task5 updated - Aditya-Sarna/lfx_weeklyupdate GitHub Wiki

5. BF-Bundle vs BF-FW-Bundle, and DOCA-Host compatibility

Week 5. I read NVIDIA’s package pages and the lab BF2 pin, then checked the live dh5 / BF3 pair (2026-10-01).

Understanding confirmed: BF-Bundle includes the BlueField Arm OS and the DOCA environment on the DPU (plus firmware). BF-FW-Bundle is firmware only.

What each package is

Both BF-Bundle and BF-FW-Bundle are .bfb files. The prefix is what matters.

Package NVIDIA contents Use
BF-Bundle (bf-bundle-*.bfb) Firmware (ATF, UEFI, NIC FW, BMC) + Arm OS + DOCA on the DPU Fresh install, recovery, major upgrade, rebuild DPU mode
BF-FW-Bundle (bf-fwbundle-*.bfb) Firmware only (ATF, UEFI, NIC FW, BMC, eROT). No Arm OS. No DOCA SDK Day-2 firmware, NIC mode, keep the Arm OS already on the card
DOCA-Host (.deb / repo on the server) Drivers, rshim userspace, host DOCA Installed on dh5, not on the card

Sources: DOCA Framework, Types and Methods of Updating BlueField Software Image.

How to pick the file

https://developer.nvidia.com/doca-downloads (archives: https://developer.nvidia.com/doca-archive).

  1. Platform: BlueField
  2. Package: BF-Bundle or BF-FW-Bundle or DOCA-Host
  3. Installer: BFB for .bfb
  4. OS on the selector:
  • BF-Bundle: Arm OS inside the image. Live 3.5 bundle is Ubuntu 24.04 _64k_. NVIDIA’s DOCA Framework page still says the default Arm OS is Ubuntu 22.04 β€” trust the Downloads filename and /etc/mlnx-release, not that leftover sentence.
  • DOCA-Host: Dell host OS (live dh5 is Ubuntu 24.04.5; repo install docs still say 22.04)

Host OS and Arm OS do not have to be the same number. A 22.04 host with a 24.04 Arm BF-Bundle is valid if both packages are from the same DOCA release.

Filename:

bf-bundle-3.5.0-89_26.07_ubuntu-24.04_64k_prod.bfb
β”‚          β”‚     β”‚   β”‚     β”‚      β”‚
β”‚          β”‚     β”‚   β”‚     β”‚      └─ 64k Arm kernel
β”‚          β”‚     β”‚   β”‚     └─ Arm OS in the BFB (not the host)
β”‚          β”‚     β”‚   └─ calendar stamp (2026-07)
β”‚          β”‚     └─ bundle build
β”‚          └─ DOCA release to pair with DOCA-Host
└─ full bundle (OS + DOCA + firmware)

Lab BF2 file bf-bundle-2.7.0-33_24.04_ubuntu-22.04_prod.bfb (hardware/dh2/README.md) is DOCA 2.7 for BF2. Do not use it on this BF3.

How to determine BF-Bundle ↔ DOCA-Host compatibility

Before download

  1. Open one DOCA Downloads (or archive) row. Record the page version (example: 3.5.0).
  2. Take DOCA-Host for the host OS and BF-Bundle for BlueField from that same row.
  3. Record filename and SHA256.
  4. Do not take DOCA-Host from 3.5 and a BFB from 2.9 / 2.7.

NVIDIA’s install order: upgrade DOCA on the host first, then install BF-Bundle on the card (DOCA Installation Guide, BF-Bundle install).

Same minor is the safe pin, not a hard rule. DOCA Dependency Compatibility Policy (updated 2026-09-01):

Upper layer Lower layer Level
DOCA-Host: DOCA-OFED profile BF-Bundle Level 1 – Perpetual
DOCA-Host: other profiles (Networking, All) BF-Bundle Level 2 – Limited

This host has doca-all, so it is Level 2. NVIDIA: compatibility is guaranteed for releases in one annual cycle (October through July). The July release is compatible with the preceding April, January, and October of that cycle.

OFED β€œgeneral support” tables are not a substitute. They do not mean β€œinstall 2.7 host with 3.5 BFB.”

After install (live check)

Host (root@dh5):

doca_caps --version
ofed_info -s
dpkg -l | grep -iE 'doca-all|doca-ofed'

DPU ([email protected]):

cat /etc/mlnx-release
sudo bfver

Expect the host DOCA major.minor and the bf-bundle-X.Y.Z-… string to be the same release (or a Level 2 pair in the same annual cycle). bfver ATF / UEFI / BSP should match that BSP line.

Pairs

Host DPU Policy
Live 2026-10-01: DOCA-Host 3.5.0098 (doca-all) bf-bundle-3.5.0-89_26.07_ubuntu-24.04_64k_prod Yes. Matched 3.5 / 26.07
DOCA-Host 3.4 + DPU 2.6 old lab pair No. Outside the 3.4/3.5 annual cycle. Not installed now
DOCA-Host 3.4 + BF-Bundle 3.5 β€” Yes, Level 2 (same cycle). Not the live pair
Lab BF2 bf-bundle-2.7.0-33_… on this BF3 β€” No. Wrong generation and card
DOCA-Host 3.5 + bf-fwbundle-3.5.0-… only firmware only DPU OS/DOCA not rebuilt

Live confirmation (2026-10-01)

Side Measured
Host Ubuntu 24.04.5, 6.8.0-142-generic, doca_caps 3.5.0098, OFED 26.07-0.7.7, doca-all 3.5.0-082000
DPU Ubuntu 24.04.5, 6.8.0-1030-bluefield-64k, /etc/mlnx-release bf-bundle-3.5.0-89_26.07_ubuntu-24.04_64k_prod, BSP 4.16.0.14075, ATF 4.16.0-8, UEFI 4.16.0-48