1 .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
3 ==================================
4 PLDM Firmware file format overview
5 ==================================
7 A PLDM firmware package is a binary file which contains a header that
8 describes the contents of the firmware package. This includes an initial
9 package header, one or more firmware records, and one or more components
10 describing the actual flash contents to program.
12 This diagram provides an overview of the file format::
15 +----------------------+
19 +----------------------+
23 +----------------------+
27 +----------------------+
29 | Package Header CRC |
31 +----------------------+
35 +----------------------+
39 +----------------------+
43 +----------------------+
47 +----------------------+
52 The package header begins with the UUID of the PLDM file format, and
53 contains information about the version of the format that the file uses. It
54 also includes the total header size, a release date, the size of the
55 component bitmap, and an overall package version.
57 The following diagram provides an overview of the package header::
60 +-------------------------+
62 +-------------------------+
64 +-------------------------+
66 +-------------------------+
68 +-------------------------+
69 | Component Bitmap Length |
70 +-------------------------+
71 | Package Version Info |
72 +-------------------------+
77 The device firmware records area starts with a count indicating the total
78 number of records in the file, followed by each record. A single device
79 record describes what device matches this record. All valid PLDM firmware
80 files must contain at least one record, but optionally may contain more than
81 one record if they support multiple devices.
83 Each record will identify the device it supports via TLVs that describe the
84 device, such as the PCI device and vendor information. It will also indicate
85 which set of components that are used by this device. It is possible that
86 only subset of provided components will be used by a given record. A record
87 may also optionally contain device-specific package data that will be used
88 by the device firmware during the update process.
90 The following diagram provides an overview of the device record area::
116 +-----------------------+
118 +-----------------------+
120 +-----------------------+
122 +-----------------------+
124 +-----------------------+
125 | Package Data Length |
126 +-----------------------+
127 | Applicable Components |
128 +-----------------------+
130 +-----------------------+
132 +-----------------------+
134 +-----------------------+
139 The component information area begins with a count of the number of
140 components. Following this count is a description for each component. The
141 component information points to the location in the file where the component
142 data is stored, and includes version data used to identify the version of
145 The following diagram provides an overview of the component area::
171 +------------------------+
173 +------------------------+
174 | Component Identifier |
175 +------------------------+
177 +------------------------+
178 | Component Options |
179 +------------------------+
180 | Activation Method |
181 +------------------------+
183 +------------------------+
185 +------------------------+
186 | Component Version Info |
187 +------------------------+
189 +------------------------+
195 Following the component information is a short 4-byte CRC calculated over
196 the contents of all of the header information.
201 The component images follow the package header information in the PLDM
202 firmware file. Each of these is simply a binary chunk with its start and
203 size defined by the matching component structure in the component info area.