BF-Bundle Installation and Upgrade

Users have three options for installing or upgrading DOCA on BlueField DPU or SuperNIC:

 Installing DOCA-Host

Make sure to update DOCA on the host side before installing the BF-bundle on the BlueField.

Installing Software on BlueField Using BF-Bundle

Users can install DOCA on BlueField DPU or SuperNIC by upgrading the full DOCA image on the BlueField device. This process overwrites the entire boot partition with an Ubuntu 22.04 installation and updates BlueField and NIC firmware. It also setups up the OVS bridge.

Option 1 – No Pre-defined Password

To install a BFB, use the following command:

host# sudo bfb-install --rshim rshim<N> --bfb <image_path.bfb>

Where:

• <N> – the appropriate RShim device identifier. If you have only one BlueField device, use rshim0.

• <image_path.bfb> – Replace this with the path to the BFB image file.

To list the RShim devices present on your system, run the following command:

host# ls -la /dev/ | grep rshim

Option 2 – Set Pre-defined Password

Ubuntu users can set a unique password for the ubuntu user in the bf.cfg configuration file, which will be applied automatically at the end of the BlueField BFB bundle installation. 

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Generate the hashed password: 

   host# openssl passwd -1
   Password:
   Verifying - Password:
   $1$3B0RIrfX$TlHry93NFUJzg3Nya00rE1
   

   
   

2. Add the password hash to the bf.cfg configuration file: 

   host# echo ubuntu_PASSWORD='$1$3B0RIrfX$TlHry93NFUJzg3Nya00rE1' > bf.cfg
   

   
   

3. Use the --config flag to specify the configuration file when running the installation command: 

   host# sudo bfb-install --rshim rshim<N> --bfb <image_path.bfb> --config bf.cfg
   

   If --config is not used, then upon first login to the BlueField device, users will be prompted to update the default ubuntu password.

   
   

   Optionally, to upgrade the BlueField integrated BMC firmware using BFB bundle, please provide the current BMC root credentials in a bf.cfg file, as shown in the following:

   BMC_PASSWORD="<root password>"
   BMC_USER="root"
   BMC_REBOOT="yes"
   

   Unless previously changed, the default BMC root password is 0penBmc.

   The following is an example output of Ubuntu-22.04 BFB bundle installation:

   host# sudo bfb-install --rshim rshim0 --bfb bf-bundle-2.7.0_24.04_ubuntu-22.04_prod.bfb --config bf.cfg
   Pushing bfb 1.41GiB 0:02:02 [11.7MiB/s] [           <=>                                                                                                                                ]
   Collecting BlueField booting status. Press Ctrl+C to stop
    INFO[PSC]: PSC BL1 START
    INFO[BL2]: start
    INFO[BL2]: boot mode (rshim)
    INFO[BL2]: VDDQ: 1120 mV
    INFO[BL2]: DDR POST passed
    INFO[BL2]: UEFI loaded
    INFO[BL31]: start
    INFO[BL31]: lifecycle GA Secured
    INFO[BL31]: VDD: 850 mV
    INFO[BL31]: runtime
    INFO[BL31]: MB ping success
    INFO[UEFI]: eMMC init
    INFO[UEFI]: eMMC probed
    INFO[UEFI]: UPVS valid
    INFO[UEFI]: PMI: updates started
    INFO[UEFI]: PMI: total updates: 1
    INFO[UEFI]: PMI: updates completed, status 0
    INFO[UEFI]: PCIe enum start
    INFO[UEFI]: PCIe enum end
    INFO[UEFI]: UEFI Secure Boot 
    INFO[UEFI]: PK configured
    INFO[UEFI]: Redfish enabled
    INFO[UEFI]: exit Boot Service
    INFO[MISC]: Found bf.cfg
    INFO[MISC]: Ubuntu installation started
    INFO[MISC]: Installing OS image
    INFO[MISC]: Changing the default password for user ubuntu
    INFO[MISC]: Ubuntu installation completed
    INFO[MISC]: Updating NIC firmware...
    INFO[MISC]: NIC firmware update done
    INFO[MISC]: Installation finished 
   
   

   
   

4. To verify that the BlueField device has completed booting, wait 90 seconds after the installation process finishes and run the following command:

   host# sudo cat /dev/rshim<N>/misc
   ...
    INFO[MISC]: Linux up
    INFO[MISC]: DPU is ready
   

   
   

5. Retrieve installed packages and their versions as part of BF-Bundle installation:

   1. Log in to BlueField.

   2. Run the following command: 

      bf# sudo bf-info
      

      Example output: 

