NVIDIA DOCA Release Notes
NVIDIA DOCA SDK release notes containing information on new features, bug fixes, and known issues.
Upgrading to this BSP version installs a new version of Ubuntu GRUB. This version of GRUB revokes the old UEFI secure boot certificates and install new ones. The new certificates will not validate older images and boot will fail. Therefore, to roll back to older software versions, users must disable UEFI secure boot.
- NIC mode enhancements for BlueField-3 – Higher performance and lower latency at scale using local DPU memory; performant RDMA with programmable congestion control (PCC)
- Added support for DPA with NIC mode
- Enabled PCC over BlueField-3 DPA (including in NIC mode) while allowing for up to 400Gb/s speeds
- Added support for a new DOCA profile, doca-ofed, for installing MLNX_OFED with the DOCA package
- Added improvements and enhancements for DOCA Flow library
- Added beta-level support for OVS-DOCA, a highly optimized virtual switch for NVIDIA network services
- Redfish management – UEFI secure boot settings at scale, remotely, and securely
- DPU OS support – added Anolis OS 8.6 with kernel 5.10 support in BlueField-3 Arm
- Host OS support – added OS support: Debian 10.13, Allinux 3.2, OL 8.7, Ubuntu 22.04 (aarch64 host)
Refer to the NVIDIA DOCA Installation Guide for Linux for information on:
- Setting up NVIDIA DOCA SDK on your BlueField DPU
- Supported BlueField platforms
3.1. Embedded DOCA Libraries
3.2. Embedded DOCA Drivers
| Component | Version | Description |
|---|---|---|
| BlueField-3 firmware | 32.38.1002 | Firmware is used to run user programs on the device which allow hardware to run |
| BlueField-2 firmware | 24.38.1002 | Firmware is used to run user programs on the device which allow hardware to run |
| ATF | v2.2(release):4.2.0-80-g0ad5a0e | Arm-trusted firmware is a reference implementation of secure world software for Arm architectures |
| UEFI | 4.2.0-56-ge28fcb7 | UEFI is a specification that defines the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting and its interface for interaction with the operating system |
| doca-base (MLNX_OFED) | 23.07-0.5.0.0 | NVIDIA® MLNX_OFED is a single software stack that operates across all NVIDIA network adapter solutions |
| MFT | 4.25.0-62 | NVIDIA® MFT is a set of firmware management and debug tools for NVIDIA devices |
| mlnx-dpdk | 22.11.2307.2.0 | Equivalent to DPDK upstream. The versioning of MLNX_DPDK indicates which upstream DPDK it is compatible with it (e.g., 22.11 is compatible with upstream DPDK 2022.11). |
| mlx-regex | 1.2-ubuntu1 | RegEx is a library that provides RegEx pattern matching to DOCA applications using the regular expression processor (RXP) or software-based engines when required |
| virtio-net-controller | 1.6.14-1 | Virtio-net-controller is a systemd service running on the DPU, with a user interface front-end to communicate with the background service |
| collectx-clxapi | 1.13.2 | A library which exposes the CollectX API, which allows any 3rd party to easily use CollectX functionality in their own programs |
| libvma | 9.8.31-1 | The NVIDIA® VMA library accelerates latency-sensitive and throughput-demanding TCP and UDP socket-based applications by offloading traffic from the user-space directly to the NIC, without going through the kernel and the standard IP stack (kernel-bypass) |
| libxlio | 3.10.5-1.2307050 | The NVIDIA® XLIO software library boosts the performance of TCP/IP applications based on NGINX (CDN, DoH, etc.) and storage solutions as part of the SPDK |
| dpcp | 1.1.40-1.2307050 | DPCP provides a unified flexible interface for programming IB devices using DevX |
| mlnx-snap | 3.7.4-2 | BlueField SNAP for NVMe and virtio-blk enables hardware-accelerated virtualization of local storage |
| mlnx-libsnap | 1.5.4-7 | Libsnap is a common library designed to assist common tasks for applications wishing to interact with emulated hardware over BlueField DPUs and take the most advantage from hardware capabilities |
