> This page is for version 1.1.0.
> For other versions, use one of these documentation indexes:
> - 1.0.4 (default): https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/1.0.4/llms.txt
> - 1.1.0: https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/1.1.0/llms.txt
> - 1.0.3: https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/1.0.3/llms.txt
> - 1.0.2: https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/1.0.2/llms.txt
> - 1.0.1: https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/1.0.1/llms.txt
> - Development: https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/dev/llms.txt

> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.nvidia.com/nvcf/llms.txt.

# Image Mirroring

All required self-hosted NVCF artifacts (see [self-hosted-artifact-manifest](/nvcf/1.1.0/manifest/artifacts)) must be available to be pulled by pods in your Kubernetes cluster. The deployment bundles are `nvcf-self-managed-stack` for the control plane, `nvcf-compute-plane-stack` for the compute plane, and `nvcf-observability-stack` for standalone shared observability. This page provides examples on how to pull artifacts from NGC and push them to your desired registry.

<Note>
Mirroring images is not the same as configuring image pull secrets. This page covers how to copy NVCF artifacts into your registry. If your registry is private, Kubernetes also needs credentials to pull those images at runtime. For instructions on configuring image pull secrets for the NVCF control plane pods, see [control-plane-image-pull-secrets](/nvcf/1.1.0/self-managed/helmfile-installation) in the installation guide.

</Note>

## Mirroring Workflow

Use this page to mirror NVCF artifacts into the registry your cluster can access. The examples below show the commands for pulling from NGC and pushing to a private registry such as ECR, Harbor, or another OCI-compatible registry.

<Info>
For ECR mirroring, make sure your AWS credentials have permission to create repositories and push images. Verify access with `aws sts get-caller-identity`.

</Info>

## Prerequisites

NVCF artifacts are available from the public `nvidia/nvcf` namespace in NGC.
You can mirror these artifacts using a Personal API key from any NGC
organization. Keep `nvidia/nvcf` as the source namespace in the pull commands,
regardless of the organization used to create your key.

1. Navigate to [NGC API Keys](https://org.ngc.nvidia.com/setup/api-keys) and select your organization.
2. Create a Personal API key with the required scopes to pull entities.
3. Set the NGC API key as an environment variable for use in subsequent commands:

   ```bash
   export NGC_API_KEY="nvapi-xxxxxxxxxxxxx"  # Replace with your NGC API key
   ```

## LLS-Specific Artifacts

If you plan to deploy Low Latency Streaming (LLS), you must mirror the following additional artifacts beyond the core NVCF control plane:

Container Images:

- `streaming-proxy` - Streaming Proxy container for streaming

Helm Charts:

- `gdn-streaming` - GDN Streaming Proxy Helm chart

Optional (for streaming workloads):

- Streaming application images (e.g., `usd-composer`)

See [self-hosted-lls-installation](/nvcf/1.1.0/self-managed/lls-installation) for LLS deployment instructions.

## Pulling Artifacts from NGC

<Warning>
Important: The examples below show how to pull individual artifacts. You must pull each image, chart, and resource listed in the [self-hosted-artifact-manifest](/nvcf/1.1.0/manifest/artifacts) individually. These examples demonstrate the process for one artifact of each type - you will need to repeat these steps for every artifact required for your deployment.

Complete the following for each artifact:

- Pull each container image from NGC
- Pull each Helm chart from NGC
- Pull each required resource bundle from NGC
- Push each artifact to your target registry (ECR, Harbor, etc.)

See the [self-hosted-artifact-manifest](/nvcf/1.1.0/manifest/artifacts) for the complete list of all required artifacts.

</Warning>

### Pulling Images

<Warning>
Platform Architecture Mismatch

When pulling images, Docker pulls the architecture matching your local machine by default. If you're running on an Apple Silicon Mac (arm64) but deploying to an amd64 cluster (most EKS/GKE clusters), you must specify the target platform:

```bash
# Pull for amd64 clusters (most common)
docker pull --platform linux/amd64 <image>

# Pull for arm64 clusters
docker pull --platform linux/arm64 <image>
```

Failing to specify the correct platform will result in `exec format error` when pods attempt to start. See [image-mirroring-troubleshooting](/nvcf/1.1.0/manifest/image-mirroring) for more details.

