doca-firefly · git:20260727.a5736e4 · 2026-07-27 · sha256 5fc66f2aea83852d
doca-firefly git:20260727.a5736e4A
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--- license: Apache-2.0 name: doca-firefly description: > Use this skill when the user is operating the DOCA Firefly Service container on BlueField — picking the four PTP configuration axes (role / profile / domain / interface), wiring the BlueField PHC + host follower + consumer workload pairing, deciding whether PTP-grade time is even needed (vs. chrony / NTP), or debugging a Firefly deployment where PTP isn't syncing or the host clock isn't following. Trigger even when the user does not explicitly mention "DOCA Firefly" or "PTP" — typical implicit phrasings include "container green but PTP never advances past LISTENING", "Firefly says synced but the host clock still drifts", "sync acquired but offset is tens of microseconds", "my Rivermax SMPTE workload needs PTP", or "is chrony good enough". Refuse and route elsewhere for installing DOCA, host-side chrony / ptp4l config bodies, PTP topology / boundary-clock design, building DOCA apps that read the disciplined PHC, or other DOCA services (DMS, Flow-Inspector, HBN) — those belong to other skills. metadata: kind: service compatibility: > BlueField-Arm-only DOCA service container; pulled from NVIDIA NGC and started under the BlueField OS container runtime. Host-side install is irrelevant. Requires a reachable PTP master (or runs as the master itself) and a PTP-aware network path; the host-side time follower (chrony / ptp4l / phc2sys reading the BlueField PHC) is also operator-owned. --- # DOCA Firefly Service > **Subsystem inventory (Run-12 correction, verified Run-13).** > DOCA Firefly is NOT just "a PTP daemon." The shipped > `doca_firefly.yaml` exposes **six** PTP-stack subsystems via > environment variables, each with its own `*_STATE`, > `*_CONFIG_FILE`, and (where relevant) `*_INTERFACE` / > `*_DEVICE` knobs (the count is six because the PTP Monitor > subsystem ships an internal `phc2sys` monitor client that is > distinct from the standalone PHC2SYS subsystem — both ship in > the same container image): > > 1. **PTP** (`PTP_STATE`, `PTP_INTERFACE`, `PTP_CONFIG_FILE`) — > the `ptp4l` daemon (or master, depending on profile) that > drives the BlueField PHC. > 2. **PTP Monitor** (`MONITOR_STATE`, `MONITOR_CONFIG_FILE`, > `MONITOR_CLIENT_TYPE`, `MONITOR_CLIENT_PHC2SYS_INTERFACE`, > `MONITOR_CLIENT_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT`) — the monitor server + > client surface; the **internal `phc2sys` monitor client** > (`MONITOR_CLIENT_TYPE=phc2sys`) is a real subsystem inside > Firefly, not just a host-side concern. > 3. **PHC2SYS** (`PHC2SYS_STATE`, `PHC2SYS_ARGS`, > `PHC2SYS_CONFIG_FILE`) — the **container-internal** `phc2sys` > instance; the bundle previously framed `phc2sys` as > host-only, which is wrong. > 4. **PPS** (`PPS_STATE`, `PPS_DEVICE`) — the Pulse-Per-Second > output (with the additional `enable_while_running` and > `do_nothing` states beyond plain enable/disable). > 5. **SyncE** (`SYNCE_STATE`, `SYNCE_INTERFACE`, > `SYNCE_CONFIG_FILE`) — Synchronous Ethernet frequency > distribution; orthogonal to PTP. > 6. **Firefly Servo** (`SERVO_STATE`, `SERVO_CONFIG_FILE`) — > the proprietary Firefly servo loop (alternative to the > upstream linuxptp servo). > > The valid `PROFILE` values are exactly **`default` / `media` / > `telco-l2` / `custom`** (per `doca_firefly.yaml` comments) — > the agent must not invent additional values. Subsystems configured > as `defined_by_profile` are controlled by the active `PROFILE`. > > Configuration-override env vars follow the pattern > `CONF_<SUBSYSTEM>_<section>_<key>` (e.g. > `CONF_PTP_global_priority1`, `CONF_SYNCE_global_backend`, > `CONF_MONITOR_global_telemetry_export`); these are the > documented surface for overriding individual config keys > without shipping a full custom config file. > > **Configuration hierarchy:** the mounted Firefly config file is > mandatory and owns the primary PTP axes (role, profile, domain, > interface, and transport). `CONF_<SUBSYSTEM>_<section>_<key>` > variables are optional, documented per-key overrides of that file; > they are not a second standalone configuration model. **Where to start:** This skill is for *operating* the DOCA Firefly Service container, not for *linking against* a library. Firefly is the **PTP / PHC2SYS / PPS / SyncE / Servo / Monitor** stack that drives and observes the BlueField