NCP-AIO Administration Practice Question
An administrator is deploying NVIDIA AI Enterprise on a Kubernetes cluster and wants to verify that the GPU Operator has successfully installed all required components. Which command should the administrator use to check the status of the GPU Operator pods?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse host-level GPU queries with Kubernetes pod status checks; nvidia-smi and dcgmi do not show operator pods.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
kubectl get pods -n gpu-operator
The GPU Operator installs its components as pods in the gpu-operator namespace. Checking pod status with kubectl get pods -n gpu-operator is the correct way to verify that all required components are running. Other commands provide GPU-level or node-level information but do not show the status of the operator's pods.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
nvidia-smi -q
Why it's wrong here
nvidia-smi -q queries the NVIDIA driver for detailed GPU information, such as temperature, power, and utilization. It runs on a host with the driver installed and does not show Kubernetes pod status. While useful for validating GPU health, it does not indicate whether the GPU Operator components are running as pods in the cluster.
- ✗
kubectl get nodes -o wide
Why it's wrong here
kubectl get nodes -o wide displays node information, including IP addresses and OS details, but does not show pod status. While it can confirm that nodes are ready, it does not verify that the GPU Operator components are running. To check operator pods, you must query the specific namespace where they are deployed.
- ✗
dcgmi discovery -l
Why it's wrong here
dcgmi discovery -l is a DCGM command that lists GPUs discovered on the system. It is used for GPU inventory and health checks, not for checking Kubernetes pod status. It would not reveal the state of GPU Operator pods, as it operates at the GPU level rather than the Kubernetes orchestration level.
- ✓
kubectl get pods -n gpu-operator
Why this is correct
The GPU Operator deploys its components into the gpu-operator namespace by default. Running kubectl get pods -n gpu-operator lists all pods in that namespace, allowing the administrator to see if the operator, driver, container toolkit, device plugin, and other components are running. This is the standard way to verify the operator's deployment status.
About these practice questions
One of 309 original NCP-AIO practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official NVIDIA exam blueprint
This NCP-AIO practice question is part of Courseiva's free NVIDIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the NCP-AIO exam.