</Warning>

1. Login using the Personal API key you have generated in the previous step:

   ```bash
   docker login nvcr.io -u '$oauthtoken' -p <NGC_API_KEY>
   ```

2. Pull the image (specify platform matching your target cluster):

   ```bash
   # For amd64 clusters (most EKS, GKE, AKS clusters)
   docker pull --platform linux/amd64 nvcr.io/nvidia/nvcf/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot

   # For arm64 clusters (Graviton-based EKS, etc.)
   docker pull --platform linux/arm64 nvcr.io/nvidia/nvcf/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot
   ```

### Pulling Helm Charts

<Warning>
Public NVCF charts in the `nvidia/nvcf` namespace are NGC Helm
charts. They are not public OCI artifacts. Pull them from
`https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/nvcf`.

</Warning>

The example below uses the selected NVCA Operator chart. For another chart,
set its name, version and pull reference from the [artifact manifest](/nvcf/1.1.0/manifest/artifacts).
The commands save one archive for the registry-specific push steps below.
Repeat for each chart that you need to mirror.

```bash
CHART_NAME="helm-nvca-operator"
CHART_VERSION="1.37.1"
CHART_REFERENCE="nvcf/helm-nvca-operator"
CHART_ARCHIVE="${CHART_NAME}-${CHART_VERSION}.tgz"
(
set +x
set -euo pipefail
umask 077
HELM_MIRROR_TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf -- "${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}"' EXIT
export HELM_REPOSITORY_CONFIG="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/repositories.yaml"
export HELM_REPOSITORY_CACHE="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/cache"
: "${NGC_API_KEY:?Set a scoped NGC_API_KEY}"
printf '%s\n' "${NGC_API_KEY}" |
  helm repo add nvcf https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/nvcf \
    --username '$oauthtoken' --password-stdin
helm repo update nvcf
helm pull "${CHART_REFERENCE}" --version "${CHART_VERSION}"
)
```

The temporary Helm configuration keeps these credentials separate from your
existing repository configuration. The downloaded archive remains in the
current directory.

Other Repository-based Helm Charts (Non-OCI)

The GPU Operator and the Omniverse OVDC, OVCC, storage-service, and
discovery-service charts are also available from traditional Helm repositories
rather than OCI registries. Use the chart versions and repositories selected
for your release. The public repository below applies to published artifacts;
for prerelease artifacts, use the repository and credentials supplied with
that release.

OVDC uses chart `ovderivedcache`; OVCC uses chart `ovcontentcache`. See the
[OVDC deployment guide](https://docs.omniverse.nvidia.com/ovcaches/ovderivedcache/latest/deploy.html)
and [OVCC deployment guide](https://docs.omniverse.nvidia.com/ovcaches/ovcontentcache/latest/deploy.html).
Use an `NGC_API_KEY` with access to the `nvidia/omniverse` chart repository.
The examples use OVDC chart/image 6.0.1 and OVCC chart 4.0.4 with image
`usd-content-cache:3.0.2`. Chart and image versions are independent. Retain
`image.tag: "3.0.2"` in the OVCC Helm values; chart 4.0.4 defaults to image 3.0.1.

Use a scoped, short-lived key. These Bash examples keep Helm credentials in
temporary configuration and remove it when the subshell exits, including on
failure. Existing Helm repository entries and registry credentials are preserved.

```bash
(
set +x
set -euo pipefail
umask 077
HELM_MIRROR_TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf -- "${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}"' EXIT
export HELM_REPOSITORY_CONFIG="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/repositories.yaml"
export HELM_REPOSITORY_CACHE="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/cache"
export HELM_REGISTRY_CONFIG="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/registry.json"
: "${NGC_API_KEY:?Set a scoped NGC_API_KEY}"

# Add the NVIDIA Helm repository
helm repo add nvidia https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia
printf '%s\n' "${NGC_API_KEY}" |
  helm repo add omniverse https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/omniverse \
    --username '$oauthtoken' --password-stdin

# Update repositories
helm repo update

# Pull charts (downloads as .tgz files)
OVDC_CHART_VERSION="${OVDC_CHART_VERSION:-6.0.1}"
helm pull nvidia/gpu-operator --version 25.3.1
helm pull omniverse/ovderivedcache --version "${OVDC_CHART_VERSION}"
helm pull omniverse/ovcontentcache --version 4.0.4
helm pull omniverse/storage-service --version 1.0.2
helm pull omniverse/discovery-service --version 2.3.8
)
```