PTP Hardware Clock (PHC); it is *not* the host-side time follower, *not* the consumer workload, and *not* a programming surface. If the user wants to *deploy* the container, open [`TASKS.md`](TASKS.md) and start at [`## configure`](TASKS.md#configure). If the question is *what shape of service is Firefly and what PTP roles / profiles does it speak*, start at [`CAPABILITIES.md`](CAPABILITIES.md). If DOCA is not installed on the BlueField yet, route to [`doca-setup`](../../doca-setup/SKILL.md) first. If the user's real question is *"I have a Rivermax SMPTE workload and the docs say I need PTP"*, the right pairing is this skill **plus** [`doca-rmax`](../../libs/doca-rmax/SKILL.md) — Firefly disciplines the PHC; Rivermax reads the disciplined time. ## Example questions this skill answers well The CLASSES of Firefly 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. - **"Do I actually need Firefly, or is NTP / chrony good enough?"** — worked example: *"my distributed app is fine on chrony today; is there a reason to add PTP?"*. Answered by the PTP-vs-NTP path- selection rule in [`CAPABILITIES.md ## Safety policy`](CAPABILITIES.md#safety-policy) + the env-prep checklist in [`TASKS.md ## configure`](TASKS.md#configure). - **"What four PTP configuration axes do I have to decide before starting the container?"** — worked example: *"a SMPTE ST 2110 broadcast plant that wants Firefly in slave role on the wire-side port"*. Answered by the four-axis configuration table in [`CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes`](CAPABILITIES.md#capabilities-and-modes) + the PTP-config step in [`TASKS.md ## configure`](TASKS.md#configure). - **"Firefly's container is running but the host's time isn't following — what did I miss?"** — worked example: *"`ptp4l` / Firefly says it's locked but `chronyc tracking` on the host shows drift"*. Answered by the END-TO-END time-sync discipline in [`CAPABILITIES.md ## Safety policy`](CAPABILITIES.md#safety-policy) + the host-follower step in [`TASKS.md ## configure`](TASKS.md#configure). - **"PTP locks but the offset / jitter is way past spec — what's wrong with the path?"** — worked example: *"sync acquired but offset is in the tens of microseconds"*. Answered by the PTP-aware-path rule in [`CAPABILITIES.md ## Safety policy`](CAPABILITIES.md#safety-policy) + the layered debug ladder in [`TASKS.md ## debug`](TASKS.md#debug). - **"How does Firefly pair with a Rivermax SMPTE workload?"** — worked example: *"SMPTE ST 2110 video sender that needs to be PTP- locked"*. Answered by the Rivermax-pairing rule in [`CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes`](CAPABILITIES.md#capabilities-and-modes) + the pairing step in [`TASKS.md ## configure`](TASKS.md#configure), which routes the Rivermax side to [`doca-rmax`](../../libs/doca-rmax/SKILL.md) and refuses to collapse the two services into one. - **"My Firefly container starts but PTP never reaches `SLAVE` / `MASTER` state — was it role, domain, profile, or interface?"** — worked example: *"container green but the ports-state output never advances past `LISTENING`"*. Answered by the four-axis-mismatch rule in [`CAPABILITIES.md ## Error taxonomy`](CAPABILITIES.md#error-taxonomy) + the layered ladder in [`TASKS.md ## debug`](TASKS.md#debug). ## Audience This skill serves **external operators and platform teams who deploy the DOCA Firefly Service container** to provide PTP-grade time synchronization to time-sensitive workloads on BlueField + the host behind it. Concretely: people running the Firefly container on BlueField Arm, choosing its PTP role / profile / domain / interface from the public Firefly guide, wiring the host-side follower (chrony with the PHC source, or `ptp4l` reading the PHC) so the host clock tracks the BlueField PHC, and validating the end-to-end discipline before scaling a Rivermax, 5G UPF, financial-trading, or distributed- database workload that depends on it. It is **not** for NVIDIA developers contributing to Firefly itself, and it is **not** a programming guide for *building applications on top of* DOCA libraries (that is [`doca-programming-guide`](../../doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md) plus the matching `libs/<library>` skill). Firefly is a **service**, not a library: the operator runs a container and configures PTP via the documented config surface; they do not link against a `libfirefly.so` to write their own program. **Path selection up front.