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

DPL is supported on the following NVIDIA BlueField DPUs and SuperNICs:

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 the bfb-install command to install the bundle:

            

            
bfb-install --bfb bf-bundle-3.0.0-102_25.04_ubuntu-22.04_prod.bfb --rshim rshim0
        

Helpful resources:

• DOCA Installation Guide for Linux

• Set Up DPU Management Access and Update BlueField-Bundle

The following firmware configuration are required for running the DPL Runtime Service, and are enabled by the dpl_dpu_setup.sh script documented below.

            

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

Prerequisites:

• BlueField must be in DPU Mode.

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

• DOCA must be installed on the 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:

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

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   This script:

   • Configures necessary mlxconfig settings

   • Creates a directory structure for config files

   • Enables SR-IOV virtual function support

Configuration Files

Before launching the container, you must create configuration files 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 the possible ingress and egress ports for a given packet that is processed by a BlueField pipeline (DPU mode):

Multiport eSwitch Mode

In multiport eSwitch mode, all uplinks and VFs/SFs representors of all physical ports are managed by the same hardware e-switch. This allows for traffic forwarding between the physical ports, such as from P0 to P1, when using a device with multiple physical ports.

To use two uplink/wire ports on a single DPL device, you must enable 'multiport eSwitch' (esw_multiport) mode before starting the DPL RTD service:

1. Make sure that LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION is enabled in the firmware configurations.

   For example:

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   sudo mlxconfig -d 0000:03:00.0 s LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION=1
           

   Note

   For more details on how to query and adjust firmware configurations , refer to Using mlxconfig.

   A power-cycle or firmware reset is required in order for such change to take effect. Refer to mlxfwreset for more information.

2. Once the system is up with LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION enabled, the esw_multiport mode can be enabled using the devlink command.

   For example:

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   sudo devlink dev param set pci/0000:03:00.0 name esw_multiport value 1 cmode runtime
           

   Note

   devlink settings are not persistent across system reboots.

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 that:

• 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 the correct mode (check mlxconfig)