<Note>
Public NVCF charts, the GPU Operator and related components
(gpu-operator-validator, k8s-device-plugin), plus the Omniverse
OVDC/OVCC/storage charts, are available from public NVIDIA Helm repositories
for published versions. Check the selected release's availability before mirroring.
You can either:

- Pull directly from the public repository at runtime (simplest approach)
- Mirror to your private registry for air-gapped environments (see below)

</Note>

Converting Non-OCI Charts for ECR

To push repository-based Helm charts to Amazon ECR (which requires OCI format), you must convert them:

```bash
(
set +x
set -euo pipefail
umask 077
HELM_MIRROR_TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf -- "${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}"' EXIT
export HELM_REPOSITORY_CONFIG="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/repositories.yaml"
export HELM_REPOSITORY_CACHE="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/cache"
export HELM_REGISTRY_CONFIG="${HELM_MIRROR_TMP}/registry.json"
: "${NGC_API_KEY:?Set a scoped NGC_API_KEY}"

# Pull the chart from the traditional repository
# Select the version and repository for your release, as described above.
OVDC_CHART_VERSION="${OVDC_CHART_VERSION:-6.0.1}"
printf '%s\n' "${NGC_API_KEY}" |
  helm repo add omniverse https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/nvidia/omniverse \
    --username '$oauthtoken' --password-stdin
helm repo update
helm pull omniverse/ovderivedcache --version "${OVDC_CHART_VERSION}"

# Login to ECR
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | \
  helm registry login --username AWS --password-stdin <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com

# Create ECR repository for the chart (include your repository prefix)
aws ecr create-repository --repository-name nvcf-self-hosted/charts/ovderivedcache --region us-east-1

# Push the .tgz file as an OCI artifact (include repository prefix)
helm push "ovderivedcache-${OVDC_CHART_VERSION}.tgz" oci://<aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/nvcf-self-hosted/charts
)
```

<Tip>
The example stores the chart in `nvcf-self-hosted/charts/ovderivedcache`,
separate from the image at `nvcf-self-hosted/ovderivedcache`, so their tags
cannot collide. Configure the chart and image repositories separately.

</Tip>

<a id="pulling-resources-from-ngc" />
<a id="downloading-nvcf-self-managed-stack-control-plane" />
<a id="downloading-nvcf-compute-plane-stack" />
<a id="downloading-nvcf-observability-stack" />

### Obtain stack packages

Use [Consume an NVCF release](/nvcf/1.1.0/overview/umbrella-releases) for the selected stack
packages or an umbrella archive. That guide owns the download commands.
Continue here when charts or images need a mirror.

Run that guide in a separate terminal. It enables fail-fast mode and changes
the working directory. Push charts from this terminal so `CHART_NAME`,
`CHART_ARCHIVE` and the downloaded archive remain available.

### Downloading `nvcf-cli`

The `nvcf-cli` is a command-line interface for managing NVIDIA Cloud Functions in self-hosted deployments.
Install and configure the [NGC CLI](https://org.ngc.nvidia.com/setup/installers/cli)
with your Personal API key before downloading it.

<Warning>
Use the CLI version shown in the artifact manifest for this stack release.