| spdk | 23.01-11 | SPDK provides a set of tools and libraries for writing high performance, scalable, user-mode storage applications |
| flexio | 23.7.1694 | FlexIO SDK exposes an API for managing the device and executing native code over the DPA processor |
| dpacc | 1.5.0 | DPACC is a high-level compiler for the DPA processor which compiles code targeted for the data-path accelerator (DPA) processor into a device executable and generates a DPA program |
| rxp-compiler | 23.07.1 | NVIDIA® RXP® is a processor developed to efficiently process data to detect matches for a set of user-defined string and regular expression (RegEx) based rules and is used to compile regular expressions into a format that can be executed by the RXP |
| rxpbench | 2.2.0080-1 | RXPBench is a tool that allows for the performance comparison between the NVIDIA® RXP® hardware RegEx acceleration engine found in the BlueField DPU and the Intel® Hyperscan software library. It provides a comprehensive set of options and can facilitate ingress of data from live network ports or previously recorded PCAP files. |
| Rivermax | 1.31 | NVIDIA® Rivermax® is an optimized networking SDK for media and data streaming applications |
| RShim | 2.0.9.gb35835f_amd64 | The user-space driver to access the BlueField SoC via the RShim interface, providing ways to push boot stream, debug the target, or login via the virtual console or network interface |
3.3. DOCA Packages
| Device | Component | Version | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host |
DOCA SDK | 2.2.0 | Software development kit package for developing host software |
| DOCA Runtime | 2.2.0 | Runtime libraries required to run DOCA-based software applications on host | |
| DOCA Tools | 2.2.0 | Tools for developers and administrators on host | |
| DOCA Extra | 2.2.0 | Contains helper scripts (doca-info, doca-kernel-support) | |
| DOCA OFED | 2.2.0 | Single software stack which operates across all NVIDIA network adapter solutions | |
| Arm emulated (QEMU) development container |
4.2.0 | Linux-based BlueField Arm emulated container for developers | |
| Target BlueField DPU (Arm) |
BlueField BSP | 4.2.0 | BlueField image and firmware |
| DOCA SDK | 2.2.0 | Software development kit packages for developing Arm software | |
| DOCA Runtime | 2.2.0 | Runtime libraries requied to run DOCA-based software applications on Arm | |
| DOCA Tools | 2.2.0 | Tools for developers and administrators for Arm target |
3.4. Supported Operating System Distributions
The default operating system of the BlueField DPU (Arm) is Ubuntu 22.04.
The supported operating systems on the host machine are the following:Only the following generic kernel versions are supported for DOCA local repo package for host installation (whether by SDKM or manually).
| OS | Kernel | x86 | aarch64 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alinux 3.2 | 5.10 | ✔ | |
| BCLinux 21.10 SP2 | 4.19.90 | ✔ | ✔ |
| CTyunOS 2 | 4.19.90 | ✔ | ✔ |
| Debian 10.13 | 5.10.135 5.4.210 |
✔ | |
| Debian 10.8 | 4.19.0 | ✔ | |
| Kylin 10 SP2 | 4.19.90 | ✔ | ✔ |
| openEuler 20.03 SP3 | 4.19.90 | ✔ | ✔ |
| openEuler 22.03 | 5.10.0 | ✔ | ✔ |
| Oracle Linux 8.7 | 5.10/5.15 | ✔ | |
| RHEL/CentOS 7.6 | 3.10 | ✔ | |
| 4.14 | ✔ | ||
| RHEL/CentOS 8.0 | 4.18 | ✔ | |
| RHEL/CentOS 8.2 | 4.18 | ✔ | |
| RHEL/Rocky 8.6 | 4.18 | ✔ | |
| RHEL/Rocky 9.1 | 5.14.0 | ✔ | ✔ |
| Ubuntu 18.04 | 4.15 | ✔ | |
| Ubuntu 20.04 | 5.4 | ✔ | |
| Ubuntu 22.04 | 5.15 | ✔ | ✔ |
| UOS 20 1040d | 4.19.0 | ✔ | ✔ |
| Windows | DOCA support for Windows is on DOCA's roadmap. For Windows driver support, refer to WinOF-2 Release Notes. | ||
Customers who purchased NVIDIA products directly from NVIDIA are invited to contact us through the following methods:
- E-mail: enterprisesupport@nvidia.com
- Enterprise Support page: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/support/enterprise
Customers who purchased NVIDIA M-1 Global Support Services, please see your contract for details regarding Technical Support.
