1 FreeBSD Driver for 10 Gigabit PCI Express Server Adapters
2 =============================================
13 - Building and Installation
14 - Additional Configurations
21 This file describes the FreeBSD* driver for the 10 Gigabit PCIE Family of
22 Adapters. Drivers has been developed for use with FreeBSD 7 or later.
24 For questions related to hardware requirements, refer to the documentation
25 supplied with your Intel 10GbE adapter. All hardware requirements listed
26 apply to use with FreeBSD.
32 The following Intel network adapters are compatible with the drivers in this
35 Controller Adapter Name Physical Layer
36 ---------- ------------ --------------
37 82598EB Intel(R) 10 Gigabit XF SR/AF 10G Base -LR (850 nm optical fiber)
38 Dual Port Server Adapter 10G Base -SR (1310 nm optical fiber)
39 82598EB Intel(R) 10 Gigabit XF SR/LR
41 Intel(R) 82598EB 10 Gigabit AF
43 Intel(R) 82598EB 10 Gigabit AT
44 CX4 Network Connection
47 Building and Installation
48 =========================
50 NOTE: You must have kernel sources installed in order to compile the driver
53 In the instructions below, x.x.x is the driver version as indicated in
54 the name of the driver tar.
56 1. Move the base driver tar file to the directory of your choice. For
57 example, use /home/username/ixgbe or /usr/local/src/ixgbe.
59 2. Untar/unzip the archive:
60 tar xfz ixgbe-x.x.x.tar.gz
62 3. To install man page:
64 gzip -c ixgbe.4 > /usr/share/man/man4/ixgbee.4.gz
66 4. To load the driver onto a running system:
70 5. To assign an IP address to the interface, enter the following:
71 ifconfig ix<interface_num> <IP_address>
73 6. Verify that the interface works. Enter the following, where <IP_address>
74 is the IP address for another machine on the same subnet as the interface
78 7. If you want the driver to load automatically when the system is booted:
84 Edit /boot/loader.conf, and add the following line:
89 compile the driver into the kernel (see item 8).
92 Edit /etc/rc.conf, and create the appropriate ifconfig_ixgbe<interface_num>
95 ifconfig_ix<interface_num>="<ifconfig_settings>"
99 ifconfig_ix0="inet 192.168.10.1 netmask 255.255.255.0"
101 NOTE: For assistance, see the ifconfig man page.
103 8. If you want to compile the driver into the kernel, enter:
109 cp *.[ch] /usr/src/sys/dev/ixgbe
111 cp Makefile.kernel /usr/src/sys/modules/ixgbe/Makefile
113 Edit the kernel configuration file (i.e., GENERIC or MYKERNEL) in
114 /usr/src/sys/i386/conf (replace "i386" with the appropriate system
115 architecture if necessary), and ensure the following line is present:
119 Compile and install the kernel. The system must be reboot for the kernel
120 updates to take affect. For additional information on compiling the kernel,
121 consult the FreeBSD operating system documentation.
124 Configuration and Tuning
125 =========================
127 The driver supports Transmit/Receive Checksum Offload and Jumbo Frames on
128 all 10 Gigabit adapters.
132 To enable Jumbo Frames, use the ifconfig utility to increase the MTU
137 - The Jumbo Frames setting on the switch must be set to at least
138 22 bytes larger than that of the adapter.
140 - There are known performance issues with this driver when running
141 UDP traffic with Jumbo Frames.
143 The Jumbo Frames MTU range for Intel Adapters is 1500 to 16114. The default
144 MTU range is 1500. To modify the setting, enter the following:
146 ifconfig ix <interface_num> <hostname or IP address> mtu 9000
148 To confirm an interface's MTU value, use the ifconfig command. To confirm
149 the MTU used between two specific devices, use:
151 route get <destination_IP_address>
155 To create a new VLAN pseudo-interface:
157 ifconfig <vlan_name> create
159 To associate the VLAN pseudo-interface with a physical interface and
160 assign a VLAN ID, IP address, and netmask:
162 ifconfig <vlan_name> <ip_address> netmask <subnet_mask> vlan
163 <vlan_id> vlandev <physical_interface>
167 ifconfig vlan10 10.0.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 vlan 10 vlandev ixgbe0
169 In this example, all packets will be marked on egress with 802.1Q VLAN
170 tags, specifying a VLAN ID of 10.
172 To remove a VLAN pseudo-interface:
174 ifconfig <vlan_name> destroy
180 Checksum offloading supports both TCP and UDP packets and is
181 supported for both transmit and receive.
183 Checksum offloading can be enabled or disabled using ifconfig.
184 Both transmit and receive offloading will be either enabled or
185 disabled together. You cannot enable/disable one without the other.
187 To enable checksum offloading:
189 ifconfig <interface_num> rxcsum
191 To disable checksum offloading:
193 ifconfig <interface_num> -rxcsum
195 To confirm the current setting:
197 ifconfig <interface_num>
205 ifconfig <interface_num> -tso
209 ifconfig <interface_num> tso
214 Large Receive Offload is available in version 1.4.4, it is on
215 by default. It can be toggled off and on by using:
216 sysctl dev.ix.X.enable_lro=[0,1]
218 NOTE: when changing this feature you MUST be sure the interface
219 is reinitialized, it is easy to do this with ifconfig down/up.
220 The LRO code will ultimately move into the kernel stack code,
221 but for this first release it was included with the driver.
223 Important system configuration changes:
224 ---------------------------------------
226 When there is a choice run on a 64bit OS rather than 32, it makes
227 a significant difference in improvement.
229 The default scheduler SCHED_4BSD is not smart about SMP locality issues.
230 Significant improvement can be achieved by switching to the ULE scheduler.
232 This is done by changing the entry in the config file from SCHED_4BSD to
233 SCHED_ULE. Note that this is only advisable on FreeBSD 7, on 6.X there have
234 been stability problems with ULE.
236 Change the file /etc/sysctl.conf, add the line:
238 hw.intr_storm_threshold: 8000 (the default is 1000)
240 Best throughput results are seen with a large MTU; use 9000 if possible.
242 The default number of descriptors is 256, increasing this to 1024 or even
243 2048 may improve performance.
248 Under small packets UDP stress test with 10GbE driver, the FreeBSD system
249 will drop UDP packets due to the fullness of socket buffers. You may want
250 to change the driver's Flow Control variables to the minimum value for
251 controlling packet reception.
257 For general information and support, go to the Intel support website at:
259 http://support.intel.com
261 If an issue is identified with the released source code on the supported
262 kernel with a supported adapter, email the specific information related to
263 the issue to freebsd@intel.com.
270 This software program is released under the terms of a license agreement
271 between you ('Licensee') and Intel. Do not use or load this software or any
272 associated materials (collectively, the 'Software') until you have carefully
273 read the full terms and conditions of the LICENSE located in this software
274 package. By loading or using the Software, you agree to the terms of this
275 Agreement. If you do not agree with the terms of this Agreement, do not
276 install or use the Software.
278 * Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.