Agent skill · software engineering · nvidia
doca-upgrade
Changing DOCA versions safely: upgrading or downgrading the host DOCA packages, refreshing the BlueField BFB, bumping the NGC DOCA container tag, or rolling back, with the discipline detect -> report -> ASK -> only then a guided upgrade. Trigger on "is there a newer DOCA", "I want the newest DOCA features, can I just apt upgrade in place", "should I move to the next release", "the upgrade stopped midway and dpkg is in a broken state", "my component is being deprecated, what now", or "roll me back", even without the word upgrade. Detect what is installed, find the newer release, report the gap, then STOP and ask for explicit confirmation; never upgrade automatically. Do not use it for a runtime error on an unchanged install (doca-debug). Version detection alone belongs to doca-version, first-time install to doca-setup, any hardware / firmware / reboot step to doca-hardware-safety, and public-docs or sunset routing to doca-public-knowledge-map.
Why this skill is useful
Adds specific workflows and commands for managing DOCA upgrades and downgrades that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires doca installed locally. About 9k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 2,816 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
DOCA upgrade Examples "Should I move to the next DOCA release?" — detect what is installed, report the gap, then STOP and ask. Never auto-upgrade. "apt upgrade drifted my DOCA packages." — this is recovery, not a silent repair. Detect, report, ask, then guide. Quick answers (answer from this file) Not changing versions (a runtime error on the current, pinned install)? This skill does not apply: name doca-debug and stop. These two answers are complete here; open TASKS.md only for a guided upgrade after the user confirms. Run only the read-only detection commands yourself. Package commands (sudo dpkg, apt, apt-get) need root and change the system: give them to the user to run and stop; in an agent shell sudo waits for a password and the session stalls. "Can I just apt upgrade to the next DOCA?" Never upgrade automatically. Detect the installed release with the doca-version four-source chain (pkg-config --modversion doca-common, cat /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/VERSION, docacaps --version, and the BFB version on BlueField), report the gap to the target release, then STOP and ask for explicit confirmation. BFB, firmware or reboot steps follow doca-hardware-safety. "The upgrade aborted half-way and dpkg reports an interrupted transaction." Recover the package database first: after the user explicitly confirms (both commands change system package state), the user runs sudo dpkg --configure -a, then sudo apt-get -f install (Debian/Ubuntu). Do not re-run the upgrade as the first action; re-detect the release with doca-version before deciding the next step. Instructions Follow Loading order below. Open the tasks companion for detect → report → ASK → guided upgrade. Open the capabilities companion for the upgrade-mode taxonomy and refuse-auto-upgrade rule. Do not open every companion file. Where to start: This skill is the bundle's single source of truth for the discipline that wraps a DOCA upgrade or downgrade. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills nvidia/doca-upgrade