Switch Port Attributes

Cumulus Linux exposes network interfaces for several types of physical and logical devices:

• lo, network loopback device
• ethN, switch management port(s), for out of band management only
• swpN, switch front panel ports
• (optional) brN, bridges (IEEE 802.1Q VLANs)
• (optional) bondN, bonds (IEEE 802.3ad link aggregation trunks, or port channels)

Each physical network interface has a number of configurable settings:

• Auto-negotiation
• Duplex
• FEC (Forward error correction)
• Link speed
• MTU, or maximum transmission unit

Most of these settings are configured automatically for you, depending upon your switch ASIC, although you must always set MTU manually.

For switches with Spectrum ASICs, the firmware configures FEC, link speed, duplex mode and auto-negotiation automatically, following a predefined list of parameter settings until the link comes up. However, you can disable FEC if necessary, which forces the firmware to not try any FEC options.

For Broadcom-based switches, enable auto-negotiation on each port. When enabled, Cumulus Linux automatically configures the best link parameter settings based on the module type (speed, duplex, auto-negotiation, and FEC where supported). To understand the default configuration for the various port and cable types, see the table below. If you need to troubleshoot further to bring the link up, follow the sections below to set the specific link parameters.

Auto-negotiation

To configure auto-negotiation for a Broadcom-based switch, set link-autoneg to on for all the switch ports. For example, to enable auto-negotiation for swp1 through swp52:

cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp1-52 link autoneg on
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

Any time you enable auto-negotiation, Cumulus Linux restores the default configuration settings specified in the table below.

By default on a Broadcom-based switch, auto-negotiation is disabled - except on 10G and 1000BASE-T fixed copper switch ports, where it is required for links to work. For RJ-45 SFP adapters, you need to manually configure the desired link speed and auto-negotiation as described in the default settings table below.

If you disable auto-negotiation later or never enable it, then you have to configure any settings that deviate from the port default - such as duplex mode, FEC, and link speed settings.

Depending upon the connector used for a port, enabling auto-negotiation also enables forward error correction (FEC), if the cable requires it (see the table below). The correct FEC mode is set based on the speed of the cable when auto-negotiation is enabled.

Port Speed and Duplex Mode

Cumulus Linux supports both half- and full-duplex configurations. The duplex mode setting defaults to full. You only need to specify link duplex if you want half-duplex mode.

Supported port speeds include 100M, 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G, 50G and 100G. If you need to manually set the speed on a Broadcom-based switch, set it in terms of Mbps, where the setting for 1G is 1000, 40G is 40000 and 100G is 100000, for example.

You can configure ports to the following speeds (unless there are restrictions in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file of a particular platform).

The following NCLU commands configure the port speed for the swp1 interface:

cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp1 link speed 10000
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

The above commands create the following /etc/network/interfaces code snippet:

auto swp1
iface swp1
   link-speed 10000

Platform Limitations

• On Lenovo NE2572O switches, swp1 thru swp8 only support 25G speed.
• For 10G and 1G SFPs inserted in a 25G port on a Broadcom platform, you must edit the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file and configure the four ports in the same core to be 10G. See Caveats and Errata below.
• A switch with the Maverick ASIC limits multicast traffic by the lowest speed port that has joined a particular group. For example, if you are sending 100G multicast through and subscribe with one 100G and one 25G port, traffic on both egress ports is limited to 25Gbps. If you remove the 25G port from the group, traffic correctly forwards at 100Gbps.

MTU

Interface MTU applies to traffic traversing the management port, front panel or switch ports, bridge, VLAN subinterfaces, and bonds (both physical and logical interfaces). MTU is the only interface setting that you must set manually.

In Cumulus Linux, ifupdown2 assigns 1500 as the default MTU setting. On a Mellanox switch, the initial MTU value set by the driver is 9238. After you configure the interface, the default MTU setting is 1500.

To change the setting, run the net add interface <interface> mtu command. The following example command sets the MTU to 9000 for the swp1 interface.

cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp1 mtu 9000
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

Set a Policy for Global System MTU

For a global policy to set MTU, create a policy document (called mtu.json here) like the following:

cat /etc/network/ifupdown2/policy.d/mtu.json
{
  "address": {"defaults": { "mtu": "9216" }
             }
}

After making the edits to the policy file above, apply the changed policy with the ifreload -a command. NCLU applies the policy if an ifreload -a is issued as part of the next commit operation.