Customers who purchased NVIDIA products through an NVIDIA-approved reseller should first seek assistance through their reseller.
| Reference | Description |
|---|---|
| 3566042 | Description: Virtio hotplug is not supported in GPU-HOST mode on the NVIDIA Converged Accelerator. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Virtio; Converged Accelerator | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3546474 | Description: PXE boot over ConnectX interface might not work due to an invalid MAC address in the UEFI boot entry. |
Workaround: On the DPU, create /etc/bf.cfg file with the relevant PXE boot entries, then run the command bfcfg. |
|
| Keyword: PXE; boot; MAC | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3393316 | Description: When LSO is enabled, if the header and data appear in the same fragment, the following warning is given from tcpdump:
|
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Virtio-net; large send offload | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3549785 | Description: NVMe and mlx5_core drivers fail during BFB installation. As a result, Anolis OS cannot be installed on the SSD and the mlxfwreset command does not work during Anolis BFB installation. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Linux; NVMe; BFB installation | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3561723 | Description: Running mlxfwreset sync 1 on NVIDIA Converged Accelerators may be reported as supported although it is not. Executing the reset will fail. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: mlxfwreset | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3306489 | Description: After rebooting a BlueField-3 DPU running Rocky Linux 8.6 BFB, the kernel log shows the following error:
This message indicates that the Ethernet driver will function normally in all aspects, except that PHY polling is enabled. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Linux; PHY; kernel | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3306489 | Description: When performing longevity tests (e.g., mlxfwreset, DPU reboot, burning of new BFBs), a host running an Intel CPU may observer errors related to "CPU 0: Machine Check Exception". |
Workaround: Add intel_idle.max_cstate=1 entry to the kernel command line. |
|
| Keyword: Longevity; mlxfwreset; DPU reboot | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3529297 | Description: Enhanced NIC mode is not supported on BlueField-2 DPUs. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Operation; mode | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3538486 | Description: When removing LAG configuration from the DPU, a kernel warning for uverbs_destroy_ufile_hw is observed if virtio-net-controller is still running. |
| Workaround: Stop virtio-net-controller service before cleaning up bond configuration. | |
| Keyword: Virtio-net; LAG | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3527302 | Description: Failure occurs on doca_mmap_start() if the memory range is from dmabuf (i.e., if mmap is created with doca_mmap_set_dmabuf_memrange() call). |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Memory | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3541010 | Description: In case of an asynchromous wait, submitting a doca_sync_event_job_wait job is limited to a Sync Event with a value in the range [0, 254] and is limited to a wait threshold in the range [0,254]. Other scenarios result in anomalous behavior. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Sync-event; kernel | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3511313 | Description: On BlueField-3, the MAC addresses of Arm ports (p0 and p1) do not match the value on DPU sticker. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Port; MAC address | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3533508 | Description: OVS-dpdk is not supported if grub is used to allocate hugepages. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Hugepages; OVS-DPDK | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3533850 | Description: PCC is not supported when operating in DPU mode. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: PCC | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3534219 | Description: On BlueField-3 devices, from DOCA 2.2.0 to 32.37.1306 (or lower), the host crashes when executing partial Arm reset (e.g., Arm reboot; BFB push; mlxfwreset). |
Workaround: Before downgrading the firmware:
|
|
| Keyword: PCC; hang | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3530300 | Description: DOCA_PCC application may be terminated due to a false hang monitor alarm when running traffic. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: PCC; hang | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| N/A | Description: The NVIDIA DOCA East-West Overlay Encryption Application (and the underlying DPU OS Kernel driver IPsec functionality) is not supported. User space DOCA IPsec is not impacted. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: IPsec | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3382740 | Description: Fragmented packets are not supported in Application Recognition, Intrusion Prevention, and URL Filtering reference applications. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Fragmented packets; DOCA applications | |
