DPL Runtime Service

This page explains how to deploy, configure, and operate the DPL Runtime Service on NVIDIA® BlueField® DPUs, enabling runtime management of data plane pipelines compiled using the DOCA Pipeline Language (DPL).

The DPL Runtime Service is responsible for programming and managing the DPU datapath at runtime. It enables dynamic rule insertion, packet monitoring, and forwarding logic through standardized and proprietary APIs. The service is divided into four core components:

High level system illustration:

Supported Platforms

The following NVIDIA® BlueField® DPUs and SuperNICs are supported with DPL:

The following NVIDIA DPUs are supported with DOCA on the host:

• BlueField-3 devices

For the the system requirements, see DPU's hardware user guide .

Firmware is included in the BFB bundle available via the NVIDIA DevZone. Use bfb-install to flash:

            

            
bfb-install --bfb bf-fwbundle-2.10.0-28_25.0-ubuntu-22.04-prod.bfb --rshim rshim0
        

Helpful resources:

• DOCA Installation Guide for Linux

• Setup DPU Management Access and Update BlueField-Bundle

Configure the following options via mlxconfig:

            

            
FLEX_PARSER_PROFILE_ENABLE=4
PROG_PARSE_GRAPH=true
SRIOV_EN=1  # Only if VFs are used
        

For details on how to query and adjust these settings, refer to Using mlxconfig.

Some changes require a firmware reset. Refer to mlxfwreset for information.

Prerequisites:

• BlueField must be in DPU Mode.

• SR-IOV or SFs must be enabled and created (on host side).

• DOCA installed on host and BlueField.

Installation:

1. Download and extract the container bundle from NGC.

   Info

   Refer to DPL Container Deployment for more information.

2. Run the setup script:

   Copy

   Copied!

               
   
               
   cd dpl_rt_service_<version>/scripts
   ./dpl_dpu_setup.sh
           

   Info

   This script:

   • Configures necessary mlxconfig settings

   • Creates directory structure for config files

   • Enables SR-IOV virtual function support

Configuration Files

Before launching the container, configuration files must be created on the DPU filesystem. These define:

• Interface names and PCI IDs.

• Allowed ports and forwarding configuration.

• Resource constraints and debug options.

Mount the config path into the container using Docker or Kubernetes volume mounts. Refer to DPL Service Configuration for details.

The following table lists out the possible ingress and egress ports for a given packet that is processed by a BlueField pipeline (DPU mode):

Multiport E-Switch Mode

To enable port forwarding across both physical ports (P0 and P1):

            

            
mlxconfig -d <pci> s LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION=1
mlxfwreset -d <pci> -y -l 3 --sync 1 r
devlink dev param set <pci> name esw_multiport value 1 cmode runtime
        

Refer to the DPL Installation Guide documentation.

Advanced use cases may require custom controllers. These should implement the P4Runtime 1.3.0 gRPC API and connect to the DPL Runtime Server on TCP port 9559.

Resources:

• Protobufs: p4lang/p4runtime GitHub

• Installed inside container: /opt/mellanox/third_party/dpl_rt_service/p4runtime/

• Compile using standard gRPC + protobuf toolchain (e.g., C++)

Also verify:

• VFs were created before deploying container

• Configuration files exist, are correctly named, and contain valid device IDs

• Interface names and MTUs match hardware

• Firmware is up-to-date

• DPU is in correct mode (check mlxconfig)