Installing Tools on Dell R750
This chapter describes how to install the required kernel, driver, and tools on the host. This is a one-time installation and can be skipped if the system has been configured already.
In the following sequence of steps, the target host is Dell PowerEdge R750.
Depending on the release, tools that are installed in this section may need to be upgraded in the Installing and Upgrading Aerial cuBB section.
After everything is installed and updated, refer to the cuBB Quick Start Guide on how to use Aerial cuBB.
Dual Intel Xeon Gold 6336Y CPU @ 2.4G, 24C/48T (185W)
512GB RDIMM, 3200MT/s
1.92TB, Enterprise NVMe
Riser Config 2, Full Length, 4x16, 2x8 slots (PCIe gen 4)
Dual, Hot-Plug Power Supply Redundant (1+1), 1400W or 2400W
GPU Enablement
NVIDIA Converged Accelerator: A100X
R750 supports PCIe 4.0 x16 at slot 2,3,6,7 and x8 at slot 4,5. Follow the table below to install single or dual converged accelerator in the assigned slot and ensure the GPU power cable is connected properly. These are the GPU installation instructions from Dell R750 Installation Manual.
NOTE: Only use SIG_PWR_3 and SIG_PWR_4 connectors on the motherboard for GPU power.
GPU |
Slot |
GPU Power |
NUMA |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPU#1 | 7 (Riser 4) | SIG_PWR_3 | 1 |
| GPU#2 | 2 (Riser 1) | SIG_PWR_4 | 0 |
Rear View:
Top View:
To run end-to-end test with O-RU, the converged accelerator port#0 or port#1 must be connected to the fronthaul switch. Make sure the PTP is configured to use the port connected to the fronthaul switch.
To run cuBB end-to-end test with TestMAC and RU emulator, an Aerial Devkit is required to run RU emulator. The converged accelerator port#1 on R750 must be connected to CX6-DX NIC port#0 on Aerial Devkit (RU emulator server) via Mellanox 100GbE direct attach copper cable.
During the first boot, change the BIOS settings in the following order. The same settings can be changed via BMC: Configuration → BIOS Settings.
Integrated Devices: Enable Memory Mapped I/O above 4GB and change Memory Mapped I/O Base to 12TB.
System Profile Settings: Change System Profile to Performance and Workload Profile to Low Latency Optimized Profile.
Processor Settings: Aerial CUDA-Accelerated RAN supports both HyperThreaded mode (experimental) or non-HyperThreaded mode (default) but make sure the kernel command line and the CPU core affinity in the cuPHYController YAML match the BIOS settings.
To enable HyperThreading, enable the Logical Processor. To disable HyperThreading, disable the Logical Processor.
Save the BIOS settings, then reboot the system.
After installing Ubuntu 22.04 Server, verify the following:
System time is correct to avoid apt update error. If not, see How to fix system time.
LVM volume uses the whole disk space. If not, see How to resize LVM volume.
GPU and NIC are detected by the OS:
Use the following commands to determine whether the GPU and NIC are detected by the OS:
$ lspci | grep -i nvidia # If the system has A100X GPU installed cf:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 20b8 (rev a1) $ lspci | grep -i mellanox # If the system has A100X GPU installed cc:00.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT42822 BlueField-2 integrated ConnectX-6 Dx network controller (rev 01) cc:00.1 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT42822 BlueField-2 integrated ConnectX-6 Dx network controller (rev 01)
Edit the /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades system file, and change the “1” to “0” for both lines.
This prevents the installed version of the low latency kernel from being accidentally changed with a
subsequent software upgrade.
$ sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "0";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "0";
If the low latency kernel is not installed, you must remove the old kernels and keep only the latest generic kernel. Enter the following command to list the installed kernels:
$ dpkg --list | grep -i 'linux-image' | awk '/ii/{ print $2}'
# To remove old kernel
$ sudo apt-get purge linux-image-<old kernel version>
$ sudo apt-get autoremove
Install the low-latency kernel with the specific version listed in the release manifest.
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y linux-image-5.15.0-1042-nvidia-lowlatency
Update the GRUB to change the default boot kernel:
# Update grub to change the default boot kernel
$ sudo sed -i 's/^GRUB_DEFAULT=.*/GRUB_DEFAULT="Advanced options for Ubuntu>Ubuntu, with Linux 5.15.0-1042-nvidia-lowlatency"/' /etc/default/grub
To set kernel command-line parameters, edit the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT parameter in the GRUB
file /etc/default/grub and append/update the parameters described below. The following kernel parameters
are optimized for Xeon Gold 6336Y CPU and 512GB memory.
