DOCA Documentation v3.1.0

DOCA Profiles

This document introduces and compares the different NVIDIA DOCA Host installation profiles, helping users select the most suitable configuration for their workloads and environments.

NVIDIA DOCA can be installed on host machines to support a range of NVIDIA BlueField DPUs and ConnectX SmartNICs. To meet the needs of different deployment scenarios, DOCA offers installation profiles—validated packages that streamline setup based on the desired functionality.

The following are the available DOCA profiles:

  • doca-all

  • doca-networking

  • doca-ofed

  • doca-roce

DOCA functionality is limited by the specific device capabilities.

DOCA_Host_profiles_ROCE-version-2-modificationdate-1749479954637-api-v2.jpg

The functionality of DOCA-Host is limited by the device capabilities (for example, ConnectX devices cannot utilize DOCA libraries such as DPA, even if doca-all is installed on the host).

For BlueField devices:

  • NVIDIA recommends the doca-all profile

  • If you require the smallest installation package for networking-only purposes, use doca-networking

  • For MLNX_OFED-like installations, use doca-ofed (no additional DOCA functionality)

  • For RoCE functionality only, install doca-roce

For ConnectX devices:

  • NVIDIA recommends the doca-networking profile

  • For deployments with both BlueField and ConnectX devices, use doca-all. This is also a good, scalable option for deployments that do not currently use both BlueField or ConnectX devices, but eventually might.

  • For MLNX_OFED-like installation use doca-ofed (no additional DOCA functionality)

  • For RoCE functionality only, install doca-roce

doca-all

Purpose

Install the full DOCA suite, including all libraries, drivers, and tools

Includes

  • All DOCA libraries and drivers

  • MLNX_OFED

  • DOCA Core

  • MLNX-DPDK

  • OVS-DOCA

  • DOCA Flow

Recommended for

  • Full-featured BlueField deployments

  • Users needing access to all DOCA functionalities

  • Future-proof mixed BlueField/ConnectX environments

Note

Some components may require additional ,manual installation after the default package is installed.


doca-networking

Purpose

Networking-specific installation without full DOCA library overhead

Includes

  • MLNX_OFED

  • DOCA Core

  • MLNX-DPDK

  • OVS-DOCA

  • DOCA Flow

Recommended for

  • Users focused on accelerated networking

  • BlueField or ConnectX environments where only networking functionality is required


doca-ofed

Purpose

Driver-only installation equivalent to MLNX_OFED

Includes

  • MLNX_OFED drivers and tools

Recommended for

  • Minimalist setups with no DOCA user-space components

  • Compatibility-focused deployments


doca-roce

Purpose

Lightweight RDMA-over-Ethernet (RoCE) functionality

Includes

  • rdma-core

  • ofed-scripts

  • mlnx-tools

  • mlnx-ofa_kernel

  • libibverbs, libibumad, librdmacm

  • perftest

Recommended for

  • RoCE-only applications

  • Low-footprint installations


All profiles support the following NVIDIA hardware:

  • BlueField-3

  • BlueField-2

  • ConnectX-8

  • ConnectX-7

  • ConnectX-6 DX / LX / standard

  • ConnectX-5

  • ConnectX-4 LX

Note

DOCA functionality is limited by the specific device capabilities. For example, ConnectX devices cannot use certain DOCA libraries, such as DPA.

Each DOCA-Host profile is supported on a subset of operating systems. Refer to Supported Host OS per DOCA-Host Installation Profile for device-specific compatibility information. To install a profile, follow the installation steps in DOCA-Host Installation and Upgrade .

© Copyright 2025, NVIDIA. Last updated on Aug 28, 2025.