Cannot find doca_perftest binary on BlueField-3 ARM after fresh BFB install

Infrastructure & Networking DOCA Infrastructure Management
1

Hi everyone,

I am trying to run benchmarks using the DOCA Perftest tool on my BlueField-3 DPU, but I am unable to locate the executable on the Arm side.

Environment:

• Hardware: NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPU

• DOCA Version: 3.2.1 LTS

• Installation Method: Fresh installation using the BFB image (BlueField Bootstream).

Issue Description: After the BFB installation, I expected to find the doca_perftest tool, but it seems missing from the default paths.

1. I checked /opt/mellanox/doca/tools/, but the binary is not there.

2. I checked /usr/share/doc/doca-perftest/, but the directory does not exist.

3. I ran find / -name "*perftest*", but it returned no results for the DOCA tool (only standard IB perftest tools).

Questions:

1. Is doca_perftest supported on the DPU ARM environment, or is it intended for the x86 Host side only?

2. If it is supported on ARM, is it not included in the default BFB image?

3. What is the specific package name I need to install via apt to get this tool?

Any guidance on how to install or locate this tool on the BlueField-3 Arm system would be appreciated.

Thanks.

2

Hello,
Thanks for the detailed description of your issue. I can help clarify what’s happening with doca_perftest on BlueField-3 ARM. Let me address each of your questions:

Answers to Your Questions

  1. Is doca_perftest supported on the DPU ARM environment?

Yes, doca_perftest is supported on the BlueField-3 DPU ARM side. It’s officially documented as part of DOCA SDK 3.2.1 LTS and the BlueField-3 DPU running Ubuntu 22.04 (aarch64) is a supported platform. The tool is designed to benchmark RDMA operations (bandwidth, latency, message rates) and can run on both host and DPU environments.

  1. Is it included in the default BFB image?

No, doca_perftest is not included by default in the BlueField Bootstream (BFB) image. The BFB image is typically optimized for production deployments and includes core components, firmware, and runtime libraries, but excludes many optional tools and benchmarking utilities to save space. This is why your find command returned no results.

  1. What package should you install?

The tool is typically part of the doca-tools package. Here’s how to install it:
Try the following steps on your BlueField-3 DPU (ARM side):

Step 1: Check if DOCA repositories are enabled

ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ | grep -i doca

Step 2: Update and search for the package

sudo apt update

apt search doca-tools

apt search doca | grep -i perftest

Step 3: Install the tools package

sudo apt install doca-tools

Step 4: Verify installation

After installation, check for the binary:

which doca_perftest

Or search in typical locations:

ls /opt/mellanox/doca/tools/bin/

ls /usr/bin/ | grep doca

Step 5: Verify all DOCA components are version 3.2.1 LTS

dpkg -l | grep docaPreformatted text

Hope this Helps.

3

Hi ipavis,

Thanks for your detailed explanation.

I’ve checked the BFB download page, and it seems that only the Linux distribution Ubuntu 24.04 is available for DOCA 3.2.1 LTS. I’m wondering whether there is a BFB image based on Ubuntu 22.04, as you mentioned earlier.

I also verified the APT repository settings and confirmed that the DOCA sources are configured correctly, but the doca-tools package is still missing.

My DOCA sources is attached below:

ubuntu@dpu0 ~> cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/doca.list
#
# Nvidia DOCA public repository configuration file.
# For more information, refer to http://linux.mellanox.com
#
# To add public key:
# wget -qO - https://linux.mellanox.com/public/repo/doca/latest/ubuntu24.04/aarch64/GPG-KEY-Mellanox.pub | sudo apt-key add -
deb [trusted=yes] https://linux.mellanox.com/public/repo/doca/latest/ubuntu24.04/aarch64 ./

In addition, I also checked the following repository (through webpage):

https://linux.mellanox.com/public/repo/doca/3.2.1/ubuntu22.04/aarch64/

but it also does not provide the doca-tools package.

Could you please help clarify whether doca-tools has been relocated or is only available for specific DOCA/DPU‑OS versions?

Thank you for any insights!

4

Hi @ipavis, thanks for the earlier guidance. I’m seeing the same problem, and it seems there wasn’t an update to Ubuntu 24.04 on the BlueField-3 ARM environment yet. doca_perftest doesn’t appear to be shipped/available via apt on 24.04.

Any update on whether this is a known packaging issue or a current limitation of 24.04 support?

Thank you.