MTU for a Bridge

The MTU setting is the lowest MTU setting of any interface that is a member of that bridge (every interface specified in bridge-ports in the bridge configuration in the interfaces file), even if another bridge member has a higher MTU value. There is no need to specify an MTU on the bridge. Consider this bridge configuration:

auto bridge
iface bridge
    bridge-ports bond1 bond2 bond3 bond4 peer5
    bridge-vids 100-110
    bridge-vlan-aware yes

For a bridge to have an MTU of 9000, set the MTU for each of the member interfaces (bond1 to bond 4, and peer5), to 9000 at minimum.

When configuring MTU for a bond, configure the MTU value directly under the bond interface; the configured value is inherited by member links/slave interfaces. If you need a different MTU on the bond, set it on the bond interface, as this ensures the slave interfaces pick it up. There is no need to specify MTU on the slave interfaces.

VLAN interfaces inherit their MTU settings from their physical devices or their lower interface; for example, swp1.100 inherits its MTU setting from swp1. Therefore, specifying an MTU on swp1 ensures that swp1.100 inherits the MTU setting for swp1.

If you are working with VXLANs, the MTU for a virtual network interface (VNI) must be 50 bytes smaller than the MTU of the physical interfaces on the switch, as those 50 bytes are required for various headers and other data. Also, consider setting the MTU much higher than the default 1500.

In general, the policy file specified above handles default MTU settings for all interfaces on the switch. If you need to configure a different MTU setting for a subset of interfaces, use NCLU.

The following commands configure an MTU minimum value of 9000 on swp1:

cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp1 mtu 9000
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

These commands create the following code snippet:

auto swp1
iface swp1
    mtu 9000

You must take care to ensure there are no MTU mismatches in the conversation path. MTU mismatches result in dropped or truncated packets, degrading or blocking network performance.

To view the MTU setting, run the net show interface <interface> command:

cumulus@switch:~$ net show interface swp1
    Name    MAC                Speed      MTU  Mode
--  ------  -----------------  -------  -----  ---------
UP  swp1    44:38:39:00:00:04  1G        1500  Access/L2

Bring Down an Interface for a Bridge Member

When you bring down an interface for a bridge member, the MTU for the interface and the MTU for the bridge are both set to the default value of 1500, which might cause issues if you take a port down for maintenance. To work around this issue, run ifdown on the interface, then run the sudo ip link set dev <interface> mtu <mtu> command.

For example:

sudo ifdown swp1
sudo ip link set dev swp1 mtu 9192

As an alternative, you can add a post-down command in the /etc/network/interfaces file to reset the MTU of the interface. For example:

auto swp1
iface swp1
    bridge-vids 106 109 119 141 150-151
    mtu 9192
    post-down /sbin/ip link set dev swp1 mtu 9192

FEC

Forward Error Correction (FEC) is an encoding and decoding layer that enables the switch to detect and correct bit errors introduced over the cable between two interfaces. Because 25G transmission speeds can introduce a higher than acceptable bit error rate (BER) on a link, FEC is required or recommended for 25G, 4x25G, and 100G link speeds. In order for the link to come up, the two interfaces on each end must use the same FEC setting.

There are two FEC types:

• Reed Solomon (RS), IEEE 802.3 Clause 108 (CL108) on individual 25G channels and Clause 91 on 100G (4channels). This is the highest FEC algorithm, providing the best bit-error correction.
• Base-R (BaseR), Fire Code (FC), IEEE 802.3 Clause 74 (CL74). Base-R provides less protection from bit errors than RS FEC but adds less latency.

There are additional FEC options for Cumulus Linux configuration:

• Auto FEC instructs the hardware to select the best FEC. For copper DAC, FEC can be negotiated with the remote end. However, optical modules do not have auto-negotiation capability; if the device chooses a preferred mode, it might not match the remote end. This is the current default on a Spectrum switch.
• No FEC (no error correction is done). This is the current default on a Broadcom switch.