To automatically append the GRUB file with these changes, enter this command:
# When HyperThread is disabled (default)
$ sudo sed -i 's/^GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="[^"]*/& pci=realloc=off default_hugepagesz=1G hugepagesz=1G hugepages=16 tsc=reliable clocksource=tsc intel_idle.max_cstate=0 mce=ignore_ce processor.max_cstate=0 intel_pstate=disable audit=0 idle=poll rcu_nocb_poll nosoftlockup iommu=off irqaffinity=0-3 isolcpus=managed_irq,domain,4-47 nohz_full=4-47 rcu_nocbs=4-47 noht numa_balancing=disable/' /etc/default/grub
# When HyperThread is enabled (experimental)
$ sudo sed -i 's/^GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="[^"]*/& pci=realloc=off default_hugepagesz=1G hugepagesz=1G hugepages=16 tsc=reliable clocksource=tsc intel_idle.max_cstate=0 mce=ignore_ce processor.max_cstate=0 intel_pstate=disable audit=0 idle=poll rcu_nocb_poll nosoftlockup iommu=off irqaffinity=0-3 isolcpus=managed_irq,domain,4-95 nohz_full=4-95 rcu_nocbs=4-95 numa_balancing=disable/' /etc/default/grub
The CPU-cores-related parameters must be adjusted depending on the number of CPU cores
on the system. In the example above, the “4-47” value represents CPU core numbers 4 to 47; you may
need to adjust this parameter depending on the HW configuration. By default, only one DPDK thread is
used. The isolated CPUs are used by the entire cuBB software stack. Use the nproc --all command
to see how many cores are available. Do not use core numbers that are beyond the number of available
cores.
These instructions are specific to Ubuntu 22.04 with a 5.15 low-latency kernel provided by Canonical. Make sure the kernel commands provided here are suitable for your OS and kernel versions and revise these settings to match your system if necessary.
$ sudo update-grub
$ sudo reboot
After rebooting, enter the following command to verify that the system has booted into the low-latency kernel:
$ uname -r
5.15.0-1042-nvidia-lowlatency
Enter this command to verify that the kernel command-line parameters are configured properly:
$ cat /proc/cmdline
BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.15.0-1042-nvidia-lowlatency root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv ro pci=realloc=off default_hugepagesz=1G hugepagesz=1G hugepages=16 tsc=reliable clocksource=tsc intel_idle.max_cstate=0 mce=ignore_ce processor.max_cstate=0 intel_pstate=disable audit=0 idle=poll rcu_nocb_poll nosoftlockup iommu=off irqaffinity=0-3 isolcpus=managed_irq,domain,4-47 nohz_full=4-47 rcu_nocbs=4-47 noht numa_balancing=disable
Enter this command to verify if hugepages are enabled:
$ grep -i huge /proc/meminfo
AnonHugePages: 0 kB
ShmemHugePages: 0 kB
FileHugePages: 0 kB
HugePages_Total: 16
HugePages_Free: 16
HugePages_Rsvd: 0
HugePages_Surp: 0
Hugepagesize: 1048576 kB
Hugetlb: 16777216 kB
Enter this command to disable nouveau:
$ cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf
blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
EOF
Regenerate the kernel initramfs and reboot the system:
$ sudo update-initramfs -u
$ sudo reboot
Enter these commands to install prerequisite packages:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r) dkms unzip linuxptp pv
Aerial has been using Mellanox inbox driver instead of MOFED since the 23-4 release. MOFED must be removed if it is installed on the system.
RSHIM package is shared via PID account. If you cannot access it, contact NVIDIA CPM.
Check if there is an existing MOFED installed on the host system.
$ ofed_info -s
MLNX_OFED_LINUX-23.07-0.5.0.0:
Uninstall MOFED if it is present.
$ sudo /usr/sbin/ofed_uninstall.sh
Download the rshim package here and copy it to the local file system on the server.
Enter the following commands to install rshim driver.
# Install rshim
$ sudo apt-get install libfuse2
$ sudo dpkg -i rshim_2.0.17.g0caa378_amd64.deb
Enter the following commands to install Mellanox firmware tools.
# Install Mellanox Firmware Tools
$ export MFT_VERSION=4.28.0-92
$ wget https://www.mellanox.com/downloads/MFT/mft-$MFT_VERSION-x86_64-deb.tgz
$ tar xvf mft-$MFT_VERSION-x86_64-deb.tgz
$ sudo mft-$MFT_VERSION-x86_64-deb/install.sh
# Verify the install Mellanox firmware tool version
$ sudo mst version
mst, mft 4.28.0-92, built on Apr 25 2024, 15:22:58. Git SHA Hash: N/A
$ sudo mst start
# check NIC PCIe bus addresses and network interface names
$ sudo mst status -v
# Here is the result of GPU#1 on slot 7
MST modules:
------------
MST PCI module is not loaded
MST PCI configuration module loaded
PCI devices:
------------
DEVICE_TYPE MST PCI RDMA NET NUMA
BlueField3(rev:1) /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0.1 cc:00.1 mlx5_1 net-aerial00
BlueField3(rev:1) /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 cc:00.0 mlx5_0 net-aerial01 1
Enter these commands to check the link status of port 0:
# Here is an example if port 0 is connected to another server via a 100GbE DAC cable.
$ sudo mlxlink -d cc:00.0
Operational Info
----------------
State : Active
Physical state : LinkUp
Speed : 100G
Width : 4x
FEC : Standard RS-FEC - RS(528,514)
Loopback Mode : No Loopback
Auto Negotiation : ON
Supported Info
--------------
Enabled Link Speed (Ext.) : 0x00003ff2 (200G_2X,200G_4X,100G_1X,100G_2X,100G_4X,50G_1X,50G_2X,40G,25G,10G,1G)
Supported Cable Speed (Ext.) : 0x000002f2 (100G_4X,50G_2X,40G,25G,10G,1G)
Troubleshooting Info
--------------------
Status Opcode : 0
Group Opcode : N/A
Recommendation : No issue was observed
Tool Information
----------------
Firmware Version : 32.39.2048
amBER Version : 3.2
MFT Version : mft 4.28.0-92
Aerial has been using the open-source GPU kernel driver (OpenRM) since the 23-4 release.
If the system has older driver installed, you must unload the current driver modules and uninstall the old driver.
# Unload the current driver modules
$ for m in $(lsmod | awk "/^[^[:space:]]*(nvidia|nv_|gdrdrv)/ {print \$1}"); do echo Unload $m...; sudo rmmod $m; done
# Remove the driver if it was installed by runfile installer before.
$ sudo /usr/bin/nvidia-uninstall
Run the following commands to install the NVIDIA open-source GPU kernel driver (OpenRM).
# Install CUDA driver
$ wget https://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/555.42.02/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-555.42.02.run
$ sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-555.42.02.run --silent -m kernel-open
# Verify that the driver is loaded successfully
$ nvidia-smi
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 555.42.02 Driver Version: 555.42.02 CUDA Version: 12.5 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M | Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap | Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
| 0 NVIDIA A100X On | 00000000:CF:00.0 Off | 0 |
| N/A 40C P0 95W / 300W | 1MiB / 81920MiB | 0% Default |
| | | Disabled |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|=========================================================================================|
| No running processes found |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Run the following commands to install the GDRCopy driver. If the system has an older version installed, you must remove the old driver.
GDRCopy driver must be installed after CUDA.
# Check the installed GDRCopy driver version
$ apt list --installed | grep gdrdrv-dkms
# Remove the driver if you have the older version installed.
$ sudo apt purge gdrdrv-dkms
$ sudo apt autoremove
# Install GDRCopy driver
$ wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/redist/gdrcopy/CUDA%2012.2/ubuntu22_04/x64/gdrdrv-dkms_2.4-1_amd64.Ubuntu22_04.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i gdrdrv-dkms_2.4-1_amd64.Ubuntu22_04.deb
The full official instructions for installing Docker CE can be found on the Docker website: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/#install-docker-engine. The following instructions are one supported way of installing Docker CE:
To work correctly, the CUDA driver must be installed before Docker CE or nvidia-container-toolkit installation. It is recommended that you install the CUDA driver before installing Docker CE or the nvidia-container-toolkit.
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg
$ sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
$ curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
$ sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
$ echo \
"deb [arch="$(dpkg --print-architecture)" signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
"$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")" stable" | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
$ sudo docker run hello-world
Locate and follow the nvidia-container-toolkit install instructions.
Or use the following instructions as an alternate way to install the nvidia-container-toolkit. Version 1.14.1-1 is supported.
To work correctly, the CUDA driver must be installed before Docker CE or nvidia-container-toolkit installation. It is recommended that you install the CUDA driver before installing Docker CE or the nvidia-container-toolkit.
$ curl -fsSL https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/gpgkey | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-keyring.gpg \
&& curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/stable/deb/nvidia-container-toolkit.list | \
sed 's#deb https://#deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-keyring.gpg] https://#g' | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-container-toolkit.list \
&& \
sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
$ sudo nvidia-ctk runtime configure --runtime=docker
$ sudo systemctl restart docker
$ sudo docker run --rm --runtime=nvidia --gpus all ubuntu nvidia-smi
The following instructions are for BF3 NIC (OPN: 900-9D3B6-00CV-A; PSID: MT_0000000884) specifically.
There is no need to switch to DPU mode if using the BFB image below.
This BFB image will update the NIC firmware automatically.
# Enable MST
$ sudo mst start
$ sudo mst status
MST modules:
------------
MST PCI module is not loaded
MST PCI configuration module loaded
MST devices:
------------
/dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 - PCI configuration cycles access.
domain:bus:dev.fn=0000:cc:00.0 addr.reg=88 data.reg=92 cr_bar.gw_offset=-1
Chip revision is: 01
# Download the BF3 BFB image
$ wget https://content.mellanox.com/BlueField/BFBs/Ubuntu22.04/bf-bundle-2.7.0-33_24.04_ubuntu-22.04_prod.bfb
# Here is the command to flash BFB image. NOTE: If there are multiple BF3 NICs, repeat the same command with rshim<0..N-1>. N is the number of BF3 NICs.
