NCP-AIO Administration Practice Question
An administrator is preparing a bare-metal GPU server for AI workloads and needs to verify that the NVIDIA driver and CUDA toolkit are properly installed. The server has an NVIDIA A100 GPU. Which command should the administrator run to display the GPU model, driver version, and CUDA version?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that nvcc --version reports the driver version, when it actually only reports the CUDA compiler version.
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
✓
nvidia-smi
The nvidia-smi utility is the primary interface for monitoring and managing NVIDIA GPUs. It provides a summary of each GPU's model, driver version, CUDA version, temperature, power usage, and memory utilization. For an administrator validating a new server, running nvidia-smi immediately confirms that the driver is loaded and the GPU is recognized, and it shows the CUDA version supported by the driver, which is essential for AI workload compatibility.
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-debugdump --list
Why it's wrong here
nvidia-debugdump --list enumerates available GPU debug dumps, which is useful for troubleshooting driver crashes or hangs, but it does not display the GPU model, driver version, or CUDA version. This command is not intended for basic system verification and would not provide the required information.
- ✗
nvcc --version
Why it's wrong here
nvcc --version displays the version of the CUDA compiler driver, not the GPU model or the installed NVIDIA driver version. While it can confirm the CUDA toolkit version, it does not provide a comprehensive view of GPU hardware or driver status, so it alone is insufficient for the administrator's verification goal.
- ✗
lspci | grep -i nvidia
Why it's wrong here
lspci | grep -i nvidia lists NVIDIA devices on the PCI bus, confirming the GPU's physical presence, but it does not report the driver version, CUDA version, or detailed GPU model information. It is useful for hardware detection but does not fulfill the requirement to verify driver and CUDA installation.
- ✓
nvidia-smi
Why this is correct
The nvidia-smi command queries the NVIDIA driver and displays detailed information about all installed GPUs, including the GPU model, driver version, CUDA version, and current utilization. It is the standard tool for verifying driver and CUDA compatibility on a GPU-enabled system, making it the correct choice for this scenario.
About these practice questions
This NCP-AIO question is part of Courseiva's 309-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. 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.