For 25G DAC, 4x25G Breakouts DAC and 100G DAC cables, the IEEE 802.3by specification creates 3 classes:

• CA-25G-L (long cables - achievable cable length of at least 5m) dB loss less or equal to 22.48. Requires RS FEC and expects BER of 10-5 or better with RS FEC enabled.
• CA-25G-S (short cables - achievable cable length of at least 3m) dB loss less or equal to 16.48. Requires Base-R FEC and expects BER of 10-8 or better with Base-R FEC enabled.
• CA-25G-N (no FEC - achievable cable length of at least 3m) dB loss less or equal to 12.98. Does not require FEC. Expects BER 10-12 or better with no FEC.

The IEEE classification is based on various dB loss measurements and minimum achievable cable length. You can build longer and shorter cables if they comply to the dB loss and BER requirements.

If a cable is manufactured to CA-25G-S classification and FEC is not enabled, the BER might be unacceptable in a production network. It is important to set the FEC according to the cable class (or better) to have acceptable bit error rates. See Determining Cable Class below.

You can check bit errors using cl-netstat (RX_ERR column) or ethtool -S (HwIfInErrors counter) after a large amount of traffic has passed through the link. A non-zero value indicates bit errors. Expect error packets to be zero or extremely low compared to good packets. If a cable has an unacceptable rate of errors with FEC enabled, replace the cable.

For 25G, 4x25G Breakout, and 100G Fiber modules and AOCs, there is no classification of 25G cable types for dB loss, BER or length. FEC is recommended but might not be required if the BER is low enough.

Determine Cable Class of 100G and 25G DACs

You can determine the cable class for 100G and 25G DACs from the Extended Specification Compliance Code field (SFP28: 0Ah, byte 35, QSFP28: Page 0, byte 192) in the cable EEPROM programming.

For 100G DACs, most manufacturers use the 0x0Bh 100GBASE-CR4 or 25GBASE-CR CA-L value (the 100G DAC specification predates the IEEE 802.3by 25G DAC specification). RS FEC is the expected setting for 100G DAC but might not be required with shorter or better cables.

You can determine for which grade the manufacturer has designated the cable as follows.

For the SFP28 DAC, run the following command:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -m swp35 hex on | grep 0020 | awk '{ print $6}'
0c

The values at location 0x0024 are:

• 0x0b : CA-L (long cable - RS FEC required)
• 0x0c : CA-S (short cable - Base-Ror better FEC required)
• 0x0d : CA-N (no FEC required)

For the QSFP28 DAC, run the following command:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -m swp51s0 hex on | grep 00c0 | awk '{print $2}'
0b

The values at 0x00c0 are:

• 0x0b : CA-L (long cable - RS FEC required) or 100G CR4
• 0x0c : CA-S (short cable - Base-Ror better FEC required)
• 0x0d : CA-N (no FEC required)

In each example below, the Compliance field is derived using the method described above and is not visible in the ethool -m output.

3meter cable that does not require FEC
(CA-N)  
Cost : More expensive  
Cable size : 26AWG (Note that AWG does not necessarily correspond to overall dB loss or BER performance)  
Compliance Code : 25GBASE-CR CA-N

3meter cable that requires Base-R FEC
(CA-S)  
Cost: Less expensive  
Cable size : 26AWG  
Compliance Code : 25GBASE-CR CA-S

When in doubt, consult the manufacturer directly to determine the cable classification.

Spectrum ASIC FEC Behavior

The firmware in a Spectrum ASIC applies FEC configuration to 25G and 100G cables based on the cable type and whether the peer switch also has a Spectrum ASIC.

When the link is between two switches with Spectrum ASICs:

• For 25G optical modules, the Spectrum ASIC firmware chooses Base-R/FC-FEC.
• For 25G DAC cables with attenuation less or equal to 16db, the firmware chooses Base-R/FC-FEC.
• For 25G DAC cables with attenuation higher than 16db, the firmware chooses RS-FEC.
• For 100G cables/modules, the firmware chooses RS-FEC.

When linking to a non-Spectrum peer, the firmware lets the peer decide. The Spectrum ASIC supports RS-FEC (for both 100G and 25G), Base-R/FC-FEC (25G only), or no-FEC (for both 100G and 25G).

