The Run:AI Administrator Command-Line Interface (runai-adm) interacts directly with the Kubernetes API to manage the Run:AI control plane components and resources. To perform cluster-wide administrative tasks such as creating Projects, managing users, or configuring system-wide settings, the CLI requires authenticated and authorized access. This is achieved through a Kubernetes configuration file (kubeconfig) that contains credentials with cluster-admin privileges. Without these administrative rights, the API server will reject the requests, rendering the CLI non-functional for its intended purpose and making automation impossible.

A. The runai-adm CLI is a high-level abstraction for Run:AI objects but still relies on authenticated communication with the Kubernetes API server; it does not bypass it or replace kubectl for all node-level tasks.

B. Manually allocating specific GPUs is a granular control feature, not an essential prerequisite for automation. A key benefit of Run:AI is automating the scheduling and allocation of GPU resources.

D. The Run:AI CLI is a cross-platform tool available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Scripting and automation can be performed on any supported operating system, not just Windows.

1. NVIDIA Run:AI Documentation, "Install the Run:AI Command-Line Interface": This official guide specifies the prerequisites for installing and using the administrator CLI. It states, "To install and use the Run:AI administrator CLI you must have a Kubernetes configuration file with cluster administrative rights." This directly supports the necessity of a properly configured kubeconfig file with administrative privileges. (Found in the Administrator Setup section of the official Run:AI product documentation).

2. Kubernetes Documentation, "Organizing Cluster Access Using kubeconfig Files": This document explains that tools interacting with a Kubernetes cluster, like the Run:AI CLI, use kubeconfig files to find cluster information and credentials. For administrative tasks, the user or service account specified in the config must be bound to a role with sufficient permissions, such as cluster-admin. (See sections on Contexts and Users).