$ sudo bfb-install -r rshim0 -b bf-bundle-2.7.0-33_24.04_ubuntu-22.04_prod.bfb
Pushing bfb
1.41GiB 0:01:24 [17.1MiB/s] [ <=>]
Collecting BlueField booting status. Press Ctrl+C to stop…
INFO[PSC]: PSC BL1 START
INFO[BL2]: start
INFO[BL2]: boot mode (rshim)
INFO[BL2]: VDDQ adjustment complete
INFO[BL2]: VDDQ: 1120 mV
INFO[BL2]: DDR POST passed
INFO[BL2]: UEFI loaded
INFO[BL31]: start
INFO[BL31]: lifecycle GA Secured
INFO[BL31]: VDD: 851 mV
ERR[BL31]: MB timeout
INFO[BL31]: runtime
INFO[UEFI]: eMMC init
INFO[UEFI]: eMMC probed
INFO[UEFI]: UPVS valid
INFO[UEFI]: PMI: updates started
INFO[UEFI]: PMI: total updates: 1
INFO[UEFI]: PMI: updates completed, status 0
INFO[UEFI]: PCIe enum start
INFO[UEFI]: PCIe enum end
INFO[UEFI]: UEFI Secure Boot (enabled)
INFO[UEFI]: Redfish enabled
INFO[BL31]: Partial NIC
INFO[BL31]: power capping disabled
INFO[UEFI]: exit Boot Service
INFO[MISC]: Ubuntu installation started
INFO[MISC]: Installing OS image
INFO[MISC]: Ubuntu installation completed
WARN[MISC]: Skipping BMC components upgrade.
INFO[MISC]: Updating NIC firmware...
INFO[MISC]: NIC firmware update done
INFO[MISC]: Installation finished
# Wait 10 minutes to ensure the card initializes properly after the BFB installation
$ sleep 600
# NOTE: Requires a full power cycle from host with cold boot
# Verify NIC FW version after reboot
$ sudo mst start
$ sudo flint -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 q
Image type: FS4
FW Version: 32.41.1000
FW Release Date: 28.4.2024
Product Version: 32.41.1000
Rom Info: type=UEFI Virtio net version=21.4.13 cpu=AMD64,AARCH64
type=UEFI Virtio blk version=22.4.13 cpu=AMD64,AARCH64
type=UEFI version=14.34.12 cpu=AMD64,AARCH64
type=PXE version=3.7.400 cpu=AMD64
Description: UID GuidsNumber
Base GUID: 946dae0300f5aa8e 38
Base MAC: 946daef5aa8e 38
Image VSD: N/A
Device VSD: N/A
PSID: MT_0000000884
Security Attributes: secure-fw
Run the following commands to configure the BF3 NIC:
# Setting BF3 port to Ethernet mode (not Infiniband)
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set LINK_TYPE_P1=2
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set LINK_TYPE_P2=2
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_PAGE_SUPPLIER=EXT_HOST_PF
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_ESWITCH_MANAGER=EXT_HOST_PF
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_IB_VPORT0=EXT_HOST_PF
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE=DISABLED
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set CQE_COMPRESSION=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set PROG_PARSE_GRAPH=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set ACCURATE_TX_SCHEDULER=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set FLEX_PARSER_PROFILE_ENABLE=4
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set REAL_TIME_CLOCK_ENABLE=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set EXP_ROM_VIRTIO_NET_PXE_ENABLE=0
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set EXP_ROM_VIRTIO_NET_UEFI_ARM_ENABLE=0
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set EXP_ROM_VIRTIO_NET_UEFI_x86_ENABLE=0
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set EXP_ROM_VIRTIO_BLK_UEFI_ARM_ENABLE=0
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 --yes set EXP_ROM_VIRTIO_BLK_UEFI_x86_ENABLE=0
# NOTE: Requires a full power cycle from host with cold boot
# Verify that the NIC FW changes have been applied
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 q | grep "CQE_COMPRESSION\|PROG_PARSE_GRAPH\|ACCURATE_TX_SCHEDULER\|FLEX_PARSER_PROFILE_ENABLE\|REAL_TIME_CLOCK_ENABLE\|INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL\|LINK_TYPE_P1\|LINK_TYPE_P2\|INTERNAL_CPU_PAGE_SUPPLIER\|INTERNAL_CPU_ESWITCH_MANAGER\|INTERNAL_CPU_IB_VPORT0\|INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE"
INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL EMBEDDED_CPU(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_PAGE_SUPPLIER EXT_HOST_PF(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_ESWITCH_MANAGER EXT_HOST_PF(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_IB_VPORT0 EXT_HOST_PF(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE DISABLED(1)
FLEX_PARSER_PROFILE_ENABLE 4
PROG_PARSE_GRAPH True(1)
ACCURATE_TX_SCHEDULER True(1)
CQE_COMPRESSION AGGRESSIVE(1)
REAL_TIME_CLOCK_ENABLE True(1)
LINK_TYPE_P1 ETH(2)
LINK_TYPE_P2 ETH(2)
NOTE: The following instructions are specifically for A100X boards. Ensure RSHIM and MFT are installed on the system.