How Cumulus Linux Uses FEC

How Cumulus Linux uses FEC depends upon the type of switch ASIC you are using.

A Spectrum switch enables FEC automatically when it powers up; that is, the setting is fec auto. The port firmware tests and determines the correct FEC mode to bring the link up with the neighbor. It is possible to get a link up to a Spectrum switch without enabling FEC on the remote device as the switch eventually finds a working combination to the neighbor without FEC.

On a Broadcom switch, Cumulus Linux does not enable FEC by default; that is, the setting is fec off. Configure FEC explicitly to match the configured FEC on the link neighbor. On 100G DACs, you can configure link-autoneg so that the port attempts to negotiate FEC settings with the remote peer.

The following sections describe how to show the current FEC mode, and to enable and disable FEC.

Show the Current FEC Mode

Cumulus Linux returns different output for the ethtool --show-fec command, depending upon whether you are using a Broadcom or Spectrum switch.

On a Broadcom switch, the --show-fec output tells you exactly what you configured, even if the link is down due to a FEC mismatch with the neighbor.

On a Spectrum switch, the --show-fec output tells you the current active state of FEC only if the link is up; that is, if the FEC modes matches that of the neighbor. If the link is not up, the value displays None, which is not valid.

To display the FEC mode currently enabled on a given switch port, run the following command:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool --show-fec swp1
FEC parameters for swp1:
FEC encodings : None

Enable or Disable FEC

To enable Reed Solomon (RS) FEC on a link, run the following NCLU commands:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net add interface swp1 link fec rs
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net commit

To review the FEC setting on the link, run the following command:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool --show-fec swp1
FEC parameters for swp1:
FEC encodings : RS

To enable Base-R/FireCode FEC on a link, run the following NCLU commands:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net add interface swp1 link fec baser
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net commit

To review the FEC setting on the link, run the following command:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool --show-fec swp1
FEC parameters for swp1:
FEC encodings : BaseR

To enable FEC with auto-negotiation, run the following NCLU commands:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net add interface swp1 link autoneg on
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net commit

To view the FEC and auto-negotiation settings, run the following command:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool swp1 | egrep 'FEC|auto'
Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
Supported FEC modes: RS
Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Advertised FEC modes: RS
Link partner advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Link partner advertised FEC modes: Not reported

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool --show-fec swp1
FEC parameters for swp1:
FEC encodings : RS

To disable FEC on a link, run the following NCLU commands:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net add interface swp1 link fec off
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo net commit

To review the FEC setting on the link, run the following command:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool --show-fec swp1
FEC parameters for swp1:
FEC encodings : None

Interface Configuration Recommendations for Broadcom Platforms

The recommended configuration for each type of interface is described in the following table. These are the link settings that are applied to the port hardware when auto-negotiation is enabled on a Broadcom-based switches. If further troubleshooting is required to bring a link up, use the table below as a guide to set the link parameters.

Except as noted below, the settings for both sides of the link are expected to be the same.

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 100
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 100

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 100
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 100

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 1000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 1000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 1000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 1000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 1000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 1000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 1000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 1000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 10000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 10000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 10000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 10000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 10000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 10000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 25000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 25000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 25000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off
$ net add interface swp1 link fec rs

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 25000
  link-fec rs

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 25000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off
$ net add interface swp1 link fec off

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 25000
  link-fec off

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 40000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 40000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 40000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 40000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 100000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg on

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg on
  link-speed 100000

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 100000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off
$ net add interface swp1 link fec rs

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 100000
  link-fec rs

$ net add interface swp1 link speed 100000
$ net add interface swp1 link autoneg off
$ net add interface swp1 link fec off

auto swp1
iface swp1
  link-autoneg off
  link-speed 100000
  link-fec off

Default Policies for Interface Settings

Instead of configuring these settings for each individual interface, you can specify a policy for all interfaces on a switch, or tailor custom settings for each interface. Create a file in /etc/network/ifupdown2/policy.d/ and populate the settings accordingly. The following example shows a file called address.json.