| Reported in version: 2.2.0 | |
| 3444073 | Description: mlxfwreset is not supported in this release. |
| Workaround: Power cycle the host. | |
| Keyword: mlxfwreset; support | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3448841 | Description: While running CentOS 8.2, switchdev Ethernet DPU runs in "shared" RDMA net namespace mode instead of "exclusive". |
Workaround: Use ib_core module parameter netns_mode=0. For example:
|
|
| Keyword: RDMA; isolation; Net NS | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3365363 | Description: On BlueField-3, when booting virtio-net emulation device using a GRUB2 bootloader, the bootloader may attempt to close and re-open the virtio-net device. This can result in unexpected behavior and possible system failure to boot. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: BlueField-3; virtio-net; UEFI | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3232444 | Description: After live migration of virtio-net devices using the VFE driver, the max_queues_size output from the virtnet list may be wrong. This does not affect the actual value. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Virtio-net; live migration | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3441287 | Description: Failure occurs when attempting to raise static LAG with ifenslave_2.10ubuntu3 package. |
Workaround: Use ifenslave_2.9ubuntu1. |
|
Keyword: ifenslave; bonding |
|
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3373849 | Description: Different OVS-based packages can include their own systemd services which prevents /sbin/mlnx_bf_configure from identifying the right one. |
Workaround: Use a specific service name in /sbin/mlnx_bf_configure. |
|
| Keyword: OVS; systemd | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 2706803 | Description: When an NVMe controller, SoC management controller, and DMA controller are configured, the maximum number of VFs is limited to 124. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: VF; limitation | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3380586 | Description: Public key acceleration is not enabled on OpenEuler BFB due to missing configurations in the openssl.cnf file. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: PKA; OpenSSL | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3273435 | Description: Changing the mode of operation between NIC and DPU modes results in different capabilities for the host driver which might cause unexpected behavior. |
| Workaround: Reload the host driver or reboot the host. | |
| Keyword: Modes of operation; driver | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3438222 | Description: On BlueField DPU running Rocky, openEuler or Centos8.2 with default huge page size not equal to 2M, rxpbench fails to initialize as no mounted hugetlbfs is found for the 2M size. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: rxpbench | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3377199 | Description: After installing OpenEuler 20.03sp1 BFB, the 2nd port may raise configured with legacy mode. |
| Workaround: Reboot the DPU. | |
| Keyword: OpenEuler; legacy | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3362822 | Description: Running the gRPC firewall application in interactive mode and trying to add and remove the same entry leads to a failure on the server side which severs the connection to the server. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: gRPC; firewall; interactive; connection | |
| Reported in version: 2.0.2 | |
| 3264749 | Description: In Rocky and CentOS 8.2 inbox-kernel BFBs, RegEx requires the following extra huge page configuration for it to function properly:
If these commands have executed successfully you should see |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: RegEx; hugepages | |
| Reported in version: 1.5.1 | |
| 3240153 | Description: DOCA kernel support only works on a non-default kernel. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: Kernel | |
| Reported in version: 1.5.0 | |
| 3217627 | Description: The doca_devinfo_rep_list_create API returns success on the host instead of Operation not supported. |
| Workaround: N/A | |
| Keyword: DOCA core; InfiniBand | |
| Reported in version: 1.5.0 |
This section lists changes to the DOCA SDK which impacts backward compatibility.
6.1. DOCA Core doca_buf
Up to DOCA 2.0.2, the data length of the buffer is ignored when using the buffer as an output parameter, and the new data was written over the data that was there beforehand. From now on, new data is appended after existing data (if any) whileupdating the data length accordingly.
Because of this change, it is recommended that a destination buffer is allocated without a data section (data length 0), for ease of use.
