NVIDIA · vigviswa · Mar 9, 2026 · Mar 10, 2026 · Mar 10, 2026 · Apr 20, 2026
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ of the bare-metal lifecycle to fast-track building next generation AI Cloud offe
 ## Getting Started
 
 - Go to the [NCX Infra Controller overview](https://nvidia.github.io/ncx-infra-controller-core/) to get an overview of NICo architecture and capabilities.
+- Follow the [End-to-End Installation Guide](https://nvidia.github.io/ncx-infra-controller-core/manuals/installation-guide.html) for a complete walkthrough from cluster setup to first provisioned host.
 - Or jump to the [Site Setup guide](https://nvidia.github.io/ncx-infra-controller-core/manuals/site-setup.html) to start setting up your site for NICo.
 - Or jump to the [Building Containers guide](https://nvidia.github.io/ncx-infra-controller-core/manuals/building_nico_containers.html) to see an overview for building the containers.
 - Check out [Local Development with DevSpace](dev/deployment/devspace/README.md) to run NICo locally with mock systems.

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # NCX Infra Controller
 
 - [Introduction](README.md)
-- [Hardware Compatbility List](hcl.md)
+- [Hardware Compatibility List](hcl.md)
 - [Release Notes](release-notes.md)
 - [FAQs](faq.md)
 
@@ -25,10 +25,12 @@
 
 # Manuals
 
+- [End-to-End Installation Guide](manuals/installation-guide.md)
 - [Site Setup](manuals/site-setup.md)
     - [Site Reference Architecture](manuals/site-reference-arch.md)
     - [Networking Requirements](manuals/networking_requirements.md)
 - [Building NICo Containers](manuals/building_nico_containers.md)
+- [Tagging and Pushing Containers](manuals/pushing_containers.md)
 - [Ingesting Hosts](manuals/ingesting_machines.md)
 - [Updating Expected Hosts Manifest](manuals/expected_machine_update.md)
 - [Host Validation](manuals/machine_validation.md)

@@ -1,12 +1,35 @@
 # Building NICo Containers
 
 This section provides instructions for building the containers for NCX Infra Controller (NICo).
+For the complete deployment workflow, refer to the [End-to-End Installation Guide](installation-guide.md).
+
+## Container Image Summary
+
+The following table lists all container images produced by this build process:
+
+| Image Name | Dockerfile | Purpose | Architecture |
+|------------|-----------|---------|-------------|
+| `nico-buildcontainer-x86_64` | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.build-container-x86_64` | Intermediate build container (Rust toolchain, libraries) | x86_64 |
+| `nico-runtime-container-x86_64` | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.runtime-container-x86_64` | Intermediate runtime base image | x86_64 |
+| `nico` (nvmetal-carbide) | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.release-container-sa-x86_64` | Carbide API, DHCP, DNS, PXE, hardware health, SSH console | x86_64 |
+| `boot-artifacts-x86_64` | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.release-artifacts-x86_64` | PXE boot artifacts for x86 hosts | x86_64 |
+| `boot-artifacts-aarch64` | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.release-artifacts-aarch64` | PXE boot artifacts for DPU BFB provisioning | x86_64 (bundles aarch64 binaries) |
+| `machine-validation-runner` | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.machine-validation-runner` | Machine validation / burn-in test runner | x86_64 |
+| `machine-validation-config` | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.machine-validation-config` | Machine validation config (bundles runner tar) | x86_64 |
+| `build-artifacts-container-cross-aarch64` | `dev/docker/Dockerfile.build-artifacts-container-cross-aarch64` | Intermediate cross-compile container for aarch64 | x86_64 |
+
+The intermediate images (`nico-buildcontainer-x86_64`, `nico-runtime-container-x86_64`,
+`build-artifacts-container-cross-aarch64`) are used during the build process and do not
+need to be pushed to your registry. The remaining images must be pushed to a registry
+accessible by your Kubernetes cluster.
 
 ## Installing Prerequisite Software
 
 Before you begin, ensure you have the following prerequisites:
 
 * An Ubuntu 24.04 Host or VM with 150GB+ of disk space (MacOS is not supported)
+* For REST containers: Go (refer to the `go.mod` file in the [REST repo](https://github.com/NVIDIA/ncx-infra-controller-rest) for the current required version), Docker 20.10+ with BuildKit enabled
+* An [NVIDIA NGC](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/gpu-cloud/) account (free). Required for pulling base images such as the DOCA HBN container used in the aarch64/DPU BFB build. Sign up at [ngc.nvidia.com](https://ngc.nvidia.com) and generate an API key under **API Keys** > **Generate Personal Key**.
 
 Use the following steps to install the prerequisite software on the Ubuntu Host or VM. These instructions
 assume an `apt`-based distribution such as Ubuntu 24.04.
@@ -55,27 +78,34 @@ cargo make --cwd pxe --env SA_ENABLEMENT=1 build-boot-artifacts-x86-host-sa
 docker build --build-arg "CONTAINER_RUNTIME_X86_64=alpine:latest" -t boot-artifacts-x86_64 -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.release-artifacts-x86_64 .
 ```
 
-## Building the Machine Validation images
+## Building the Machine Validation Images
 
 ```sh
-docker build --build-arg CONTAINER_RUNTIME_X86_64=nico-runtime-container-x86_64 -t machine-validation-runner -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.machine-validation-runner .
-
-docker save --output crates/machine-validation/images/machine-validation-runner.tar machine-validation-runner:latest 
+docker build --build-arg CONTAINER_RUNTIME_X86_64=nico-runtime-container-x86_64 \
+  -t machine-validation-runner -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.machine-validation-runner .
 
-// This copies `machine-validation-runner.tar` into the `/images` directory on the `machine-validation-config` container.  When using a kubernetes deployment model
-// this is the only `machine-validation` container you need to configure on the `carbide-pxe` pod.
-
-docker build --build-arg CONTAINER_RUNTIME_X86_64=nico-runtime-container-x86_64 -t machine-validation-config -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.machine-validation-config .
+docker save --output crates/machine-validation/images/machine-validation-runner.tar \
+  machine-validation-runner:latest
 
+docker build --build-arg CONTAINER_RUNTIME_X86_64=nico-runtime-container-x86_64 \
+  -t machine-validation-config -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.machine-validation-config .
 ```
 
-## Building nico-core container
+The `machine-validation-config` container bundles `machine-validation-runner.tar` into its
+`/images` directory. In a Kubernetes deployment, this is the only machine-validation
+container you need to configure on the `carbide-pxe` pod.
+
+## Building nico-core Container
 
 ```sh
-docker build --build-arg "CONTAINER_RUNTIME_X86_64=nico-runtime-container-x86_64" --build-arg "CONTAINER_BUILD_X86_64=nico-buildcontainer-x86_64" -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.release-container-sa-x86_64 -t nico .
+docker build \
+  --build-arg "CONTAINER_RUNTIME_X86_64=nico-runtime-container-x86_64" \
+  --build-arg "CONTAINER_BUILD_X86_64=nico-buildcontainer-x86_64" \
+  -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.release-container-sa-x86_64 \
+  -t nico .
 ```
 
-## Building the AARCH64 Containers and artifacts
+## Building the AARCH64 Containers and Artifacts
 
 ### Building the Cross-compile container
 
@@ -94,10 +124,47 @@ BUILD_CONTAINER_X86_URL="nico-buildcontainer-x86_64" cargo make build-cli
 
 ### Building the DPU BFB
 
+The BFB build automatically pulls the HBN container from `nvcr.io`. You must
+authenticate with NGC before building:
+
+```sh
+docker login nvcr.io -u '$oauthtoken' -p <NGC_API_KEY>
+```
+
 ```sh
 cargo make --cwd pxe --env SA_ENABLEMENT=1 build-boot-artifacts-bfb-sa
 
 docker build --build-arg "CONTAINER_RUNTIME_AARCH64=alpine:latest" -t boot-artifacts-aarch64 -f dev/docker/Dockerfile.release-artifacts-aarch64 .
 ```
 
 **NOTE**: The `CONTAINER_RUNTIME_AARCH64=alpine:latest` build argument must be included. The aarch64 binaries are bundled into an x86 container.
+
+## Building REST Containers
+
+The REST components (cloud-api, cloud-workflow, site-manager, site-agent,
+db migrations, cert-manager) are built from the
+[ncx-infra-controller-rest](https://github.com/NVIDIA/ncx-infra-controller-rest) repository.
+
+```sh
+cd ncx-infra-controller-rest
+make docker-build IMAGE_REGISTRY=<your-registry.example.com/carbide> IMAGE_TAG=<your-version-tag>
+```
+
+### REST Image Summary
+
+| Image | Purpose |
+|-------|---------|
+| `carbide-rest-api` | REST API server (port 8388) |
+| `carbide-rest-workflow` | Temporal workflow worker |
+| `carbide-rest-site-manager` | Site management and registry service |
+| `carbide-rest-site-agent` | On-site Temporal agent |
+| `carbide-rest-db` | Database migration job (runs once per upgrade) |
+| `carbide-rest-cert-manager` | PKI certificate manager |
+| `carbide-rla` | Rack Level Abstraction service |
+| `carbide-psm` | Power Shelf Manager service |
+| `carbide-nsm` | NVSwitch Manager service |
+
+## Next Steps
+
+After building all images, you will need to tag them and push them to your private registry.
+Refer to the [Tagging and Pushing Containers](pushing_containers.md) section for more details.