Debian 11 (Bullseye) ships with the firmware-linux-nonfree package, but it intentionally excludes certain older or less common firmware blobs to keep repository sizes manageable and due to licensing classifications. The bnx2-mips-09-6.2.1b.fw file falls into this category because:
The firmware blob runs in a privileged context on the NIC’s processor. While binary blobs are generally discouraged in open-source systems, Broadcom’s firmware for NetXtreme II is considered stable and secure for server use. For high-security environments, consider: bnx2 bnx2-mips-09-6.2.1b.fw debian 11
driver: bnx2 version: 1.10.10 firmware-version: 6.2.1b expansion-rom-version: 6.2.1b bnx2 bnx2-mips-09-6.2.1b.fw debian 11
The firmware-bnx2 package installs a complete set of these files. Installing just one manually is possible, but using the package ensures compatibility across kernel updates. bnx2 bnx2-mips-09-6.2.1b.fw debian 11