Updating DPU Software Packages Using Standard Linux Tools
This dpu-upgrade procedure enables upgrading DOCA components using standard Linux tools (e.g., apt update and yum update). This process utilizes native package manager repositories to upgrade DPUs without the need for a full installation, and has the following benefits :
Only updates components that include modifications
Configurable – user can select specific components (e.g., UEFI-ATF, NIC-FW)
Includes upgrade of:
DOCA drivers and libraries
DOCA reference applications
BSP (UEFI/ATF) upgrade while maintaining the configuration
NIC firmware upgrade while maintaining the configuration
Does not:
Impact user binaries
Upgrade non-Ubuntu OS kernels
Upgrade DPU BMC firmware
After completion of DPU upgrade:
If NIC firmware was not updated, perform DPU Arm reset (software reset / reboot DPU)
If NIC firmware was updated, perform firmware reset (mlxfwreset) or perform a graceful shutdown and power cycle
OS |
Action |
Instructions |
Ubuntu/ Debian |
Remove mlxbf-bootimages package |
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Install the the GPG key |
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Export the desired distribution |
Export DOCA_REPO with the relevant URL. The following is an example for Ubuntu 22.04:
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Add GPG key to APT trusted keyring |
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Add DOCA online repository |
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Update index |
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Upgrade UEFI/ATF firmware |
Run:
Then i nitiate upgrade for UEFI/ATF firmware:
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Upgrade BlueField DPU NIC firmware |
Run:
Warning
This immediately starts NIC firmware upgrade.
To prevent automatic upgrade, run:
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Upgrade system |
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Apply the new changes, NIC firmware, and UEFI/ATF |
Warning
If mlxfwreset is not supported, graceful shutdown and host power cycle are required for the NIC firmware upgrade to take effect. |
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CentOS/RHEL/ Anolis/Rocky |
Remove mlxbf-bootimages, librerswan, and openvswitch-ipsec packages |
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Export the desired distribution |
Export DOCA_REPO with the relevant URL. The following is an example for Rocky Linux 8.6:
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Add DOCA online repository |
A file is created under /etc/yum.repos.d/doca.repo . |
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Update index |
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Upgrade UEFI/ATF firmware |
Run:
Then i nitiate the upgrade for UEFI/ATF firmware:
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Upgrade BlueField DPU NIC firmware |
The following command updates the firmware package and automatically attempts to flash the firmware to the NIC:
Warning
To prevent automatic flashing of the firmware to the NIC, run the following first:
Note
This step can be used as a standalone firmware update. In any case, it is performed as part of the upgrade flow.
Note
Flashing the firmware to the NIC can be performed manually by running the following command, after the firmware package had been updated:
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Upgrade system |
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Apply the new changes, NIC firmware, and UEFI/ATF |
Warning
If mlxfwreset is not supported, a graceful shutdown and host power cycle are required for the NIC firmware upgrade to take effect. |