cumulus@switch:~$ cat /etc/network/ifupdown2/policy.d/address.json
{
    "ethtool": {
        "defaults": {
            "link-duplex": "full"
        },
        "iface_defaults": {
            "swp1": {
                "link-autoneg": "on",
                "link-speed": "1000"
            },
            "swp16": {
                "link-autoneg": "off",
                "link-speed": "10000"
            },
            "swp50": {
                "link-autoneg": "off",
                "link-speed": "100000",
                "link-fec": "rs"
            }
        }
    },
    "address": {
        "defaults": { "mtu": "9000" },
        "iface_defaults": {
            "eth0": {"mtu": "1500"}
        }
    }
}

Breakout Ports

Cumulus Linux lets you:

• Break out 100G switch ports into 2x50G, 4x25G, or 4x10G with breakout cables.
• Break out 40G switch ports into four separate 10G ports for use with breakout cables.
• Combine (aggregate or gang) four 10G switch ports into one 40G port for use with a breakout cable (not to be confused with a bond).

Configure a Breakout Port

To configure a breakout port:

cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp1 breakout 4x25G
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp2 breakout disabled
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

cumulus@switch:~$ cat /etc/network/interfaces
...
auto swp1s0
iface swp1s0

auto swp1s1
iface swp1s1

auto swp1s2
iface swp1s2

auto swp1s3
iface swp1s3
...

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo cat /etc/network/interfaces
...
auto swp1s0
iface swp1s0

auto swp1s1
iface swp1s1

auto swp1s2
iface swp1s2

auto swp1s3
iface swp1s3
...

Remove a Breakout Port

To remove a breakout port:

Combine Four 10G Ports into One 40G Port

You can gang (aggregate) four 10G ports into one 40G port for use with a breakout cable, provided you follow these requirements:

• You must gang four 10G ports in sequential order. For example, you cannot gang swp1, swp10, swp20 and swp40 together.
• The ports must be in increments of four, with the starting port being swp1 (or swp5, swp9, or so forth); so you cannot gang swp2, swp3, swp4 and swp5 together.

For example, to gang swp1 through swp4 into a 40G port, run:

cumulus@switch:~$ net add int swp1-4 breakout /4
cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
cumulus@switch:~$ net commit

These commands create the following configuration snippet in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file:

# SFP+ ports#
# <port label 1-48> = [10G|40G/4]
1=40G/4
2=40G/4
3=40G/4
4=40G/4
5=10G

Logical Switch Port Limitations

100G and 40G switches can support a certain number of logical ports, depending upon the manufacturer; these include:

• Mellanox SN2700, SN2700B, SN2410 and SN2410B switches
• Switches with Broadcom Tomahawk, Trident II, Trident II+ and Trident3 chipsets

You cannot have more than 128 total logical ports on a Broadcom switch.

The Mellanox SN2700, SN2700B, SN2410 and SN2410B switches all have a limit of 64 logical ports in total.

Before you configure any logical/unganged ports on a switch, check the limitations listed in /etc/cumulus/ports.conf; this file is specific to each manufacturer.

For example, the Dell S6000 ports.conf file indicates the logical port limitation like this:

# ports.conf --
#
# This file controls port aggregation and subdivision.  For example, QSFP+
# ports are typically configurable as either one 40G interface or four
# 10G/1000/100 interfaces.  This file sets the number of interfaces per port
# while /etc/network/interfaces and ethtool configure the link speed for each
# interface.
#
# You must restart switchd for changes to take effect.
#
# The DELL S6000 has:
#     32 QSFP ports numbered 1-32
#     These ports are configurable as 40G, split into 4x10G ports or
#     disabled.
#
#     The X pipeline covers QSFP ports 1 through 16 and the Y pipeline
#     covers QSFP ports 17 through 32.
#
#     The Trident2 chip can only handle 52 logical ports per pipeline.
#
#     This means 13 is the maximum number of 40G ports you can ungang
#     per pipeline, with the remaining three 40G ports set to
#     "disabled". The 13 40G ports become 52 unganged 10G ports, which
#     totals 52 logical ports for that pipeline.

The means the maximum number of ports for this Dell S6000 is 104.

