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We are having multiple review cycles with all vendors trying to implement devlink-info. Let's expand the documentation with more information about what's implemented and motivation behind this interface in an attempt to make the implementations easier. Describe what each info section is supposed to contain, and make some references to other HW interfaces (PCI caps). Document how firmware management is expected to look, to make it clear how devlink-info and devlink-flash work in concert. Name some future work. v2: - improve wording v3: - improve wording Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org> Reviewed-by: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org> Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>
94 lines
3.4 KiB
ReStructuredText
94 lines
3.4 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-2-Clause)
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.. _devlink_flash:
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=============
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Devlink Flash
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=============
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The ``devlink-flash`` API allows updating device firmware. It replaces the
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older ``ethtool-flash`` mechanism, and doesn't require taking any
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networking locks in the kernel to perform the flash update. Example use::
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$ devlink dev flash pci/0000:05:00.0 file flash-boot.bin
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Note that the file name is a path relative to the firmware loading path
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(usually ``/lib/firmware/``). Drivers may send status updates to inform
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user space about the progress of the update operation.
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Firmware Loading
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================
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Devices which require firmware to operate usually store it in non-volatile
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memory on the board, e.g. flash. Some devices store only basic firmware on
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the board, and the driver loads the rest from disk during probing.
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``devlink-info`` allows users to query firmware information (loaded
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components and versions).
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In other cases the device can both store the image on the board, load from
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disk, or automatically flash a new image from disk. The ``fw_load_policy``
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devlink parameter can be used to control this behavior
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(:ref:`Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-params.rst <devlink_params_generic>`).
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On-disk firmware files are usually stored in ``/lib/firmware/``.
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Firmware Version Management
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===========================
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Drivers are expected to implement ``devlink-flash`` and ``devlink-info``
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functionality, which together allow for implementing vendor-independent
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automated firmware update facilities.
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``devlink-info`` exposes the ``driver`` name and three version groups
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(``fixed``, ``running``, ``stored``).
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The ``driver`` attribute and ``fixed`` group identify the specific device
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design, e.g. for looking up applicable firmware updates. This is why
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``serial_number`` is not part of the ``fixed`` versions (even though it
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is fixed) - ``fixed`` versions should identify the design, not a single
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device.
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``running`` and ``stored`` firmware versions identify the firmware running
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on the device, and firmware which will be activated after reboot or device
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reset.
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The firmware update agent is supposed to be able to follow this simple
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algorithm to update firmware contents, regardless of the device vendor:
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.. code-block:: sh
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# Get unique HW design identifier
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$hw_id = devlink-dev-info['fixed']
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# Find out which FW flash we want to use for this NIC
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$want_flash_vers = some-db-backed.lookup($hw_id, 'flash')
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# Update flash if necessary
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if $want_flash_vers != devlink-dev-info['stored']:
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$file = some-db-backed.download($hw_id, 'flash')
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devlink-dev-flash($file)
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# Find out the expected overall firmware versions
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$want_fw_vers = some-db-backed.lookup($hw_id, 'all')
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# Update on-disk file if necessary
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if $want_fw_vers != devlink-dev-info['running']:
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$file = some-db-backed.download($hw_id, 'disk')
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write($file, '/lib/firmware/')
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# Try device reset, if available
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if $want_fw_vers != devlink-dev-info['running']:
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devlink-reset()
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# Reboot, if reset wasn't enough
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if $want_fw_vers != devlink-dev-info['running']:
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reboot()
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Note that each reference to ``devlink-dev-info`` in this pseudo-code
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is expected to fetch up-to-date information from the kernel.
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For the convenience of identifying firmware files some vendors add
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``bundle_id`` information to the firmware versions. This meta-version covers
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multiple per-component versions and can be used e.g. in firmware file names
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(all component versions could get rather long.)
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