      Firmware:
      - ATF: v2.2(release):4.11.0-31-g3cc9f6506
      - UEFI: 4.11.0-44-gb67dfb4a53
      - BSP: 4.11.0.13582
      - NIC Firmware: 32.45.0350
      - BMC Firmware: 25.04-3
      - CEC Firmware: 00.02.0195.0000
      
      Drivers:
      - mlnx-dpdk:  'MLNX_DPDK 22.11.2504.0.2'
      - Kernel: 5.15.0-1064-bluefield
      
      Tools:
      - MFT: 4.32.0-94
      - mstflint: 4.29.0-1
      
      Storage:
      - mlnx-libsnap 1.6.0-1
      - spdk 23.01.5-24
      - virtio-net-controller 24.10.15-1
      
      DOCA:
      - doca-apsh-config 2.9.0064-1
      - libdoca-sdk-urom-dev 2.9.0064-1
      ...
      FlexIO:
      - flexio-samples 24.10.2447
      - flexio-sdk 24.10.2447
      ...
      SoC Platform:
      - mlxbf-gige-modules 1.0-0.kver.6.1.0-11-arm64
      - sdhci-of-dwcmshc-modules 1.0-0.kver.6.1.0-11-arm64
      ...
      OFED:
      rdma-core 2410mlnx54-1.2410051
      ucx 1.18.0-1.2410051
      ...
      

      
      

6. Run the following command to configure the tmfifo_net0 interface over IPv4 for SSH access to the BlueField Arm OS:

   host# ifconfig tmfifo_net0 192.168.100.1/24

   Establish an SSH connection to the BlueField Arm OS with 192.168.100.2 (preconfigured default) using the following command: 

   host# ssh ubuntu@192.168.100.2

Upgrading BlueField Using Standard Linux Tools

This procedure allows for upgrading DOCA components on BlueField networking platforms (DPUs or SuperNICs) using standard Linux tools (e.g., apt update and yum update). This method uses native package manager repositories to update components without requiring a full reinstallation.

This process has the following benefits:

• Only updates components that include modifications

• 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

  • BMC components upgrade

• Does not:

  • Impact user binaries

  • Upgrade non-Ubuntu OS kernels

• After completion of BlueField upgrade:

  • If NIC firmware was not updated, perform BlueField Arm reset (software reset/reboot BlueField)

  • If NIC firmware was updated, perform firmware reset (mlxfwreset) or perform a graceful shutdown and power cycle

DEB-based

<bf> $ export DOCA_REPO="<URL>"

<bf> $ curl $DOCA_REPO/GPG-KEY-Mellanox.pub | gpg --dearmor > /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/GPG-KEY-Mellanox.pub

<bf> $ echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/GPG-KEY-Mellanox.pub] $DOCA_REPO ./" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/doca.list

<bf> $ apt update

<bf> $ apt install bf-fwbundle

<bf> $ cat > /etc/bf-upgrade.conf << EOF
BMC_USER="<username>"
BMC_PASSWORD="<password>"
EOF

<bf> $ dpu-bmc-upgrade

RPM-based

<bf> $ export DOCA_REPO="<URL>"

echo "[doca] 
name=DOCA Online Repo 
baseurl=$DOCA_REPO 
enabled=1 
gpgcheck=0 
priority=10 
cost=10" > /etc/yum.repos.d/doca.repo

<bf> $ yum makecache

<bf> $ dnf install bf-fwbundle

<bf> $ cat > /etc/bf-upgrade.conf << EOF
BMC_USER="<username>"
BMC_PASSWORD="<password>"
EOF

<bf> $ dpu-bmc-upgrade

Installing Multiple BlueField Devices with DOCA Installer Tool

The DOCA Installer is a utility for installing or upgrading one or more BlueField DPUs in parallel. It supports both bf-bundle and bf-fw-bundle image types and is compatible with multiple BlueField operation modes, including NIC mode, DPU mode, or both on the same host. Customization is supported through INI or YAML configuration files.

Prerequisites

Make sure to update DOCA on the host side before installing doca-installer.

DOCA Installer Operation Modes

The installer supports the following execution modes:

• Global run (applies to all devices):

  host# doca-installer -b <image_path.bfb> -c <path-to-config>
  

• Per PSID group (targets devices sharing the same PSID):

  host# doca-installer -b <image_path.bfb> --psid <PSID> -c <path-to-config>

  To exclude devices when using global or per-PSID runs, use --exclude rshim<X>.

• Per RShim device (targets a specific RShim interface):

  host# doca-installer -b <image_path.bfb> --rshim rshim<N> -c <path-to-config>

Where:

• -c or --config-file – defines a configuration via INI or YAML files

  To upgrade BMC, CEC, or Golden Image firmware, include BMC_USER and BMC_PASSWORD in the bf.cfg or bf.yaml file.