# Enable MST
$ sudo mst start
$ sudo mst status
MST modules:
------------
MST PCI module is not loaded
MST PCI configuration module loaded
MST devices:
------------
/dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 - PCI configuration cycles access.
domain:bus:dev.fn=0000:cc:00.0 addr.reg=88 data.reg=92 cr_bar.gw_offset=-1
Chip revision is: 01
# Change to DPU mode
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 -y s INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=1 INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE=0
# NOTE: Requires a power cycle to take effect
$ sudo reboot
# Update BFB image first
$ wget https://content.mellanox.com/BlueField/BFBs/Ubuntu22.04/DOCA_2.5.0_BSP_4.5.0_Ubuntu_22.04-1.23-10.prod.bfb
$ sudo bfb-install -r rshim0 -b DOCA_2.5.0_BSP_4.5.0_Ubuntu_22.04-1.23-10.prod.bfb
Pushing bfb
920MiB 0:01:51 [8.22MiB/s] [ <=> ]
Collecting BlueField booting status. Press Ctrl+C to stop…
INFO[BL2]: start
INFO[BL2]: DDR POST passed
INFO[BL2]: UEFI loaded
INFO[BL31]: start
INFO[BL31]: lifecycle Secured (development)
INFO[BL31]: runtime
INFO[UEFI]: eMMC init
INFO[UEFI]: UPVS valid
INFO[UEFI]: eMMC probed
INFO[UEFI]: PMI: updates started
INFO[UEFI]: PMI: boot image update
INFO[UEFI]: PMI: updates completed, status 0
INFO[UEFI]: PCIe enum start
INFO[UEFI]: PCIe enum end
INFO[UEFI]: exit Boot Service
INFO[MISC]: Ubuntu installation started
INFO[MISC]: Installing OS image
INFO[MISC]: Installation finished
# Wait 10 minutes to ensure the card initializes properly after the BFB installation
$ sleep 600
# Update NIC firmware
$ wget https://www.mellanox.com/downloads/firmware/fw-BlueField-2-rel-24_39_2048-699210040230_Ax-NVME-20.4.1-UEFI-21.4.13-UEFI-22.4.12-UEFI-14.32.17-FlexBoot-3.7.300.signed.bin.zip
$ unzip fw-BlueField-2-rel-24_39_2048-699210040230_Ax-NVME-20.4.1-UEFI-21.4.13-UEFI-22.4.12-UEFI-14.32.17-FlexBoot-3.7.300.signed.bin.zip
$ sudo flint -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 -i fw-BlueField-2-rel-24_39_2048-699210040230_Ax-NVME-20.4.1-UEFI-21.4.13-UEFI-22.4.12-UEFI-14.32.17-FlexBoot-3.7.300.signed.bin -y b
Current FW version on flash: 24.35.1012
New FW version: 24.39.2048
FSMST_INITIALIZE - OK
Writing Boot image component - OK
Restoring signature - OK
# Change to NIC mode
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 -y s INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=1 INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE=1
# NOTE: Requires a full power cycle from host with cold boot
# Verify NIC FW version after reboot
$ sudo mst start
$ sudo flint -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 q
Image type: FS4
FW Version: 24.39.2048
FW Release Date: 29.11.2023
Product Version: 24.39.2048
Rom Info: type=UEFI Virtio net version=21.4.13 cpu=AMD64,AARCH64
type=UEFI Virtio blk version=22.4.12 cpu=AMD64,AARCH64
type=UEFI version=14.32.17 cpu=AMD64,AARCH64
type=PXE version=3.7.300 cpu=AMD64
Description: UID GuidsNumber
Base GUID: 48b02d03005f770c 16
Base MAC: 48b02d5f770c 16
Image VSD: N/A
Device VSD: N/A
PSID: NVD0000000015
Security Attributes: secure-fw
Run the following code to switch the A100x to the BF2-as-CX mode:
# Setting BF2 port to Ethernet mode (not Infiniband)
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set LINK_TYPE_P1=2
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set LINK_TYPE_P2=2
# Setting BF2 Embedded CPU mode
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_PAGE_SUPPLIER=EXT_HOST_PF
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_ESWITCH_MANAGER=EXT_HOST_PF
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_IB_VPORT0=EXT_HOST_PF
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE=DISABLED
# Accurate scheduling related settings
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set CQE_COMPRESSION=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set PROG_PARSE_GRAPH=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set ACCURATE_TX_SCHEDULER=1
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set FLEX_PARSER_PROFILE_ENABLE=4
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 --yes set REAL_TIME_CLOCK_ENABLE=1
# NOTE: Requires a power cycle of the host for those settings to take effect
# Verify that the NIC FW changes have been applied
$ sudo mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41686_pciconf0 q | grep "CQE_COMPRESSION\|PROG_PARSE_GRAPH\|ACCURATE_TX_SCHEDULER\
\|FLEX_PARSER_PROFILE_ENABLE\|REAL_TIME_CLOCK_ENABLE\|INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL\|LINK_TYPE_P1\|LINK_TYPE_P2\
\|INTERNAL_CPU_PAGE_SUPPLIER\|INTERNAL_CPU_ESWITCH_MANAGER\|INTERNAL_CPU_IB_VPORT0\|INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE"
INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL EMBEDDED_CPU(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_PAGE_SUPPLIER EXT_HOST_PF(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_ESWITCH_MANAGER EXT_HOST_PF(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_IB_VPORT0 EXT_HOST_PF(1)
INTERNAL_CPU_OFFLOAD_ENGINE DISABLED(1)
FLEX_PARSER_PROFILE_ENABLE 4
PROG_PARSE_GRAPH True(1)
ACCURATE_TX_SCHEDULER True(1)
CQE_COMPRESSION AGGRESSIVE(1)
REAL_TIME_CLOCK_ENABLE True(1)
LINK_TYPE_P1 ETH(2)
LINK_TYPE_P2 ETH(2)
Configure the network link files so that the NIC interfaces always come up with the same name.
