mstflint - 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 mstarchive tool - see mstarchive – Binary Files Compression Tool. Note that mstarchive requires installing mstflint with --enable-fw-mgr option.

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

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

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            # mstarchive -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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            # lspci -n | grep 15b3
 
04:00.0 0207: 15b3:1017
04:00.1 0207: 15b3:1017
 
 
# mstflint -d 04:00.0 q
Image type:            FS4
FW Version:            16.26.0292
FW Version(Running):   16.25.1020
FW Release Date:       9.9.2019
Product Version:       16.26.0292
Rom Info:              type=UEFI version=14.19.13 cpu=AMD64
                       type=PXE version=3.5.802 cpu=AMD64
Description:           UID                GuidsNumber
Base GUID:             248a0703009e950c        4
Base MAC:              248a079e950c            4
Image VSD:             N/A
Device VSD:            N/A
PSID:                  MT_0000000008
Security Attributes:   N/A

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

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            # mstfwreset -d 04:00.0 -y r

Validate the firmware update by a query.

Using mst:

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            # mstflint -d 04:00.0 q Image type: Image type:            	 FS4
FW Version:				16.26.0292
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
Base GUID:				ec0d9a030048af2a
Base MAC:				ec0d9a48af2a
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