Mellanox Logical Port Limits and Breakout Configurations

The Mellanox SN2700, SN2700B, SN2410 and SN2410B switches all have a limit of 64 logical ports in total. However, if you want to break out to 4x25G or 4x10G, you must configure the logical ports as follows:

• You can only break out odd-numbered ports into 4 logical ports.
• You must disable the next even-numbered port.

These restrictions do not apply to a 2x50G breakout configuration.

For example, if you have a 100G Mellanox SN2700 switch and break out port 11 into 4 logical ports, you must disable port 12 by running net add interface swp12 breakout disabled, which results in this configuration in /etc/cumulus/ports.conf:

...

11=4x
12=disabled
 
...

There is no limitation on any port if interfaces are configured in 2x50G mode.

Here is an example showing how to configure breakout cables for the Mellanox Spectrum SN2700.

Configure Interfaces with ethtool

The Cumulus Linux ethtool command is an alternative for configuring interfaces as well as viewing and troubleshooting them.

For example, to manually set link speed, auto-negotiation, duplex mode and FEC on swp1, run:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -s swp1 speed 25000 autoneg off duplex full
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool --set-fec swp1 encoding off

To view the FEC setting on an interface, run:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool --show-fec swp1
FEC parameters for swp1:
Auto-negotiation: off
FEC encodings : RS

Verification and Troubleshooting Commands

This section provides troublshooting tips.

Statistics

High-level interface statistics are available with the net show interface command:

cumulus@switch:~$ net show interface swp1
 
    Name    MAC                Speed      MTU  Mode
--  ------  -----------------  -------  -----  ---------
UP  swp1    44:38:39:00:00:04  1G        1500  Access/L2
 
 
Vlans in disabled State
-------------------------
br0
 
 
Counters      TX    RX
----------  ----  ----
errors         0     0
unicast        0     0
broadcast      0     0
multicast      0     0
 
 
LLDP
------  ----  ---------------------------
swp1    ====  44:38:39:00:00:03(server01)

Low-level interface statistics are available with ethtool:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -S swp1
NIC statistics:
     HwIfInOctets: 21870
     HwIfInUcastPkts: 0
     HwIfInBcastPkts: 0
     HwIfInMcastPkts: 243
     HwIfOutOctets: 1148217
     HwIfOutUcastPkts: 0
     HwIfOutMcastPkts: 11353
     HwIfOutBcastPkts: 0
     HwIfInDiscards: 0
     HwIfInL3Drops: 0
     HwIfInBufferDrops: 0
     HwIfInAclDrops: 0
     HwIfInBlackholeDrops: 0
     HwIfInDot3LengthErrors: 0
     HwIfInErrors: 0
     SoftInErrors: 0
     SoftInDrops: 0
     SoftInFrameErrors: 0
     HwIfOutDiscards: 0
     HwIfOutErrors: 0
     HwIfOutQDrops: 0
     HwIfOutNonQDrops: 0
     SoftOutErrors: 0
     SoftOutDrops: 0
     SoftOutTxFifoFull: 0
     HwIfOutQLen: 0

Query SFP Port Information

You can verify SFP settings using ethtool -m. The following example shows the vendor, type and power output for the swp1 interface.

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -m swp1 | egrep 'Vendor|type|power\s+:'
        Transceiver type                          : 10G Ethernet: 10G Base-LR
        Vendor name                               : FINISAR CORP.
        Vendor OUI                                : 00:90:65
        Vendor PN                                 : FTLX2071D327
        Vendor rev                                : A
        Vendor SN                                 : UY30DTX
        Laser output power                        : 0.5230 mW / -2.81 dBm
        Receiver signal average optical power     : 0.7285 mW / -1.38 dBm

Caveats and Errata

Port Speed and the ifreload -a Command

When configuring port speed or break outs in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file, you need to run the ifreload -a command to reload the configuration after restarting switchd in the following cases:

• If you configure, or configure then remove, the port speed in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file and you also set or remove the speed on the same physical port or breakouts of that port in the /etc/network/interfaces file since the last time you restarted switchd.
• If you break out a switch port or remove a break out port and the port speed is set in both the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file and the /etc/network/interfaces file.

