From Platform Baseline to Platform Handoff: Automating DPU Onboarding with sZTP

Presented by Anssi Söderena from Fusionlayer Oy. A DPU is not ready for use simply because it has booted or received an IP address. It still needs trusted identity, compatible software, network configuration, credentials, and evidence that it has reached the expected state. This session presents an OPI Blueprint using FusionLayer’s sZTP server and client, based on RFC 8572, to onboard an NVIDIA BlueField-3 from a known platform baseline. The workflow establishes trust, applies initial configuration, runs bootstrap scripts, and reports progress and onboarding errors. The blueprint targets vanilla Kubernetes with F5 BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes, with TMM running on the DPU. The NVIDIA BF-Bundle and F5-supported DOCA version are platform prerequisites. The intended handoff is from sZTP onboarding to Kubernetes and F5 Lifecycle Operator, with application traffic through the DPU used for validation. We will share the workflow, lab findings, validation approach, compatibility constraints, and the boundary in this blueprint between sZTP onboarding and host- or BMC-mediated BFB provisioning.