diff --git a/aks-node-controller/app.go b/aks-node-controller/app.go
index d2338436574..28262ee801b 100644
--- a/aks-node-controller/app.go
+++ b/aks-node-controller/app.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/Azure/agentbaker/aks-node-controller/parser"
-	"github.com/Azure/agentbaker/aks-node-controller/pkg"
+	"github.com/Azure/agentbaker/aks-node-controller/pkg/nodeconfigutils"
 	"gopkg.in/fsnotify.v1"
 )
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func (a *App) Provision(ctx context.Context, flags ProvisionFlags) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("open provision file %s: %w", flags.ProvisionConfig, err)
 	}
 
-	config, err := pkg.Unmarshal(inputJSON)
+	config, err := nodeconfigutils.UnmarshalConfigurationV1(inputJSON)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unmarshal provision config: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/aks-node-controller/parser/parser_test.go b/aks-node-controller/parser/parser_test.go
index c3c2bd683e9..31d9f0b1cf0 100644
--- a/aks-node-controller/parser/parser_test.go
+++ b/aks-node-controller/parser/parser_test.go
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/Azure/agentbaker/aks-node-controller/helpers"
-	"github.com/Azure/agentbaker/aks-node-controller/pkg"
 	aksnodeconfigv1 "github.com/Azure/agentbaker/aks-node-controller/pkg/gen/aksnodeconfig/v1"
+	"github.com/Azure/agentbaker/aks-node-controller/pkg/nodeconfigutils"
 	"github.com/Azure/agentbaker/pkg/agent/datamodel"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -458,9 +458,9 @@ func TestContractCompatibilityHandledByProtobuf(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("marshal/unmarshal", func(t *testing.T) {
 		content, err := os.ReadFile("./testdata/test_aksnodeconfig.json")
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		cfg, err := pkg.Unmarshal(content)
+		cfg, err := nodeconfigutils.UnmarshalConfigurationV1(content)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		marshalled, err := pkg.Marshal(cfg)
+		marshalled, err := nodeconfigutils.MarshalConfigurationV1(cfg)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.JSONEq(t, string(content), string(marshalled))
 	})
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ func loadAKSNodeConfig(jsonFilePath string) *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	cfg, err := pkg.Unmarshal(content)
+	cfg, err := nodeconfigutils.UnmarshalConfigurationV1(content)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to unmarshal the aksnodeconfigv1 from json: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/aks-node-controller/pkg/nodeconfigutils/utils.go b/aks-node-controller/pkg/nodeconfigutils/utils.go
index 256b4770160..88c238b47d3 100644
--- a/aks-node-controller/pkg/nodeconfigutils/utils.go
+++ b/aks-node-controller/pkg/nodeconfigutils/utils.go
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	scriptlessCustomDataTemplate = `#cloud-config
+	cloudConfigTemplate = `#cloud-config
 write_files:
 - path: /opt/azure/containers/aks-node-controller-config.json
   permissions: "0755"
   owner: root
   content: !!binary |
    %s`
-	scriptlessBootstrapStatusCSE = "/opt/azure/containers/aks-node-controller provision-wait"
+	cse = "/opt/azure/containers/aks-node-controller provision-wait"
 )
 
 func CustomData(cfg *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration) (string, error) {
@@ -26,15 +26,15 @@ func CustomData(cfg *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration) (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal nbc, error: %w", err)
 	}
 	encodedNBCJson := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(nbcJSON)
-	customDataYAML := fmt.Sprintf(scriptlessCustomDataTemplate, encodedNBCJson)
+	customDataYAML := fmt.Sprintf(cloudConfigTemplate, encodedNBCJson)
 	return base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte(customDataYAML)), nil
 }
 
 func CSE(cfg *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration) (string, error) {
-	return scriptlessBootstrapStatusCSE, nil
+	return cse, nil
 }
 
-func Marshal(cfg *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration) ([]byte, error) {
+func MarshalConfigurationV1(cfg *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration) ([]byte, error) {
 	options := protojson.MarshalOptions{
 		UseEnumNumbers: false,
 		UseProtoNames:  true,
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func Marshal(cfg *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration) ([]byte, error) {
 	return options.Marshal(cfg)
 }
 
-func Unmarshal(data []byte) (*aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration, error) {
+func UnmarshalConfigurationV1(data []byte) (*aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration, error) {
 	cfg := &aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration{}
 	options := protojson.UnmarshalOptions{}
 	err := options.Unmarshal(data, cfg)
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ func Unmarshal(data []byte) (*aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration, error) {
 
 func Validate(cfg *aksnodeconfigv1.Configuration) error {
 	requiredStrings := map[string]string{
+		"version":                                           cfg.GetVersion(),
 		"auth_config.subscription_id":                       cfg.GetAuthConfig().GetSubscriptionId(),
 		"cluster_config.resource_group":                     cfg.GetClusterConfig().GetResourceGroup(),
 		"cluster_config.location":                           cfg.GetClusterConfig().GetLocation(),