CLI Reference

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Global Flags
l8k discover
l8k generate
l8k deploy
l8k validate
l8k preset list
l8k preset update
l8k sosreport
l8k schema
l8k version
Exit Codes
See Also

The Launch Kit binary is invoked as l8k and exposes a set of subcommands. l8k --help and l8k <subcommand> --help print labelled flag groups identical to the sections below.

Global Flags

Available on all subcommands:

Flag	Description
`--output <string>`	Output format: `text` (default, human-readable) or `json` (structured for automation, see Automation and CI/CD).
`-y, --yes`	Auto-confirm all prompts. Implied by `--output json`.
`-q, --quiet`	Suppress informational output.
`--log-level <string>`	Log level: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`.
`--log-file <string>`	Write logs to file instead of stderr.
`-h, --help`	Show help.

l8k discover

Probes cluster hardware and writes a cluster-config.yaml.

Flag	Description
`--kubeconfig <string>`	Path to kubeconfig file (falls back to `$KUBECONFIG`).
`--user-config <string>`	Base config to merge with discovered hardware. If `--save-cluster-config` is omitted, the file is updated in place.
`--save-cluster-config <string>`	Output path for the discovered cluster configuration. Defaults to `--user-config` if set, otherwise `./cluster-config.yaml`.
`--network-operator-namespace <string>`	Override the Network Operator namespace (default: `nvidia-network-operator`).
`--network-operator-release <string>`	Pin discovery to a Network Operator release line. Supported: `25.10`, `26.1`, `26.4`.
`--node-selector <string>`	Filter nodes for discovery by label. Default: `feature.node.kubernetes.io/pci-15b3.present=true` (Mellanox NICs).
`--image-pull-secrets <strings>`	Image pull secret names for NicClusterPolicy (comma-separated).
`--enabled-plugins <string>`	Comma-separated list of plugins to enable (default: `network-operator`).

l8k generate

Renders Kubernetes manifests from a cluster configuration and a profile selection. Optionally deploys them.

Profile Selection

Flag	Description
`--user-config <string>`	Cluster configuration file. Auto-detected from `./cluster-config.yaml` (or the installed default) if omitted.
`--for <preset>`	Generate for a hardware preset without running discovery. Requires `--node-selector`. See Cluster Topology Presets.
`--fabric <string>`	Fabric type: `ethernet` or `infiniband`. Auto-defaults from the cluster’s unanimous `linkType` (Unit 5 fabric probe) when not supplied.
`--deployment-type <string>`	Deployment type: `sriov`, `rdma_shared`, or `host_device`. Auto-defaults to `sriov` when not supplied.
`--multirail`	Enable multirail deployment. Auto-defaults to `true`. Opt out with `--multirail=false` (YAML cannot express explicit-false).
`--spectrum-x <RA-version>`	Enable Spectrum-X. Value is the SPC-X RA version: `RA2.1` or `RA2.2`. Implies ethernet fabric, sriov deployment, and multirail.
`--multiplane-mode <string>`	Multiplane mode: `swplb`, `hwplb`, `uniplane`, or `none`. Required with `--spectrum-x`; auto-defaulted from east-west PF deviceID when omitted (CX7/BF3 → `uniplane`, CX8 → `swplb`, CX9 → `hwplb`). `none` requires `--number-of-planes 1`.
`--number-of-planes <int>`	Number of planes: `1`, `2`, or `4`. Required with `--spectrum-x`; auto-defaulted from deviceID (CX7/BF3 → 1, CX8 → 2, CX9 → 4).
`--network-operator-release <string>`	Pin to a Network Operator release line. Supported: `25.10`, `26.1`, `26.4`. Auto-defaulted under `--spectrum-x` (`RA2.1` → `26.1`; `RA2.2` → `26.4`). See Overview.
`--groups <a,b,...>`	Restrict output to the named source groups (comma-separated, matched case-sensitively against `clusterConfig[].identifier`). Mutually exclusive with `--gpu-type`. Empty match is a validation error. See Heterogeneous Clusters.
`--gpu-type <string>`	Restrict output to source groups whose `gpuType` matches (case-insensitive). Mutually exclusive with `--groups`. See Heterogeneous Clusters.
`--node-selector <string>`	Node selector for the synthesized `clusterConfig` when `--for` is used (e.g., `key=value,key2=value2`). Required with `--for`.

Output and Deployment

Flag	Description
`--save-deployment-files <string>`	Output directory for generated YAML files (default: `./deployment`).
`--deploy`	Apply generated manifests to the cluster.
`--dry-run`	Preview deployment without applying (requires `--deploy`).
`--kubeconfig <string>`	Path to kubeconfig (required with `--deploy`; falls back to `$KUBECONFIG`).