In cases where the data length is 0 in a destination buffer, this change would go unnoticed (as appending the data and writing to the data section has the same result).
Reusing buffers requires resetting the data length when wishing to write to the same data address (instead of appending the data), overwriting the existing data. A new function, doca_buf_reset_data_len(), has been added specifically for this need.
Notice
This document is provided for information purposes only and shall not be regarded as a warranty of a certain functionality, condition, or quality of a product. NVIDIA Corporation nor any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively: “NVIDIA”) make no representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document and assume no responsibility for any errors contained herein. NVIDIA shall have no liability for the consequences or use of such information or for any infringement of patents or other rights of third parties that may result from its use. This document is not a commitment to develop, release, or deliver any Material (defined below), code, or functionality.
NVIDIA reserves the right to make corrections, modifications, enhancements, improvements, and any other changes to this document, at any time without notice.
Customer should obtain the latest relevant information before placing orders and should verify that such information is current and complete.
NVIDIA products are sold subject to the NVIDIA standard terms and conditions of sale supplied at the time of order acknowledgement, unless otherwise agreed in an individual sales agreement signed by authorized representatives of NVIDIA and customer (“Terms of Sale”). NVIDIA hereby expressly objects to applying any customer general terms and conditions with regards to the purchase of the NVIDIA product referenced in this document. No contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document.
NVIDIA products are not designed, authorized, or warranted to be suitable for use in medical, military, aircraft, space, or life support equipment, nor in applications where failure or malfunction of the NVIDIA product can reasonably be expected to result in personal injury, death, or property or environmental damage. NVIDIA accepts no liability for inclusion and/or use of NVIDIA products in such equipment or applications and therefore such inclusion and/or use is at customer’s own risk.
NVIDIA makes no representation or warranty that products based on this document will be suitable for any specified use. Testing of all parameters of each product is not necessarily performed by NVIDIA. It is customer’s sole responsibility to evaluate and determine the applicability of any information contained in this document, ensure the product is suitable and fit for the application planned by customer, and perform the necessary testing for the application in order to avoid a default of the application or the product. Weaknesses in customer’s product designs may affect the quality and reliability of the NVIDIA product and may result in additional or different conditions and/or requirements beyond those contained in this document. NVIDIA accepts no liability related to any default, damage, costs, or problem which may be based on or attributable to: (i) the use of the NVIDIA product in any manner that is contrary to this document or (ii) customer product designs.
No license, either expressed or implied, is granted under any NVIDIA patent right, copyright, or other NVIDIA intellectual property right under this document. Information published by NVIDIA regarding third-party products or services does not constitute a license from NVIDIA to use such products or services or a warranty or endorsement thereof. Use of such information may require a license from a third party under the patents or other intellectual property rights of the third party, or a license from NVIDIA under the patents or other intellectual property rights of NVIDIA.
Reproduction of information in this document is permissible only if approved in advance by NVIDIA in writing, reproduced without alteration and in full compliance with all applicable export laws and regulations, and accompanied by all associated conditions, limitations, and notices.
THIS DOCUMENT AND ALL NVIDIA DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS, REFERENCE BOARDS, FILES, DRAWINGS, DIAGNOSTICS, LISTS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS (TOGETHER AND SEPARATELY, “MATERIALS”) ARE BEING PROVIDED “AS IS.” NVIDIA MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE WITH RESPECT TO THE MATERIALS, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. TO THE EXTENT NOT PROHIBITED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL NVIDIA BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF ANY USE OF THIS DOCUMENT, EVEN IF NVIDIA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Notwithstanding any damages that customer might incur for any reason whatsoever, NVIDIA’s aggregate and cumulative liability towards customer for the products described herein shall be limited in accordance with the Terms of Sale for the product.
Trademarks
NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, and Mellanox are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Mellanox Technologies Ltd. and/or NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and in other countries. The registered trademark Linux® is used pursuant to a sublicense from the Linux Foundation, the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a world¬wide basis. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
Copyright
© 2023 NVIDIA Corporation & affiliates. All rights reserved.