster \ CLUSTER_NAME= NCA_ID= CLUSTER_REGION= \ ICMS_URL=https://sis. \ NVCF_CLI=/abs/path/to/nvcf-cli make install CLUSTER_NAME= HELMFILE_ENV= ``` ### 1 — KAI Scheduler Skip this step when `addons.kaiScheduler.enabled` is true in `nvcf-compute-plane`. That stack installs KAI Scheduler (release and namespace `kai-scheduler`). Enable that flag whenever Grove or Dynamo is enabled. Use the standalone install below when you need KAI without the compute-plane add-on (for example the NVCA `KAIScheduler` feature gate alone). ```bash cat > nvca-values.yaml << 'EOF' scheduler: placementStrategy: binpack plugins: nodeplacement: arguments: gpu: binpack cpu: spread actions: preempt: enabled: false consolidation: enabled: false defaultQueue: createDefaultQueue: true parentName: default-parent-queue childName: default-queue parentResources: cpu: quota: -1 limit: -1 overQuotaWeight: 1 gpu: quota: -1 limit: -1 overQuotaWeight: 1 memory: quota: -1 limit: -1 overQuotaWeight: 1 childResources: cpu: quota: -1 limit: -1 overQuotaWeight: 1 gpu: quota: -1 limit: -1 overQuotaWeight: 1 memory: quota: -1 limit: -1 overQuotaWeight: 1 EOF helm install kai-scheduler \ oci://ghcr.io/kai-scheduler/kai-scheduler/kai-scheduler \ -n kai-scheduler --create-namespace -f nvca-values.yaml \ --version v0.14.0 \ --wait --timeout 5m ``` ### 2 — SMB CSI driver ```bash helm repo add csi-driver-smb \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-driver-smb/master/charts helm repo update helm install csi-driver-smb csi-driver-smb/csi-driver-smb \ -n kube-system \ --version v1.17.0 \ --wait --timeout 5m ``` AKS clusters can use the managed `csi-driver-smb` add-on instead — see [references/smb-csi.md](references/smb-csi.md). ## Definition of done - Compute-plane registration is satisfiable: either you can produce `registration/-register-values.yaml` without the CLI, or an `nvcf-cli` binary is available (on `PATH` or via `NVCF_CLI=`). - `kubectl get pods -n kai-scheduler` shows 7 pods Running. - `kubectl get queues` shows both `default-parent-queue` and `default-queue` with `limit: -1, quota: -1` on cpu / gpu / memory. - `kubectl get csidriver smb.csi.k8s.io` returns the driver without error. After this, run `nvcf-nvca-install`. ## Uninstall ```bash helm uninstall csi-driver-smb -n kube-system helm uninstall kai-scheduler -n kai-scheduler kubectl delete namespace kai-scheduler ``` ## References - [references/kai-scheduler.md](references/kai-scheduler.md) — KAI install detail, queue-quota theory, failure modes - [references/smb-csi.md](references/smb-csi.md) — SMB CSI install detail, AKS managed-add-on alternative, verification - Companion skill: `nvcf-self-managed-installation` — Section 7 covers enabling and validating the NVCA operator after these prerequisites are satisfied.