Activating Virtual Functions

Virtual functions must be enabled after each system restart.

1. Load the vfio-pci device driver and configure the vendor ID and the device ID of the SmartNIC to be controlled by the vfio-pci device driver..

   modprobe vfio-pci enable_sriov=1
   echo 18f4 <device_id> > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/vfio-pci/remove_id 2>/dev/null
   echo 18f4 <device_id> > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/vfio-pci/new_id
   
   

   18f4 is the PCI vendor ID for Napatech, and device_id is the PCI device ID for the SmartNIC.

   • Enter the following command for an NT200A02 SmartNIC:

     echo 18f4 01c5 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/vfio-pci/new_id

   • Enter the following command for an NT50B01 SmartNIC:

     echo 18f4 01d5 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/vfio-pci/new_id

   Run the following command to verify.

   lsmod | grep vfio

   An output example:

   vfio_pci               65536  0
   vfio_virqfd            16384  1 vfio_pci
   vfio_iommu_type1       45056  0
   vfio                   45056  2 vfio_iommu_type1,vfio_pci
   irqbypass              16384  2 vfio_pci,kvm

2. Activate a number of virtual functions.
   Check the current status of the Napatech SmartNIC.

   lspci | grep Napatech

   An output example:

   42:00.0 Network controller: Napatech A/S NT200A02 Network Adapter

   Activate virtual functions. This example activates 5 virtual functions.

   DEV=$(lspci -Dd 18f4: | cut -d' ' -f1 | head -1)
   NUMVF=5
   echo $NUMVF > /sys/bus/pci/devices/$DEV/sriov_numvfs
   cat /sys/bus/pci/devices/$DEV/sriov_numvfs

   where:

   $NUMVF represents the number of virtual channels to VMs, plus one for OVS. Thus using NUMVF=3 will enable 3 channels for VMs. The current maximum supported Virtual Functions count is 128.

   Note: 33.00 or newer version FPGA images support SR-IOV capabilities. If the FPGA image of the SmartNIC has been switched from an older version to 33.00 or newer version, you must reboot the server to enumerate SR-IOV capabilities.
   If activating virtual functions fails, see Common Problems and Solutions Activating Virtual Functions
3. Verify the Virtual Functions with the command lspci | grep Napatech.
   This is an example of the lspci | grep Napatech.

   42:00.0 Network controller: Napatech A/S NT200A02 Network Adapter
   42:00.4 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
   42:00.5 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
   42:00.6 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
   42:00.7 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
   42:01.0 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a

   Note: The virtual functions are bound to devices XX:XX.4 and up.
4. Verify the kernel driver using the command lspci -k | grep -A1 Napatech.

   42:00.0 Network controller: Napatech A/S NT200A02 Network Adapter
           Subsystem: Napatech A/S Device 0001
           Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci
   42:00.4 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
           Subsystem: Napatech A/S Device 0001
           Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci
   42:00.5 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
           Subsystem: Napatech A/S Device 0001
           Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci
   42:00.6 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
           Subsystem: Napatech A/S Device 0001
           Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci
   42:00.7 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
           Subsystem: Napatech A/S Device 0001
           Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci
   42:01.0 Network controller: Napatech A/S Device 051a
           Subsystem: Napatech A/S Device 0001
           Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci