NCP-AIO Installation and Deployment Practice Question
An AI platform engineer is preparing a fleet of NVIDIA DGX H100 systems for production workloads using the NVIDIA Base Command Manager (BCM). During initial bare-metal provisioning via PXE boot, the provisioning server successfully hands out IP addresses, but nodes consistently fail during the OS image deployment phase, throwing a kernel panic related to missing storage drivers. Which deployment step must be verified or corrected to ensure successful hardware-specific image deployment?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume standard Linux server golden images work universally across NVIDIA DGX hardware without customizing kernel modules for specialized high-performance storage and networking controllers.
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
✓
Verify that the target operating system image profile assigned in Base Command Manager includes the necessary storage controller modules and hardware support packages for the specific server model.
NVIDIA Base Command Manager relies heavily on matching the hardware profile of complex servers like DGX H100 with the correct custom software image and specialized storage drivers. If the deployment image lacks the required kernel modules for modern high-performance NVMe controllers, PXE booting fails at the kernel load stage. Ensuring the software image profile incorporates the exact hardware-specific drivers resolves this mismatch, allowing enterprise-grade bare-metal automation to complete seamlessly across the GPU cluster.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reconfigure the DHCP server scope options to extend lease times and include custom vendor-class identifiers for the provisioning daemon.
Why it's wrong here
DHCP lease extensions and vendor-class identifiers only govern network address acquisition during the initial PXE broadcast phase. They have no impact on kernel panics caused by missing storage driver modules inside the deployed OS image file system.
- ✗
Update the system BIOS Unified Extensible Firmware Interface boot order to prioritize internal redundant array of independent disks storage over network interfaces.
Why it's wrong here
Boot order governs which device the firmware loads first; it cannot supply the storage driver the kernel needs during image deployment. It is tempting because PXE failures often trace to boot configuration, and would be correct if nodes were booting from local disks instead of the network.
- ✓
Verify that the target operating system image profile assigned in Base Command Manager includes the necessary storage controller modules and hardware support packages for the specific server model.
Why this is correct
A kernel panic citing missing storage drivers means the assigned OS image profile lacks the storage controller modules and hardware support packages required by that server model. Correcting the image profile in Base Command Manager lets the deployed kernel detect the disks.
- ✗
Modify the dynamic port forwarding settings on the top-of-rack management switches to allow uninterrupted trivial file transfer protocol block size extensions.
Why it's wrong here
Port forwarding and TFTP block size affect transport of the boot image, not kernel storage-driver availability; the panic occurs after the image loads. It is tempting because TFTP timeouts do disrupt PXE, and would be correct if provisioning stalled during file transfer rather than at kernel initialisation.
Visual reference
About these practice questions
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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.