Set up BIOS and Kernel Options

Installation and Use of Napatech Link™ Capture Software for Intel® PAC with Intel® Arria® 10 GX FPGA

Platform
Intel® PAC
Content Type
Quick Guide
Capture Software Version
Link™ Capture Software 12.7

Before installing and running Napatech Link™ Capture Software with Intel® PAC A10 GX, you must set some BIOS and kernel options.

  1. Ensure you have met the installation prerequisites in Prerequisites.
  2. Ensure that virtualization is enabled in the BIOS, by enabling these settings:
    • Intel VT-d (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O)
    • Intel VT-x (Intel Virtualization Technology for IA-32 and Intel 64 Processors)
  3. In the /etc/default/grub file, in the line starting GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=, add this code:
    intel_iommu=on
  4. (Optional) If you want to run the DPDK application, enable the Linux kernel option hugepages.
    In the /etc/default/grub file, in the line starting GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=, add this code:
    default_hugepagesz=1G hugepagesz=1G hugepages=2
  5. Update the kernel options:
    If you are using UEFI-based boot, the file /sys/firmware/efi exists. Run these commands:
    sudo su
    grub2-mkconfig -o $(readlink -e /etc/grub2-efi.cfg)
    Otherwise, run these commands:
    sudo su
    grub2-mkconfig -o $(readlink -e /etc/grub2.cfg)
  6. Reboot the server:
    shutdown -r now
  7. Confirm your kernel options by running this command:
    cat /proc/cmdline
    BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.10.0-862.6.3.el7.x86_64 root=/dev/mapper/centos-root ro crashkernel=auto rd.lvm.lv=centos/root rd.lvm.lv=centos/swap rhgb quiet intel_iommu=on
    
  8. Confirm that IOMMU and VT-d are enabled by running this command:
    $ dmesg |grep DMAR
    [    0.000000] ACPI: DMAR 000000007b6fe000 00118 (v01 DELL   PE_SC3   00000001 DELL 00000001)
    [    0.000000] DMAR: IOMMU enabled
    ...
    [    1.185400] DMAR: Intel(R) Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O
    

You are now ready to install the OPAE framework.