diff --git a/bootstrap/cmd/kfctl/cmd/root.go b/bootstrap/cmd/kfctl/cmd/root.go
index dd68800169a..2c82988151d 100644
--- a/bootstrap/cmd/kfctl/cmd/root.go
+++ b/bootstrap/cmd/kfctl/cmd/root.go
@@ -43,8 +43,9 @@ func processResourceArg(args []string) (kftypes.ResourceEnum, error) {
 // rootCmd represents the base command when called without any subcommands
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "kfctl",
-	Short: "A kfdef tool to create kubeflow applications",
-	Long:  `kubeflow kfdef tool`,
+	Short: "A client CLI to create kubeflow applications",
+	Long: `A client CLI to create kubeflow applications for specific platforms or 'on-prem' 
+to an existing k8 cluster.`,
 }
 
 // Execute adds all child commands to the root command and sets flags appropriately.
diff --git a/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/group.go b/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/group.go
index bfb24beff93..16216b118d2 100644
--- a/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/group.go
+++ b/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/group.go
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ const (
 	DefaultAppLabel   = "app.kubernetes.io/name"
 	KUBEFLOW_USERNAME = "KUBEFLOW_USERNAME"
 	KUBEFLOW_PASSWORD = "KUBEFLOW_PASSWORD"
+	DefaultSwaggerFile = "releasing/releaser/lib/v1.9.7/swagger.json"
 )
 
 type ResourceEnum string
@@ -75,13 +76,11 @@ const (
 	REPO                  CliOption = "repo"
 	PROJECT               CliOption = "project"
 	APPNAME               CliOption = "appname"
-	APPDIR                CliOption = "appDir"
 	DATA                  CliOption = "Data"
 	ZONE                  CliOption = "zone"
 	USE_BASIC_AUTH        CliOption = "use_basic_auth"
 	OAUTH_ID              CliOption = "oauth_id"
 	OAUTH_SECRET          CliOption = "oauth_secret"
-	CONFIG                CliOption = "config"
 )
 
 //
diff --git a/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/application_types.go b/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/application_types.go
index 03871f2bc4a..6879773047c 100644
--- a/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/application_types.go
+++ b/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/application_types.go
@@ -31,10 +31,9 @@ type KfDefSpec struct {
 	IpName                 string `json:"ipName,omitempty"`
 	Hostname               string `json:"hostname,omitempty"`
 	Zone                   string `json:"zone,omitempty"`
-	BasicAuthUsername      string `json:"basicAuthUsername,omitempty"`
-	BasicAuthPassword      string `json:"basicAuthPassword,omitempty"`
 	UseBasicAuth           bool   `json:"useBasicAuth"`
 	SkipInitProject        bool   `json:"skipInitProject,omitempty"`
+	ServerVersion          string `json:"serverVersion,omitempty"`
 }
 
 var DefaultRegistry = &RegistryConfig{
diff --git a/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 86fe7021cc0..a5e45c5ebdb 100644
--- a/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/bootstrap/pkg/apis/apps/kfdef/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -1,20 +1,18 @@
 // +build !ignore_autogenerated
 
-/*
-Copyright The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
+// Copyright 2018 The Kubeflow Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
 
 // Code generated by deepcopy-gen. DO NOT EDIT.
 
diff --git a/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/coordinator/coordinator.go b/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/coordinator/coordinator.go
index 35b4cecdd61..56e668098c5 100644
--- a/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/coordinator/coordinator.go
+++ b/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/coordinator/coordinator.go
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	valid "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/validation"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func downloadToCache(platform string, appDir string, version string, useBasicAut
 	}
 	//TODO see #2629
 	configPath := filepath.Join(newPath, kftypes.DefaultConfigDir)
-	if platform == "gcp" {
+	if platform == kftypes.GCP {
 		if useBasicAuth {
 			configPath = filepath.Join(configPath, kftypes.GcpBasicAuth)
 		} else {
@@ -210,11 +210,9 @@ func NewKfApp(options map[string]interface{}) (kftypes.KfApp, error) {
 			appDir = path.Join(appDir, appName)
 		}
 	}
-	re := regexp.MustCompile(`[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?(\.[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?)*$`)
-	validName := re.FindString(appName)
-	if strings.Compare(validName, appName) != 0 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf(`invalid name %v must consist of lower case alphanumeric characters, '-' or '.',
-and must start and end with an alphanumeric character`, appName)
+	errs := valid.NameIsDNSLabel(appName, false)
+	if errs != nil && len(errs) > 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(`invalid name due to %v`, strings.Join(errs, ", "))
 	}
 	platform := options[string(kftypes.PLATFORM)].(string)
 	version := options[string(kftypes.VERSION)].(string)
diff --git a/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/gcp/gcp.go b/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/gcp/gcp.go
index 7ead3396d52..7e4a9f94ee5 100644
--- a/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/gcp/gcp.go
+++ b/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/gcp/gcp.go
@@ -880,6 +880,8 @@ func (gcp *Gcp) gcpInitProject() error {
 func (gcp *Gcp) Init(resources kftypes.ResourceEnum) error {
 	cacheDir := path.Join(gcp.Spec.AppDir, kftypes.DefaultCacheDir)
 	newPath := filepath.Join(cacheDir, gcp.Spec.Version)
+	swaggerFile := filepath.Join(newPath, kftypes.DefaultSwaggerFile)
+	gcp.Spec.ServerVersion = "file:" + swaggerFile
 	gcp.Spec.Repo = path.Join(newPath, "kubeflow")
 	createConfigErr := gcp.writeConfigFile()
 	if createConfigErr != nil {
diff --git a/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/ksonnet/ksonnet.go b/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/ksonnet/ksonnet.go
index 61bcfaf9c26..bc31e66f6b6 100644
--- a/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/ksonnet/ksonnet.go
+++ b/bootstrap/pkg/kfapp/ksonnet/ksonnet.go
@@ -446,8 +446,10 @@ func (ksApp *ksApp) initKs() error {
 		os.RemoveAll(newRoot)
 	}
 	ksApp.KsEnvName = KsEnvName
-	// We hard code the K8s spec because we won't have a cluster to talk to when calling init.
-	k8sSpec := "version:v1.11.7"
+	k8sSpec := ksApp.Spec.ServerVersion
+	if k8sSpec == "" {
+		k8sSpec = kftypes.GetServerVersion(kftypes.GetClientset(kftypes.GetConfig()))
+	}
 	options := map[string]interface{}{
 		actions.OptionFs:                    afero.NewOsFs(),
 		actions.OptionName:                  ksApp.KsName,