Modifications in PLDM T5 flow to support SPI staged update

[Bills, Jason M]

On 8/15/2025 7:25 AM, Patrick Williams wrote:
> Are there Redfish methods of initiating this now?  I recall a workgroup 
> at OCP was trying to get this done there.
> 
> — Patrick Williams
> 
>> On Aug 15, 2025, at 8:15 AM, Tom Joseph <rushtotom at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> SPI Staged Update enables pre-downloading firmware component images 
>> for supported devices, significantly reducing downtime during firmware 
>> updates and activation. This requires devices to support at least two 
>> slots — one for the running firmware and another for staging the new 
>> image.
>>
>> The update process occurs in two iterations:
>>
>> 1.
>>
>>     First Iteration:
>>
>>      *
>>
>>         The PLDM UA initiates the PLDM T5 flow with the PLDM FD
>>         supporting staged updates.
>>
>>      *
>>
>>         All stages (Transfer, Verify, Apply) are completed
>>         except activation. This is achieved by PLDM UA skipping the
>>         PLDM T5 ActivateFirmware command.
>>
>>      *
>>
>>         Upon state machine timeout, the PLDM FD marks the new image
>>         as /staged/ (not failed update). Since it’s staged, it remains
>>         inactive until explicitly activated later.
>>
>> 2.
>>
>>     Second Iteration:
>>
>>      *
>>
>>         The same PLDM package is used. Since the image is already
>>         staged, the PLDM FD skips most of the Transfer stage, reducing
>>         downtime.
>>
>>      *
>>
>>         This iteration is typically scheduled during a maintenance window.
>>
>>      *
>>
>>         Devices that do not support SPI staging are updated in this
>>         iteration.
>>
>>      *
>>
>>         All firmware is activated after this iteration.
>>
>> To enable this, we propose introducing a new OEM parameter in the 
>> MultiPart API to instruct the PLDM UA to skip sending the | 
>> ActivateFirmware|command, along with necessary PLDM UA modifications 
>> to support the SPI staged flow.
>>
>> If there is interest within the OpenBMC community to adopt and 
>> collaborate on this feature, please feel free to reach out.
>>

Intel has interest in being part of an OpenBMC community collaboration 
on this feature.

>> [1] https://docs.nvidia.com/multi-node-nvlink-systems/nvfupd-guide/ 
>> appendix/spi-staged.html <https://docs.nvidia.com/multi-node-nvlink- 
>> systems/nvfupd-guide/appendix/spi-staged.html>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Tom