** Use Firefly when sub-microsecond, PTP-grade time precision is required on BlueField AND the host (SMPTE ST 2110 broadcast workloads layered on Rivermax, 5G UPF time requirements, distributed systems that need PTP-grade time, anything where NTP / chrony jitter is not tight enough). Do **not** reach for Firefly when NTP / chrony already meets the workload's time-precision budget, when no PTP-aware switching / boundary-clock infrastructure exists in the path, or when pure software-side time precision is sufficient — in those cases the correct answer is to keep the host's existing chrony / NTP setup and route the agent away from Firefly, not to deploy it speculatively. ## When to load this skill Load this skill when the user is doing **hands-on Firefly deployment work** on a BlueField where DOCA is already installed. Concretely: - Deciding *whether* Firefly is the right answer for the user's time-precision requirement (vs. keeping NTP / chrony on the host). - Deploying the Firefly container on BlueField Arm — choosing image source per the public DOCA Firefly Service Guide, mounting the Firefly config, and starting / stopping the container. - Choosing the four PTP configuration axes — PTP role (master / slave / boundary clock / transparent clock), profile (the `PROFILE` env var accepts EXACTLY `default` / `media` / `telco-l2` / `custom` per `services/firefly/doca_firefly.yaml`; these map onto industry PTP profile names: `default` → IEEE 1588, `media` → SMPTE 2059-2, `telco-l2` → G.8275.1 only (G.8275.2 corresponds to the separate `telco-l3` config, reached via `custom`) — do NOT put the industry names directly into the env var), domain number, network interface — for the user's deployment. - Wiring the host-side follower so the host clock tracks the BlueField PHC (chrony with the PHC source, or `ptp4l` / `phc2sys` reading the PHC) — without this step the host clock does NOT follow the Firefly-disciplined PHC, regardless of how cleanly Firefly comes up. - Pairing Firefly with a time-sensitive consumer workload (Rivermax SMPTE, 5G UPF, finance, distributed databases) and validating the end-to-end discipline. - Reading the Firefly container's logs, the PHC offset, the ports-state output, or any other documented observability surface to confirm PTP is locked. - Debugging a Firefly deployment where the container is healthy but PTP is not syncing, or PTP is syncing but the host clock is not following, or sync is up but jitter is past spec. Do **not** load this skill for general DOCA orientation, install of DOCA itself, library-API questions, or non-PTP time topics. For those, route via [`doca-public-knowledge-map`](../../doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md), [`doca-setup`](../../doca-setup/SKILL.md), or the matching `libs/<library>` skill. ## What this skill provides This is a **thin loader**. Substantive material lives in two companion files: - `CAPABILITIES.md` — Firefly's architecture (container that drives the BlueField PHC and speaks PTP on the wire), the four PTP configuration axes (role / profile / domain / interface, with transport as a fifth knob), the deployment shape (container on BlueField Arm per the public Container Deployment Guide), the pairing surface (Rivermax + host-side time-sync follower), the observability surface (container logs + PHC offset + ports state), the error taxonomy (four-axis-mismatch / host-follower / PTP-aware- path / container-runtime), and the safety policy (PTP-vs-NTP path selection, END-TO-END discipline, smoke-before-scale). - `TASKS.md` — step-by-step workflows for the in-scope Firefly verbs: `configure`, `build`, `modify`, `run`, `test`, `debug`, plus a `Deferred task verbs` block routing out-of-scope questions and a `Command appendix` of recurring commands. The skill assumes a BlueField where DOCA is already installed and the operator has the privileges the public Firefly Service Guide expects to pull, run, and configure containers on BlueField Arm. It does not cover installing DOCA — that path goes through [`doca-setup`](../../doca-setup/SKILL.md). ## What this skill deliberately does not ship This skill is **agent guidance**, not a templates or sample-config bundle. To keep the boundary clean, it deliberately does not contain — and pull requests should not add: - **Pre-baked Firefly configuration files** (full PTP config blocks, ready-to-run role / profile / domain bundles) intended to be copy-pasted into production. PTP configuration is deployment- specific (per the user's profile, domain plan, interface naming, and upstream PTP topology); the safe answer for an external operator is to derive the config from the public Firefly Service Guide against their own deployment. The agent's job is to prescribe the *procedure* and the *four-axis decision*, not to ship a config the user might run unmodified. - **Container image names, tags, or registry paths.