Updating Firmware Using ethtool/devlink and .mfa2 File

In order to flash the firmware on the device using ethtool, you need to prepare a .mfa2 firmware file using the mlxarchive tool - see mlxarchive – Binary Files Compression Tool. Note that mlxarchive requires installing MFT with --oem option.

To perform firmware upgrade using ethtool/devlink, follow the steps below:

Run the mlxarchive tool to generate the .mfa2 file (the following example assumes MFA2 v1.1.1).

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            # mlxarchive -v 1.1.1 --bins-dir <source binaries directory> --out-file /lib/firmware/<file_name>.mfa2

Obtain the interface name of the adapter for which you wish to update firmware. For example, you can use ifconfig -a.

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            # ifconfig -a
...
p5p1: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether ec:0d:9a:48:af:2a  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
 
p5p2: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether ec:0d:9a:48:af:2b  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
...

Burn the firmware using the .mfa2 image with ethtool/devlink. Please use the .mfa2 file path relative to /lib/firmware.
ethtool command:

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            # ethtool -f <interface name> <file_name>.mfa2

devlink command:

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            $ devlink dev flash <dev> file <file_name>.mfa2

Query the adapter to verify that the new firmware version has been loaded following.

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            # mst start
# mst status -v
MST modules:
------------
    MST PCI module loaded
    MST PCI configuration module loaded
PCI devices:
------------
DEVICE_TYPE             MST                           PCI       RDMA            NET                       NUMA
ConnectX5(rev:0)        /dev/mst/mt4119_pciconf0.1    05:00.1   mlx5_3          net-p5p2                  0
ConnectX5(rev:0)        /dev/mst/mt4119_pciconf0      05:00.0   mlx5_2          net-p5p1                  0
...
#
 
# flint -d /dev/mst/mt4119_pciconf0 q
Image type:            FS4FW Version: 16.25.1042 FW Version(Running): 16.25.1020 FW Release Date: 30.4.2019 Product Version: 16.25.1020 Rom Info: type=UEFI version=14.18.19 cpu=AMD64 type=PXE version=3.5.701 cpu=AMD64 Description: UID GuidsNumber Base GUID: ec0d9a030048af2a 4 Base MAC: ec0d9a48af2a 4 Image VSD: N/A Device VSD: N/A PSID: MT_0000000080 Security Attributes: N/A

For the firmware update to take effect, you need to either reboot the server or run:

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            # mlxfwreset -d /dev/mst/mt4119_pciconf0 -y r

Validate the firmware update by a query.
Using mst:

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            # mst start
 
# flint -d /dev/mst/mt4119_pciconf0 q
Image type:            FS4
FW Version:            16.25.1042
FW Release Date:       15.5.2019
Product Version:       16.25.1042
Rom Info:              type=UEFI version=14.18.19 cpu=AMD64
                       type=PXE version=3.5.701 cpu=AMD64
Description:           UID                GuidsNumber
Base GUID:             ec0d9a030048af2a        4
Base MAC:              ec0d9a48af2a            4
Image VSD:             N/A
Device VSD:            N/A
PSID:                  MT_0000000080
Security Attributes:   N/A
#

Using devlink:

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            $ devlink dev info <dev>
pci/0000:05:00.0:
  driver mlx5_core
  versions:
      fixed: fw.psid MT_0000000080
      running: fw.version 16.23.1000
      stored: fw.version 16.25.1042