Run lshw -c network -businfo to find the current interface name on the target bus address then run ip link to find the corresponding MAC address by the interface name.
After identifying the MAC address, create files at /etc/systemd/network/NN-persistent-net.link with the following information:
[Match]
MACAddress={{item.mac}}
[Link]
Name={{item.name}}
The following network link files set the converged accelerator port#0 to aerial00 and port#1 to aerial01:
$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/network/11-persistent-net.link
# Update the MAC address to match the converged accelerator port 0 MAC address
[Match]
MACAddress=48:b0:2d:xx:xx:xx
[Link]
Name=aerial00
$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/network/12-persistent-net.link
# Update the MAC address to match the converged accelerator port 1 MAC address
[Match]
MACAddress=48:b0:2d:yy:yy:yy
[Link]
Name=aerial01
Reboot the system after creating these files.
Enter these commands to configure PTP4L assuming the aerial00 NIC interface and CPU core 41 are used for PTP:
$ cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/ptp.conf
[global]
dataset_comparison G.8275.x
G.8275.defaultDS.localPriority 128
maxStepsRemoved 255
logAnnounceInterval -3
logSyncInterval -4
logMinDelayReqInterval -4
G.8275.portDS.localPriority 128
network_transport L2
domainNumber 24
tx_timestamp_timeout 30
slaveOnly 1
clock_servo pi
step_threshold 1.0
egressLatency 28
pi_proportional_const 4.65
pi_integral_const 0.1
[aerial00]
announceReceiptTimeout 3
delay_mechanism E2E
network_transport L2
EOF
cat <<EOF | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/ptp4l.service
[Unit]
Description=Precision Time Protocol (PTP) service
Documentation=man:ptp4l
After=network.target
[Service]
Restart=always
RestartSec=5s
Type=simple
ExecStartPre=ifconfig aerial00 up
ExecStartPre=ethtool --set-priv-flags aerial00 tx_port_ts on
ExecStartPre=ethtool -A aerial00 rx off tx off
ExecStartPre=ifconfig aerial01 up
ExecStartPre=ethtool --set-priv-flags aerial01 tx_port_ts on
ExecStartPre=ethtool -A aerial01 rx off tx off
ExecStart=taskset -c 41 /usr/sbin/ptp4l -f /etc/ptp.conf
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl restart ptp4l.service
$ sudo systemctl enable ptp4l.service
One server becomes the master clock, as shown below:
$ sudo systemctl status ptp4l.service
• ptp4l.service - Precision Time Protocol (PTP) service
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/ptp4l.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Tue 2023-08-08 19:37:56 UTC; 2 weeks 3 days ago
Docs: man:ptp4l
Main PID: 1120 (ptp4l)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 94533)
Memory: 460.0K
CPU: 9min 8.089s
CGroup: /system.slice/ptp4l.service
└─1120 /usr/sbin/ptp4l -f /etc/ptp.conf
Aug 09 18:12:35 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[81287.043]: selected local clock b8cef6.fffe.d333be as best master
Aug 09 18:12:35 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[81287.043]: port 1: assuming the grand master role
Aug 11 20:44:51 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263223.379]: timed out while polling for tx timestamp
Aug 11 20:44:51 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263223.379]: increasing tx_timestamp_timeout may correct this issue, but it is likely caused by a driver bug
Aug 11 20:44:51 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263223.379]: port 1: send sync failed
Aug 11 20:44:51 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263223.379]: port 1: MASTER to FAULTY on FAULT_DETECTED (FT_UNSPECIFIED)
Aug 11 20:45:07 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263239.522]: port 1: FAULTY to LISTENING on INIT_COMPLETE
Aug 11 20:45:08 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263239.963]: port 1: LISTENING to MASTER on ANNOUNCE_RECEIPT_TIMEOUT_EXPIRES
Aug 11 20:45:08 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263239.963]: selected local clock b8cef6.fffe.d333be as best master
Aug 11 20:45:08 aerial-devkit taskset[1120]: ptp4l[263239.963]: port 1: assuming the grand master role
The other becomes the secondary, follower clock, as shown below:
$ sudo systemctl status ptp4l.service
• ptp4l.service - Precision Time Protocol (PTP) service
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/ptp4l.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Tue 2023-08-22 16:25:41 UTC; 3 days ago
Docs: man:ptp4l
Main PID: 3251 (ptp4l)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 598810)
Memory: 472.0K
CPU: 2min 48.984s
CGroup: /system.slice/ptp4l.service
└─3251 /usr/sbin/ptp4l -f /etc/ptp.conf
Aug 25 19:58:34 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272004.187]: rms 8 max 15 freq -14495 +/- 9 delay 11 +/- 0