** The authoritative image source is the public DOCA Firefly Service Guide reachable through [`doca-public-knowledge-map ## DOCA services`](../../doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md#doca-services); Firefly's image tag is version-bound and changes between DOCA releases. Inventing or memorizing a tag is the canonical hallucination failure mode for a service skill. - **Host-side chrony stanzas or `ptp4l` / `phc2sys` config files.** Those are host-environment-specific and live on the host, not inside the Firefly container. The skill names *that* the host-side follower must be wired and *what its source must be* (the BlueField PHC); the chrony / `ptp4l` config bodies belong to the host operator and to upstream Linux PTP documentation. - **A `samples/`, `templates/`, or `reference/` subtree** of any kind. A mock or incomplete artifact in this skill's tree, even one labeled *"reference"*, is misleading: operators will read it as production-ready. ## Loading order 1. Read this `SKILL.md` first to confirm the user's question is in scope **and** that Firefly is the right answer at all (vs. keeping NTP / chrony on the host). 2. **For Firefly's deployment shape, the four PTP configuration axes, the Rivermax + host-follower pairing surface, the error taxonomy, the observability surface, and the END-TO-END safety policy, see [CAPABILITIES.md](CAPABILITIES.md).** 3. **For step-by-step workflows — configure, build, modify, run, test, debug — see [TASKS.md](TASKS.md).** ## Related skills - [`doca-public-knowledge-map`](../../doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md) — the routing table to the public DOCA Firefly Service Guide and the rest of the public DOCA documentation set. The Firefly URL is listed under [`## DOCA services`](../../doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md#doca-services). - [`doca-setup`](../../doca-setup/SKILL.md) — env preparation and install verification on the BlueField where the Firefly container will run, including the *I have no install yet* path via the public NGC DOCA container. This skill assumes its preconditions are satisfied on BlueField Arm. - [`doca-version`](../../doca-version/SKILL.md) — canonical DOCA version-handling rules. Firefly's container tag is version-bound; this skill's `## Version compatibility` cross-links the four-way match rule and adds the container-tag-lags-host-package overlay. - [`doca-structured-tools-contract`](../../doca-structured-tools-contract/SKILL.md) — the bundle's structured-tools precedence rule (detect / prefer / fall back / report). The Command appendix in [TASKS.md](TASKS.md) honors this contract. - [`doca-programming-guide`](../../doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md) — general DOCA patterns. Firefly is service-shaped not library- shaped, so the build / modify / first-app pattern there does not apply directly, but the cross-library debug discipline (frontend- before-backend, env-before-program) remains useful when Firefly reports an error that originated in the container runtime or in a DOCA library it called. - [`doca-rmax`](../../libs/doca-rmax/SKILL.md) — the canonical paired workload. SMPTE ST 2110 Rivermax streams depend on a Firefly-disciplined PHC; Firefly is the time-source side and Rivermax is the timing-precise data-plane side. The two skills load together for any broadcast-style deployment, and they do NOT collapse into one another — Firefly does not stream media; Rivermax does not discipline the PHC. - [`doca-dms`](../doca-dms/SKILL.md) — sibling service skill. The agent reading both skills should see the same service-skill shape (container, BlueField Arm, deployment pattern, smoke-before-scale, env preconditions, config schema) layered on top of a different per-service domain (DMS = device management via gNMI / gNOI; Firefly = time synchronization via PTP). - [`doca-debug`](../../doca-debug/SKILL.md) — the cross-cutting debug ladder (install / version / build / link / runtime / program / driver). Firefly-specific debug (PTP not syncing, host clock not following, jitter past spec) overlays on top of that ladder.