10G and 1G SFPs Inserted in a 25G Port

For 10G and 1G SFPs inserted in a 25G port on a Broadcom platform, you must configure the four ports in the same core to be 10G. Each set of four 25G ports are controlled by a single core; therefore, each core must run at the same clock speed. The four ports must be in sequential order; for example, swp1, swp2, swp3, and swp4, unless a particular core grouping is specified in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file.

1. Edit the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file and configure the four ports to be 10G. 1G SFPs are clocked at 10G speeds; therefore, for 1G SFPs, the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file entry must also specify 10G. Currently, you cannot use NCLU commands for this step.

    ...
    # SFP28 ports
    #
    # <port label 1-48> = [25G|10G|100G/4|40G/4]
    1=25G
    2=25G
    3=25G
    4=25G
    5=10G
    6=10G
    7=10G
    8=10G
    9=25G
    ...
   

   You cannot use ethtool -s speed XX (or ifreload -a after setting the speed in the /etc/network/interfaces file) to change the port speed unless the four ports in a core group are already configured to 10G and switchd has been restarted. If the ports are still in 25G mode, using ethtool or ifreload to change the speed to 10G or 1G returns an error (and a return code of 255).

   If you change the speed with ethtool to a setting already in use in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file, ethtool (and ifreload -a) do not return an error and no changes are made.

2. Restart `switchd`.

3. If you want to set the speed of any SFPs to 1G, set the port speed to 1000 Mbps using NCLU commands; this is not necessary for 10G SFPs. You don’t need to set the port speed to 1G for all four ports. For example, if you intend only for swp5 and swp6 to use 1G SFPs, do the following:

    cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp5-swp6 link speed 1000
    cumulus@switch:~$ net pending
    cumulus@switch:~$ net commit
   

Timeout Error on Quanta LY8 and LY9 Switches

On Quanta T5048-LY8 and T3048-LY9 switches, an Operation timed out error occurs while removing and reinserting QSFP module.

You cannot remove the QSFPx2 module while the switch is powered on, as it is not hot-swappable. However, if an Operation timed out error occurs, you can get the link to come up by restarting `switchd` however, this disrupts your network.

On the T3048-LY9, run the following commands:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo echo 0 > qsfpd_power_enable/value
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo rmmod quanta_ly9_rangeley_platform
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo modprobe quanta_ly9_rangeley_platform
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl restart switchd.service

On the T5048-LY8, run the following commands:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo echo 0 > qsfpd_power_enable/value
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl restart switchd.service

swp33 and swp34 Disabled on Some Switches

The front SFP+ ports (swp33 and swp34) are disabled in Cumulus Linux on the following switches:

• Dell Z9100-ON
• Penguin Arctica 3200-series switches (the 3200C, 3200XL and 3200XLP)
• Supermicro SSE-C3632S

These ports appear as disabled in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file.

200G Interfaces on the Dell S5248F Switch

On the Dell S5248F switch, the 2x200G QSFP-DD interfaces labeled 49/50 and 51/52 are not supported natively at 200G speeds. The interfaces are supported with 100G cables; however, you can only use one 100G cable from each QSFP-DD port. The upper QSFP-DD port is named swp49 and the lower QSFP-DD port is named swp52.

QSFP+ Ports on the Dell S5232F Switch

Cumulus Linux does not support the 2x10G QSFP+ ports on the Dell S5232F switch.

QSFP+ Ports on the Dell S4148T Switch

On the Dell S4148T switch, the two QSFP+ ports are set to disabled by default and the four QSFP28 ports are configured for 100G. The following example shows the default settings in the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file for this switch:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo cat /etc/cumulus/ports.conf
...
# QSFP+ ports
#
# <port label 27-28> = [4x10G|40G]
27=disabled
28=disabled
# QSFP28 ports
#
# <port label 25-26, 29-30> = [4x10G|4x25G|2x50G|40G|50G|100G]
25=100G
26=100G
29=100G
30=100G

To enable the two QSFP+ ports, you must configure all four QSFP28 ports for either 40G or 4x10G. You cannot use either of the QSFP+ ports if any of the QSFP28 ports are configured for 100G.