Aug 25 19:58:35 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272005.187]: rms 6 max 12 freq -14480 +/- 7 delay 11 +/- 1
Aug 25 19:58:36 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272006.187]: rms 8 max 12 freq -14465 +/- 5 delay 10 +/- 0
Aug 25 19:58:37 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272007.187]: rms 11 max 18 freq -14495 +/- 10 delay 11 +/- 1
Aug 25 19:58:38 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272008.187]: rms 12 max 21 freq -14515 +/- 7 delay 12 +/- 1
Aug 25 19:58:39 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272009.187]: rms 7 max 12 freq -14488 +/- 7 delay 12 +/- 1
Aug 25 19:58:40 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272010.187]: rms 7 max 12 freq -14479 +/- 7 delay 11 +/- 1
Aug 25 19:58:41 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272011.187]: rms 10 max 20 freq -14503 +/- 11 delay 11 +/- 1
Aug 25 19:58:42 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272012.188]: rms 10 max 20 freq -14520 +/- 7 delay 13 +/- 1
Aug 25 19:58:43 aerial-r750 taskset[3251]: ptp4l[272013.188]: rms 2 max 7 freq -14510 +/- 4 delay 12 +/- 1
Enter the commands to turn off NTP:
$ sudo timedatectl set-ntp false
$ timedatectl
Local time: Thu 2022-02-03 22:30:58 UTC
Universal time: Thu 2022-02-03 22:30:58 UTC
RTC time: Thu 2022-02-03 22:30:58
Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: no
NTP service: inactive
RTC in local TZ: no
Run PHC2SYS as service:
PHC2SYS is used to synchronize the system clock to the PTP hardware clock (PHC) on the NIC.
Specify the network interface used for PTP and system clock as the slave clock.
# If more than one instance is already running, kill the existing
# PHC2SYS sessions.
# Command used can be found in /lib/systemd/system/phc2sys.service
# Update the ExecStart line to the following
$ cat <<EOF | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/phc2sys.service
[Unit]
Description=Synchronize system clock or PTP hardware clock (PHC)
Documentation=man:phc2sys
After=ntpdate.service
Requires=ptp4l.service
After=ptp4l.service
[Service]
Restart=always
RestartSec=5s
Type=simple
# Gives ptp4l a chance to stabilize
ExecStartPre=sleep 2
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "taskset -c 41 /usr/sbin/phc2sys -s /dev/ptp$(ethtool -T aerial00| grep PTP | awk '{print $4}') -c CLOCK_REALTIME -n 24 -O 0 -R 256 -u 256"
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
After the PHC2SYS config file is changed, run the following:
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl restart phc2sys.service
# Set to start automatically on reboot
$ sudo systemctl enable phc2sys.service
# check that the service is active and has converged to a low rms value (<30) and that the correct NIC has been selected (aerial00):
$ sudo systemctl status phc2sys.service
● phc2sys.service - Synchronize system clock or PTP hardware clock (PHC)
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/phc2sys.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2023-02-17 17:02:35 UTC; 7s ago
Docs: man:phc2sys
Main PID: 2225556 (phc2sys)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 598864)
Memory: 372.0K
CGroup: /system.slice/phc2sys.service
└─2225556 /usr/sbin/phc2sys -a -r -n 24 -R 256 -u 256
Feb 17 17:02:35 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992363.445] reconfiguring after port state change
Feb 17 17:02:35 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992363.445] selecting CLOCK_REALTIME for synchronization
Feb 17 17:02:35 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992363.445] selecting aerial00 as the master clock
Feb 17 17:02:36 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992364.457] CLOCK_REALTIME rms 15 max 37 freq -19885 +/- 116 delay 1944 +/- 6
Feb 17 17:02:37 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992365.473] CLOCK_REALTIME rms 16 max 42 freq -19951 +/- 103 delay 1944 +/- 7
Feb 17 17:02:38 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992366.490] CLOCK_REALTIME rms 13 max 31 freq -19909 +/- 81 delay 1944 +/- 6
Feb 17 17:02:39 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992367.506] CLOCK_REALTIME rms 9 max 27 freq -19918 +/- 40 delay 1945 +/- 6
Feb 17 17:02:40 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992368.522] CLOCK_REALTIME rms 8 max 24 freq -19925 +/- 11 delay 1945 +/- 9
Feb 17 17:02:41 aerial-devkit phc2sys[2225556]: [1992369.538] CLOCK_REALTIME rms 9 max 23 freq -19915 +/- 36 delay 1943 +/- 8
Verify that the system clock is synchronized:
$ timedatectl
Local time: Thu 2022-02-03 22:30:58 UTC
Universal time: Thu 2022-02-03 22:30:58 UTC
RTC time: Thu 2022-02-03 22:30:58
Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
NTP service: inactive
RTC in local TZ: no
Create the directory /usr/local/bin and create the /usr/local/bin/nvidia.sh file to run the commands with every reboot.
