/doca-bf4-deployment

doca-bf4-deployment — reference detail

Moved out of SKILL.md to keep the loader under the per-file size budget. This is supporting detail, not routing logic.

Example questions this skill answers well

The CLASSES of BF4-bring-up questions this skill is built to answer, each with one worked example. The class is the load-bearing piece; the worked example is one instance.

• "I have a brand-new BlueField-4 and need to install the DOCA bundle ISO onto it. What are my options and which should I use?" — worked example: "I do not want to set up PXE; can I just point it at an ISO over HTTP?". Answered by the install-method table in CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes (UEFI HTTP Boot is the recommended default) + the step-by-step flow in TASKS.md ### method-a-uefi-http-boot.
• "I want to install the DPU completely out-of-band — no physical access, no HTTP server to stand up. Is there a way?" — worked example: "attach the ISO straight from the BMC via Redfish". Answered by the Redfish Virtual Media row in CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes
  • TASKS.md ### method-c-redfish-virtual-media.
• "I pushed a firmware bundle through Redfish and the Task just sits at Running. Is it stuck?" — worked example: "the multipart POST was accepted, PercentComplete is not moving". Answered by the firmware-Task layer in CAPABILITIES.md ## Error taxonomy
  • TASKS.md ## debug layer 3, with the HIGH-STAKES "do not re-push blindly" rule in CAPABILITIES.md ## Safety policy.
• "The firmware Task said Completed but the version did not change. What did I miss?" — worked example: "pldmtool shows a Pending version that never becomes Active". Answered by the activation layer in CAPABILITIES.md ## Error taxonomy
  • the power-cycle-to-activate step in TASKS.md ### pldm-firmware-update.
• "I want a Grace Ubuntu image with my SSH key and hostname baked in via cloud-init, installed over Redfish. How?" — worked example: "my CIDATA seed is not being picked up". Answered by the Virtual Media + cloud-init rules in CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes
  • TASKS.md ### grace-ubuntu-cloud-init, with the CIDATA / fixed-config.iso-URI gotcha in the cloud-init layer of the error taxonomy.
• "My BlueField-4 keeps re-entering the installer every time it resets. Why?" — worked example: "I finished the install but it loops back into setup". Answered by the boot-loop layer in CAPABILITIES.md ## Error taxonomy (media was never detached) + the detach-and-verify-"Inserted": false step in TASKS.md ### post-install.

What this skill deliberately does not ship

This skill is agent guidance for the documented BF4 day-1 bring-up flows, not a credentials / images / firmware bundle. To keep the boundary clean, it deliberately does not contain — and pull requests should not add:

• BlueField-3 bring-up. BF3 is a different platform with different methods; route to doca-bf3-deployment. This skill is BlueField-4-specific (Grace, the dpu-bmc Redfish surface, the BF4 install methods).
• Container or bare-metal application launch. Running a DOCA service container or a DOCA-linked binary on an already-working BlueField is owned by doca-container-deployment and doca-bare-metal-deployment. This skill stops at "Grace installed, firmware at the target level."
• The hardware-change meta-policy. The preflight / OOB-console / maintenance-window / rollback discipline that wraps every PLDM burn, ISO reflash, power cycle, and BMC factory reset is owned by doca-hardware-safety. This skill cross-links it and never redefines it.
• Real credentials, internal hostnames, internal paths, or pre-release firmware version strings. This skill uses only placeholders ({bmc-ip}, {bmc-user}, {bmc-password}, {iso-uri}, {http-server-ip}, {device-name}, {fw-image}, {eid}, {task-id}) for anything site-specific. It never prints a default-credential string, never names an internal hostname or NFS path, and never cites a specific pre-release firmware version — those come from the public release notes and the operator's own environment. This is the load-bearing public-safety rule for this skill.
• A samples/, templates/, images/, or firmware/ subtree of any kind. A mock or partial artifact in this skill's tree, even one labeled "reference", is misleading: operators will read it as production-ready, and a stored credential or firmware blob would fail the bundle's public-release gates.

Related skills

• doca-hardware-safety — the CRITICAL cross-cutting meta-policy for any change touching DPU / NIC hardware state. Every PLDM firmware burn, ISO reflash, power cycle, and BMC factory reset in this skill is a MUTATING op; the change-application discipline lives there and this skill loads it ALONGSIDE, never duplicating it. This skill's ## Safety policy overlays that meta-policy with BF4-specific rules (never print a credential, always detach media, public information only).
• doca-bare-metal-deployment — the downstream skill for launching a DOCA-linked binary directly on the BlueField Arm once this skill has brought Grace up. Its ## bluefield-lifecycle anchor covers the BF3-era BFB / RShim / TMFIFO lifecycle; this skill is the BF4 BMC-driven day-1 analog.
• doca-container-deployment — the downstream skill for deploying a DOCA service container on the BlueField once Grace is up.
• doca-setup — env preparation on the installed Grace OS (install verification, hugepages, pkg-config path, devlink mode, representor visibility). This skill hands off to it once the platform is up.
• doca-version — the four-way version match rule. This skill's ## Version compatibility cross-links the body there and adds only the BF4 overlay (install / firmware targets come from the public release notes; the Redfish FirmwareInventory and pldmtool GetFwParams are the post-update anchors; cat /etc/mlnx-release is the Grace install anchor).
• doca-public-knowledge-map — the routing table to the public BlueField/DOCA documentation, release notes, and download surface. This skill does not duplicate URLs or invent exact doc anchors; it points at the map. The BlueField BSP / BMC rows there are the route for any externally-productized layer beyond this skill's day-1 carve-out.
• doca-bf3-deployment — the sibling skill for BlueField-3 day-1 bring-up. This skill is BF4-only; BF3 questions route there.