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diff --git a/Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-info.rst b/Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-info.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..1242b0e682 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-info.rst @@ -0,0 +1,215 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-2-Clause) + +============ +Devlink Info +============ + +The ``devlink-info`` mechanism enables device drivers to report device +(hardware and firmware) information in a standard, extensible fashion. + +The original motivation for the ``devlink-info`` API was twofold: + + - making it possible to automate device and firmware management in a fleet + of machines in a vendor-independent fashion (see also + :ref:`Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-flash.rst <devlink_flash>`); + - name the per component FW versions (as opposed to the crowded ethtool + version string). + +``devlink-info`` supports reporting multiple types of objects. Reporting driver +versions is generally discouraged - here, and via any other Linux API. + +.. list-table:: List of top level info objects + :widths: 5 95 + + * - Name + - Description + * - ``driver`` + - Name of the currently used device driver, also available through sysfs. + + * - ``serial_number`` + - Serial number of the device. + + This is usually the serial number of the ASIC, also often available + in PCI config space of the device in the *Device Serial Number* + capability. + + The serial number should be unique per physical device. + Sometimes the serial number of the device is only 48 bits long (the + length of the Ethernet MAC address), and since PCI DSN is 64 bits long + devices pad or encode additional information into the serial number. + One example is adding port ID or PCI interface ID in the extra two bytes. + Drivers should make sure to strip or normalize any such padding + or interface ID, and report only the part of the serial number + which uniquely identifies the hardware. In other words serial number + reported for two ports of the same device or on two hosts of + a multi-host device should be identical. + + * - ``board.serial_number`` + - Board serial number of the device. + + This is usually the serial number of the board, often available in + PCI *Vital Product Data*. + + * - ``fixed`` + - Group for hardware identifiers, and versions of components + which are not field-updatable. + + Versions in this section identify the device design. For example, + component identifiers or the board version reported in the PCI VPD. + Data in ``devlink-info`` should be broken into the smallest logical + components, e.g. PCI VPD may concatenate various information + to form the Part Number string, while in ``devlink-info`` all parts + should be reported as separate items. + + This group must not contain any frequently changing identifiers, + such as serial numbers. See + :ref:`Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-flash.rst <devlink_flash>` + to understand why. + + * - ``running`` + - Group for information about currently running software/firmware. + These versions often only update after a reboot, sometimes device reset. + + * - ``stored`` + - Group for software/firmware versions in device flash. + + Stored values must update to reflect changes in the flash even + if reboot has not yet occurred. If device is not capable of updating + ``stored`` versions when new software is flashed, it must not report + them. + +Each version can be reported at most once in each version group. Firmware +components stored on the flash should feature in both the ``running`` and +``stored`` sections, if device is capable of reporting ``stored`` versions +(see :ref:`Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-flash.rst <devlink_flash>`). +In case software/firmware components are loaded from the disk (e.g. +``/lib/firmware``) only the running version should be reported via +the kernel API. + +Generic Versions +================ + +It is expected that drivers use the following generic names for exporting +version information. If a generic name for a given component doesn't exist yet, +driver authors should consult existing driver-specific versions and attempt +reuse. As last resort, if a component is truly unique, using driver-specific +names is allowed, but these should be documented in the driver-specific file. + +All versions should try to use the following terminology: + +.. list-table:: List of common version suffixes + :widths: 10 90 + + * - Name + - Description + * - ``id``, ``revision`` + - Identifiers of designs and revision, mostly used for hardware versions. + + * - ``api`` + - Version of API between components. API items are usually of limited + value to the user, and can be inferred from other versions by the vendor, + so adding API versions is generally discouraged as noise. + + * - ``bundle_id`` + - Identifier of a distribution package which was flashed onto the device. + This is an attribute of a firmware package which covers multiple versions + for ease of managing firmware images (see + :ref:`Documentation/networking/devlink/devlink-flash.rst <devlink_flash>`). + + ``bundle_id`` can appear in both ``running`` and ``stored`` versions, + but it must not be reported if any of the components covered by the + ``bundle_id`` was changed and no longer matches the version from + the bundle. + +board.id +-------- + +Unique identifier of the board design. + +board.rev +--------- + +Board design revision. + +asic.id +------- + +ASIC design identifier. + +asic.rev +-------- + +ASIC design revision/stepping. + +board.manufacture +----------------- + +An identifier of the company or the facility which produced the part. + +fw +-- + +Overall firmware version, often representing the collection of +fw.mgmt, fw.app, etc. + +fw.mgmt +------- + +Control unit firmware version. This firmware is responsible for house +keeping tasks, PHY control etc. but not the packet-by-packet data path +operation. + +fw.mgmt.api +----------- + +Firmware interface specification version of the software interfaces between +driver and firmware. + +fw.app +------ + +Data path microcode controlling high-speed packet processing. + +fw.undi +------- + +UNDI software, may include the UEFI driver, firmware or both. + +fw.ncsi +------- + +Version of the software responsible for supporting/handling the +Network Controller Sideband Interface. + +fw.psid +------- + +Unique identifier of the firmware parameter set. These are usually +parameters of a particular board, defined at manufacturing time. + +fw.roce +------- + +RoCE firmware version which is responsible for handling roce +management. + +fw.bundle_id +------------ + +Unique identifier of the entire firmware bundle. + +fw.bootloader +------------- + +Version of the bootloader. + +Future work +=========== + +The following extensions could be useful: + + - on-disk firmware file names - drivers list the file names of firmware they + may need to load onto devices via the ``MODULE_FIRMWARE()`` macro. These, + however, are per module, rather than per device. It'd be useful to list + the names of firmware files the driver will try to load for a given device, + in order of priority. |