The command for “nvidia-smi lgc” expects just one GPU device (-i 0). This needs to be modified, if the system uses more than one GPU.
$ cat <<"EOF" | sudo tee /usr/local/bin/nvidia.sh
#!/bin/bash
mst start
nvidia-smi -i 0 -lgc $(nvidia-smi -i 0 --query-supported-clocks=graphics --format=csv,noheader,nounits | sort -h | tail -n 1)
nvidia-smi -mig 0
echo -1 > /proc/sys/kernel/sched_rt_runtime_us
EOF
Create a system service file to be loaded after network interfaces are up.
$ cat <<EOF | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/nvidia.service
[Unit]
After=network.target
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/nvidia.sh
[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
EOF
Create a system service file for nvidia-persistenced to be run at startup.
This file was created following the sample from /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0/samples/nvidia-persistenced-init.tar.bz2
cat <<EOF | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/nvidia-persistenced.service
[Unit]
Description=NVIDIA Persistence Daemon
Wants=syslog.target
[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/bin/nvidia-persistenced
ExecStopPost=/bin/rm -rf /var/run/nvidia-persistenced
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
Then set the file permissions, reload the systemd daemon, enable the service, restart the service when installing the first time, and check status
sudo chmod 744 /usr/local/bin/nvidia.sh
sudo chmod 664 /lib/systemd/system/nvidia.service
sudo chmod 664 /lib/systemd/system/nvidia-persistenced.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable nvidia-persistenced.service
sudo systemctl enable nvidia.service
sudo systemctl restart nvidia.service
sudo systemctl restart nvidia-persistenced.service
sudo systemctl status nvidia.service
sudo systemctl status nvidia-persistenced.service
The output of the last command should look like this:
aerial@server:~$ sudo systemctl status nvidia.service
○ nvidia.service
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nvidia.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead) since Fri 2024-06-07 20:26:06 UTC; 2s ago
Process: 251860 ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/nvidia.sh (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 251860 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
CPU: 788ms
Jun 07 20:26:05 server nvidia.sh[251862]: Starting MST (Mellanox Software Tools) driver set
Jun 07 20:26:05 server nvidia.sh[251862]: Loading MST PCI module - Success
Jun 07 20:26:05 server nvidia.sh[251862]: [warn] mst_pciconf is already loaded, skipping
Jun 07 20:26:05 server nvidia.sh[251862]: Create devices
Jun 07 20:26:06 server nvidia.sh[251862]: Unloading MST PCI module (unused) - Success
Jun 07 20:26:06 server nvidia.sh[252732]: GPU clocks set to "(gpuClkMin 1410, gpuClkMax 1410)" for GPU 00000000:CF:00.0
Jun 07 20:26:06 server nvidia.sh[252732]: All done.
Jun 07 20:26:06 server nvidia.sh[252733]: Disabled MIG Mode for GPU 00000000:CF:00.0
Jun 07 20:26:06 server nvidia.sh[252733]: All done.
Jun 07 20:26:06 server systemd[1]: nvidia.service: Deactivated successfully.
aerial@server:~$ sudo systemctl status nvidia-persistenced.service
● nvidia-persistenced.service - NVIDIA Persistence Daemon
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nvidia-persistenced.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2024-06-07 20:25:57 UTC; 3s ago
Process: 251836 ExecStart=/usr/bin/nvidia-persistenced (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 251837 (nvidia-persiste)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 598792)
Memory: 672.0K
CPU: 9ms
CGroup: /system.slice/nvidia-persistenced.service
└─251837 /usr/bin/nvidia-persistenced
Jun 07 20:25:57 server systemd[1]: Starting NVIDIA Persistence Daemon...
Jun 07 20:25:57 server nvidia-persistenced[251837]: Started (251837)
Jun 07 20:25:57 server systemd[1]: Started NVIDIA Persistence Daemon.