Deploying BlueField Software Using BFB with PXE

The following are the steps to prepare a PXE server to deploy a BFB bundle:

1. Convert the BFB image file to PXE bootable image(s). Run:

   # mlx-mkbfb -x <BFB>
   

   For example: 

   # mlx-mkbfb -x DOCA_2.7.0_BSP_4.7.0_Ubuntu_22.04-<version>.bfb
   

   
   

   mlx-mkbfb is a Python script that can be found in BlueField release tarball under the /bin directory or in the BlueField Arm file system /usr/bin/mlx-mkbfb.

   
   

2. Copy the output of the 2 files, dump-image-v0 and dump-initramfs-v0, into the PXE server tftp path.

   To use a kernel that is compressed with LZMA (as included in BFB as dump-image-v0) for PXE installation, it must be uncompressed before use:

   $ file dump-image-v0

   If the output says LZMA compressed data, proceed to uncompress. 

   To uncompress the kernel, run: 

   $ text xz -dc < dump-image-v0 > vmlinuz

   This will uncompress the LZMA kernel image to a usable format called vmlinuz.

3. Create a boot entry in the PXE server. For example: 

   /var/lib/tftpboot/grub.cfg
   
   set default=0
   set timeout=5
   menuentry 'Bluefield_Ubuntu_22_04_From_BFB' --class red --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
      linux (tftp)/ubuntu22.04/dump-image-v0 ro ip=dhcp console=hvc0 console=ttyAMA0
      initrd (tftp)/ubuntu22.04/dump-initramfs-v0
   }
   

   If additional parameters must be set, use the bf.cfg configuration file, then add the bfks parameter to the Linux command line in the grub.cfg above.

   menuentry 'Ubuntu22.04 From BFB with bf.cfg' --class red --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
      linux (tftp)/ubuntu22.04/dump-image-v0 console=hvc0 console=ttyAMA0 bfnet=oob_net0:dhcp bfks=http://15.22.82.40/bfks
      initrd (tftp)/ubuntu22.04/dump-initramfs-v0
   }
   

   bfks is a BASH script that runs alongside BFB's install.sh script at the beginning of the BFB installation process. Here is an example of bfks that creates a /etc/bf.cfg file: 

   cat > /etc/bf.cfg << 'EOF'
   DEBUG=yes
   ubuntu_PASSWORD='$1$3B0RIrfX$TlHry93NFUJzg3Nya00rE1'
   EOF
   

   
   

4. Define DHCP:

   /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf
    
   allow booting;
   allow bootp;
    
   subnet 192.168.100.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
     range 192.168.100.10 192.168.100.20;
     option broadcast-address 192.168.100.255;
     option routers 192.168.100.1;
     option domain-name-servers <ip-address-list>
     option domain-search <domain-name-list>;
     next-server 192.168.100.1;
     filename "/BOOTAA64.EFI";
   }
    
   # Specify the IP address for this client.
   host tmfifo_pxe_client {
     hardware ethernet 00:1a:ca:ff:ff:01;
     fixed-address 192.168.100.2;
   }
   subnet 20.7.0.0 netmask 255.255.0.0 {
     range 20.7.8.10 20.7.254.254;
     next-server 20.7.6.6;
     filename "/BOOTAA64.EFI";
   }
   

   
   

Last updated: February 25, 2026