</Warning>

Download and extract:


```bash
# Set the version
export VERSION="1.16.8"

# Set your platform (linux-amd64, linux-arm64, darwin-amd64, darwin-arm64, windows-amd64)
export PLATFORM="linux-amd64"

ngc registry resource download-version "nvidia/nvcf/nvcf-cli:${VERSION}"

tar -xzf nvcf-cli_v${VERSION}/${PLATFORM}/nvcf-cli-${PLATFORM}-${VERSION}.tar.gz
mv nvcf-cli-${PLATFORM}-${VERSION} nvcf-cli
chmod +x nvcf-cli/nvcf-cli
```

The extracted directory contains:

- `nvcf-cli` - The CLI binary
- `.nvcf-cli.yaml.template` - Configuration template
- `examples/` - Sample configuration files for different environments
- `USAGE-GUIDE.md` - Detailed usage documentation


See [self-hosted-cli](/nvcf/1.1.0/overview/cli) for detailed configuration instructions

<Note>
If you don't have access to this repository, contact your NVIDIA representative.

</Note>

## Pushing to Your Registry

<Info>
Ensure all artifacts listed in the [self-hosted-artifact-manifest](/nvcf/1.1.0/manifest/artifacts) are mirrored to your registry before beginning the installation process.

</Info>

### Example: Pushing to Amazon ECR

This example assumes you're configured and authenticated using the AWS CLI.

<Note>
Identify Your AWS Account ID

The examples below use `<aws-account-id>` as a placeholder. To get your AWS account ID, run:

```bash
aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text
```

</Note>

<Info>
ECR Repository Naming Convention

The Helm templates expect images at: `{{ registry }}/{{ repository }}/image-name:tag`

For example, with environment configuration:

```yaml
global:
  image:
    registry: <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
    repository: nvcf-self-hosted
```

The resulting image path would be: `<aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/nvcf-self-hosted/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot`

In ECR, you must create repositories with the full path including the prefix, e.g., `nvcf-self-hosted/notary-service`, `nvcf-self-hosted/nats-box`, etc.

</Info>

Initial Setup

```bash
# Set your repository prefix (must match global.image.repository in your environment config)
REPO_PREFIX="nvcf-self-hosted"

# Login to AWS ECR
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | \
  docker login --username AWS --password-stdin <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
```

Push an Image to ECR

```bash
# Create ECR repository with the full path (including prefix)
aws ecr create-repository --repository-name ${REPO_PREFIX}/nats-box --region us-east-1

# Tag the image for ECR (include repository prefix in path)
docker tag nvcr.io/nvidia/nvcf/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot \
  <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/${REPO_PREFIX}/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot

# Push to ECR
docker push <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/${REPO_PREFIX}/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot
```

Push a Helm Chart to ECR

Use the archive and `CHART_NAME` from [Pulling Helm Charts](#pulling-helm-charts).

```bash
# Login to AWS ECR with Helm
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | \
  helm registry login --username AWS --password-stdin <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com

# Create the repository if it does not already exist
aws ecr create-repository --repository-name "${REPO_PREFIX}/${CHART_NAME}" --region us-east-1

# Push the downloaded archive as an OCI artifact
helm push "${CHART_ARCHIVE}" oci://<aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/${REPO_PREFIX}
```

<Note>
Replace `<aws-account-id>` with your AWS account ID (run `aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text`). The `REPO_PREFIX` value must match your `global.image.repository` setting in your environment config. Adjust the region as needed.

</Note>

### Example: Pushing to Volcano Engine Container Registry

This example shows how to push images and Helm charts to Volcano Engine Container Registry (CR) using the web console, Docker commands and Helm commands.

<Info>
Volcano Engine CR Repository Naming Convention

The Helm templates expect images at: `{{ registry }}/{{ repository }}/image-name:tag`

For example, with environment configuration:

```yaml
global:
  image:
    registry: cr-example-cn-beijing.cr.volces.com
    repository: nvcf-self-hosted
```

The resulting image path would be: `cr-example-cn-beijing.cr.volces.com/nvcf-self-hosted/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot`

</Info>

Docker Authentication

```bash
# Set your Volcano Engine CR endpoint
CR_ENDPOINT="cr-example-cn-beijing.cr.volces.com"
CR_USERNAME="your-username"
CR_PASSWORD="your-password"

# Login to Volcano Engine CR
echo "${CR_PASSWORD}" | docker login "${CR_ENDPOINT}" \
  --username "${CR_USERNAME}" --password-stdin
```

<Note>
Replace `cr-example-cn-beijing.cr.volces.com` with your Volcano Engine CR endpoint, `your-username` with your username, and `your-password` with your password.
Navigate to your Volcano Engine Container Registry instance web console to get the username and password. If you haven't set the password, you can set it by clicking "Set Repository Instance Password".