The following example shows the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf file with all four QSFP28 ports configured for 40G and both QSFP+ ports enabled:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo cat /etc/cumulus/ports.conf
...
# QSFP+ ports
#
# <port label 27-28> = [4x10G|40G]
27=40G
28=40G
# QSFP28 ports
#
# <port label 25-26, 29-30> = [4x10G|4x25G|2x50G|40G|50G|100G]
25=40G
26=40G
29=40G
30=40G

1000BASE-T SFP Modules Not Supported on Certain 25G and All 100G Platforms

1000BASE-T SFP modules are not supported on 25G or 100G platforms, with two exceptions for 25G: the Cumulus Express CX-5148-S and Edgecore AS7326-56X switches are supported in Cumulus Linux 3.7.13 and later releases of version 3.7, provided the switch has board revision R01D.

To determine the revision of the board, look for the output in the label revision field when you run decode-syseeprom.

Mellanox SN2100 Switch and eth0 Link Speed

After rebooting the Mellanox SN2100 switch, eth0 always has a speed of 100Mb/s. If you bring the interface down and then back up again, the interface negotiates 1000Mb. This only occurs the first time the interface comes up.

To work around this issue, add the following commands to the /etc/rc.local file to flap the interface automatically when the switch boots:

modprobe -r igb
sleep 20
modprobe igb

Link Speed on the EdgeCore AS7326-56X Switch

On the EdgeCore AS7326-56X switch, all four switch ports in each port group must be set to the same link speed; otherwise, the links do not come up. These ports are set to 25G by default, but can also be set to 10G. The port groups on this switch are as follows, where each row is a port group:

• 1 2 3 6*
• 4 5 7* 9
• 8 10 11* 12
• 13 14 15 18*
• 16 17 19* 21
• 20 22 23* 24
• 25 26 27 30*
• 28 29 31* 33
• 32 34 35* 36
• 37 38 39 42*
• 40* 41 43 45
• 44* 46 47 48

For example, if you configure port 19 for 10G, you must also configure ports 16, 17 and 21 for 10G.

Additionally, you can gang each port group together as a 100G or 40G port. When ganged together, one port (based on the arrangement of the ports) is designated as the gang leader. This port’s number is used to configure the ganged ports and is marked with an asterisk ( * ) above.

Link Speed on the Lenovo NE2572O Switch

The Lenovo NE2572O switch has external retimers on swp1 through swp8. Currently, these ports only support a speed of 25G.

Link Speed and Auto-negotiation on Switches with SOL

The following switches that use Serial over LAN technology (SOL) do not support eth0 speed or auto-negotiation changes:

• EdgeCore AS7816-64X
• Penguin Arctica 4804ip
• Penguin Arctica NX3200c
• Penguin Arctica NX4808xxv

ethtool Shows Incorrect Port Speed on 100G Spectrum Switches

In Cumulus Linux 3.7.6 and earlier, after setting the interface speed to 40G by editing the ports.conf file on a Spectrum switch, ethtool still shows the speed as 100G.

This is a known issue where ethtool does not update after restarting switchd, so it continues to display the outdated port speed.

To correctly set the port speed, use NCLU or ethtool to set the speed instead of manually editing the ports.conf file.

For example, to set the speed to 40G using NCLU:

cumulus@switch:~$ net add interface swp1 link speed 40000

Or using ethtool:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -s swp1 speed 40000 

Delay in Reporting Interface as Operational Down

When you remove two transceivers simultaneously from a switch, both interfaces show the carrier down status immediately. However, it takes one second for the second interface to show the operational down status. In addition, the services on this interface also take an extra second to come down.

Maverick Switches with Modules that Don’t Support Auto-negotiation

On a Maverick switch, if auto-negotiation is configured on a 10G interface and the installed module does not support auto-negotiation (for example, 10G DAC, 10G Optical, 1G RJ45 SFP), the link breaks. To work around this issue, disable auto-negotiation on interfaces where it is not supported.

Dell Z9264F-ON 10G Interfaces are Unsupported

The Dell Z9264F-ON has 64x100G + 2x 10G SFP+ ports. The 2x 10G SFP+ ports are not supported in Cumulus Linux.

Related Information

• Debian - Network Configuration