• <path-to-config> – Path to the INI or YAML configuration file

• <image_path.bfb> – Path to the BFB image file

• <PSID> – Shared PSID value for the target group 

  Devices that do not match the provided PSID will not be upgraded.

• <N> – RShim device index (e.g., 0 for a single-device setup)

INFO: At least one device requires a host power cycle for new NIC Firmware to be loaded.

WARNING: BMC_REBOOT is not configured for all devices or is not set to 'yes'.
BMC firmware updates will only take effect after a BMC reboot.

Configuration File Options

YAML Configuration File

The YAML format supports global and per-device customization using structured keys:

• global_configs – Shared parameters for all devices (e.g., credentials)

• rshim – Device-specific configurations

  • Each key under rshim (e.g., rshim1, rshim2) defines variables and methods for that device

• variables – Parameters that control the installation process (e.g., WITH_NIC_FW_UPDATE, BMC_REBOOT)

• methods – Custom shell commands run during installation. You can use YAML anchors (&, *) to reuse methods across devices.

Per-Device Configuration Only Example

rshim:
  rshim1:
    variables:
      BMC_USER: 'root'
      BMC_PASSWORD: '<root password>'
    methods:
      bfb_modify_os:
        command: |
          sed -i -e "s@192.168.100.2@192.168.101.2@" /mnt/var/lib/cloud/seed/nocloud-net/network-config
          sed -i -e "s@192.168.100.1@192.168.101.1@" /mnt/var/lib/cloud/seed/nocloud-net/network-config

Global Configuration Only Example

global_configs:
  variables:
    BMC_USER: 'root'
    BMC_PASSWORD: '<root password>'

Global and Per-Device Configuration Example

global_configs:
  variables:
    BMC_USER: 'root'
    BMC_PASSWORD: '<root password>'

rshim:
  rshim1:
    variables:
      WITH_NIC_FW_UPDATE: 'no'
  rshim2:
    variables:
      BMC_PASSWORD: '<rshim2 password>'

Reusing Methods with Anchors Example

global_configs:
  variables:
    BMC_USER: 'root'
    BMC_PASSWORD: '<root password>'

rshim:
  rshim1:
    variables:
      BMC_REBOOT: 'yes'
    methods:
      bfb_post_install: &default_post_install
        command: |
          echo "Running post-install on rshim1"

  rshim2:
    methods:
      bfb_post_install: *default_post_install

INI Configuration File

Per-Device Configuration ini Copy Edit Example

RSHIM0_BMC_USER="root"
RSHIM0_BMC_PASSWORD="<password>"

RSHIM1_BMC_USER="root"
RSHIM1_BMC_PASSWORD="<password>"

Shared and Per-Device Parameters Example

# Shared across all devices
BMC_USER="root"
BMC_PASSWORD="<password>"
BMC_NEW_PASSWORD="<new password>"

# Device-specific (optional)
RSHIM0_NET_RSHIM_MAC=00:1a:ca:ff:ff:01
RSHIM1_NET_RSHIM_MAC=00:1a:ca:ff:ff:03

Logs and Debuggability

The DOCA Installer tool provides extended logging and improved debuggability compared to the legacy bfb-install tool.

/var/log/doca_installer_logs/doca_installer_<timestamp>

DOCA Installer Standalone Flags

The doca-installer tool introduces enhanced capabilities for comparing target image firmware versions with those currently running on devices. This allows for safer, more controlled upgrade decisions.

Fetch Firmware Versions from Image

Use the --show-target-fw flag to display firmware versions embedded in the provided BFB image:

host# doca-installer -b <image_path.bfb> --show-target-fw

Example output:

Fetch Firmware Versions from Running Devices

Use the --show-running-fw flag to display firmware versions currently installed on each detected BlueField device:

host# doca-installer --show-running-fw

Example output:

Compare Image vs. Running Firmware Versions

Use the --compare option to compare current firmware versions on each device with those contained in the image:

host# doca-installer -b <image_path.bfb> --compare

Example output:

Supported DOCA-Host OS for DOCA Installer

The following OSs on the host machine are supported for doca-installer:

Building Custom BFB Installation Image

To build a customized BlueField OS image, use the BFB build environment. For more details, refer to the bfb-build project in in GitHub. 

To boot a customized BlueField OS image on a UEFI secure-boot-enabled BlueField (the default secure boot setting), the following conditions must be met:

• The OS image must be signed with a key already present in the UEFI DB (e.g., the Microsoft key)

• If the above is not possible, UEFI secure boot must be disabled to allow booting of an unsigned or differently signed image

For detailed instructions on managing UEFI secure boot, refer to the "Secure Boot" page in the BlueField Platform SW Documentation.

Last updated: August 05, 2025