</Note>

Push an Image to Volcano Engine CR

```bash
# Set your registry endpoint and namespace
CR_ENDPOINT="cr-example-cn-beijing.cr.volces.com"
NAMESPACE="nvcf-self-hosted"

# Tag the image for Volcano Engine CR
docker tag nvcr.io/nvidia/nvcf/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot \
  ${CR_ENDPOINT}/${NAMESPACE}/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot

# Push to Volcano Engine CR
docker push ${CR_ENDPOINT}/${NAMESPACE}/nats-box:0.19.7-nonroot
```

Push a Helm Chart to Volcano Engine CR

Use the archive from [Pulling Helm Charts](#pulling-helm-charts).

```bash
# Set your registry endpoint and namespace
CR_ENDPOINT="cr-example-cn-beijing.cr.volces.com"
NAMESPACE="nvcf-self-hosted"
CR_USERNAME="your-username"
CR_PASSWORD="your-password"

# Login to Volcano Engine CR with Helm
printf '%s\n' "${CR_PASSWORD}" |
  helm registry login "${CR_ENDPOINT}" \
    --username "${CR_USERNAME}" --password-stdin

# Push the downloaded archive as an OCI artifact
helm push "${CHART_ARCHIVE}" "oci://${CR_ENDPOINT}/${NAMESPACE}"
```

## Troubleshooting

### exec format error

Symptom: Pods fail to start with `Init:CrashLoopBackOff` or `CrashLoopBackOff` status. Checking the logs shows:

```text
exec /bin/sh: exec format error
```

or

```text
exec /usr/local/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh: exec format error
```

Cause: This error occurs when container images were pulled/pushed with an architecture that doesn't match your cluster's node architecture. This commonly happens when:

- Mirroring from an Apple Silicon Mac (arm64) to an amd64 EKS/GKE cluster
- Mirroring from an Intel/AMD machine (amd64) to an arm64 cluster (e.g., AWS Graviton)

Solution:

1. Delete the incorrectly mirrored images from your registry (e.g., ECR):

   ```bash
   # Delete all repositories with your prefix
   aws ecr describe-repositories --region us-west-2 \
     --query "repositories[?starts_with(repositoryName, 'nvcf-self-hosted')].repositoryName" \
     --output text | tr '\t' '\n' | while read repo; do
     aws ecr delete-repository --repository-name "$repo" --region us-west-2 --force
   done
   ```

2. Clean local Docker cache to ensure fresh pulls:

   ```bash
   # Remove all NGC and ECR images from local cache
   docker images --format "{{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}}" | \
     grep -E "(nvcr.io|\.ecr\.)" | \
     xargs -r docker rmi -f

   # Prune dangling images
   docker image prune -f
   ```

3. Re-mirror images with the correct platform:

   When pulling images, explicitly specify the target platform:

   ```bash
   # For amd64 clusters (most common)
   docker pull --platform linux/amd64 <image>

   # For arm64 clusters
   docker pull --platform linux/arm64 <image>
   ```

   Then re-tag and push to your registry.

4. Force Kubernetes to re-pull images by either:

   - Setting `imagePullPolicy: Always` temporarily in your Helm values
   - Deleting and redeploying the affected StatefulSets/Deployments

   ```bash
   # Delete StatefulSets to force recreation
   kubectl -n cassandra-system delete statefulset cassandra
   kubectl -n nats-system delete statefulset nats

   # Redeploy using helmfile
   HELMFILE_ENV=<environment-name> helmfile sync
   ```