Customization

Flag	Description
`--enable-doca-driver`	Enable DOCA driver deployment.
`--workload-manifest <string>`	Path to a custom workload manifest. Launch Kit patches network annotations, resource requests, and node affinity. See Generate Workflow.
`--image-pull-secrets <strings>`	Image pull secret names for NicClusterPolicy (comma-separated). Propagates to per-group NicNodePolicy sub-specs.
`--network-operator-namespace <string>`	Override the Network Operator namespace.
`--pod-namespace <string>`	Namespace for pods and network resources.
`--enabled-plugins <string>`	Comma-separated list of plugins to enable (default: `network-operator`).

l8k deploy

Applies previously generated manifests to the cluster in four phases: NicClusterPolicy first (await ready), per-group NicNodePolicy (await each), all remaining CRs in one batch (controllers reconcile concurrently), then verify every manifest reached a terminal state. Example workload manifests (*example*) are skipped here — they’re applied by l8k validate --connectivity / l8k deploy --verify as part of the data-plane phase. See Deploy Workflow for the full deployment-ordering description.

Flag	Description
`--kubeconfig <string>`	Path to kubeconfig (falls back to `$KUBECONFIG`).
`--deployment-files <string>`	Directory containing the manifests to apply (default: `./deployment`).
`--deploy-timeout <duration>`	End-to-end wall-clock budget for the apply + reconciliation phase (e.g., `45m`, `2h`). `0` (default) means no deadline; polls until every manifest reaches a terminal state. Useful for matching a maintenance window when SR-IOV reconciliation on a large cluster can take an hour or more.
`--verify`	After a successful apply, chain the connectivity matrix (same flow as `l8k validate --connectivity`): apply the example DaemonSet, wait for it to roll out, run a ping matrix across every rail and pod pair, then clean up.
`--dry-run`	Preview what would be applied without changing the cluster.

l8k validate

Verifies a deployment by running four checks back-to-back: Network Operator Helm release version (compared against networkOperator.selectedRelease in cluster-config.yaml); per-component version cross-check that walks the live NicClusterPolicy + NicNodePolicy and confirms each section’s .version field matches the catalog (catches out-of-band edits and partial upgrades the Helm check misses); per-manifest state classification (READY / IN-PROGRESS / ERROR / MISSING via the per-Kind validator registry); and a data-plane connectivity matrix (apply the example DaemonSet, ping every rail across every pod pair). Writes a self-contained HTML report to <deployment-files>/verify-report.html by default. Exits 4 on any missing/error manifest, Helm-version mismatch, component-version mismatch, or connectivity-matrix failure. See Validate Workflow for full details.

Flag	Description
`--kubeconfig <string>`	Path to kubeconfig (falls back to `$KUBECONFIG`).
`--user-config <string>`	Cluster config file. Lookup order: explicit path → `./cluster-config.yaml` → `<deployment-files>/../cluster-config.yaml` → `<deployment-files>/cluster-config.yaml`. Read for `networkOperator.selectedRelease` and operator namespace.
`--deployment-files <string>`	Directory containing the manifests to verify (default: `./deployment`).
`--connectivity`	Run the data-plane ping matrix. Default `true`. Pass `--connectivity=false` to limit validate to the static manifest + Helm-release-version checks.
`--connectivity-timeout <duration>`	Wall-clock budget for the connectivity phase (default: `5m`).
`--ping-count <int>`	Number of ICMP echoes per `src → dst` pair (`ping -c N`). Default `3`.
`--keep`	Leave the test DaemonSet running after `--connectivity` completes (useful for follow-up debugging).
`--wait <duration>`	Block validate up to this duration waiting for in-progress manifests to reach a terminal state. `0` (default) returns immediately on the first snapshot. Re-polls the cluster every 10 s.
`--report-path <string>`	Write the HTML report to this path. Empty (default) writes to `<deployment-files>/verify-report.html`. Pass `-` to skip the report file entirely.

l8k preset list

Lists locally available cluster topology presets.

l8k preset list

l8k preset update

Downloads the latest presets from a Git repository.

Flag	Description
`--repo <string>`	Git repository URL.
`--branch <string>`	Branch or tag to fetch from (default: `main`).
`--dir <string>`	Subdirectory within the repo containing presets.

See Cluster Topology Presets for usage.

l8k sosreport

Collects diagnostic data from the cluster.

Flag	Description
`--kubeconfig <string>`	Path to kubeconfig (falls back to `$KUBECONFIG`).
`--output-dir <string>`	Directory to save the sosreport (default: `./sosreport`).

See Troubleshooting for analysis guidance.

l8k schema

Outputs a JSON description of l8k’s capabilities — supported commands, fabrics, deployment types, exit codes, and output formats. Used by AI agents and automation tooling to discover l8k capabilities programmatically. See Automation and CI/CD.

l8k schema

l8k version

Prints the version. Supports --output json for structured output.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success.
1	General error.
2	Validation error (invalid flags or configuration).
3	Cluster error (API unreachable, discovery failed).
4	Deployment error (apply failed).
5	Partial success (discovery completed but deployment failed).