CLI Reference

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`).

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.

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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.

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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).

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