portwd invalid SFF identifier Error

Issue

The following log messages constantly appear in /var/log/syslog:

2017-03-16T00:39:30.292349+00:00 hostname portwd: Port 49, invalid SFF identifier: 0x0c
2017-03-16T00:39:30.298340+00:00 hostname portwd: Port 50, invalid SFF identifier: 0x0c
2017-03-16T00:39:30.300035+00:00 hostname portwd: Port 50, invalid SFF identifier: 0x0c
2017-03-16T00:39:30.301740+00:00 hostname portwd: Port 50, invalid SFF identifier: 0x0c
2017-03-16T00:39:30.303486+00:00 hostname portwd: Port 50, invalid SFF identifier: 0x0c
2017-03-16T00:39:30.309608+00:00 hostname portwd: Port 51, invalid SFF identifier: 0x0c

Environment

• Cumulus Linux 3.y.z

Cause

This issue occurs because portwd is unable to correctly identify the optic. This is usually because the optic has not correctly identified its capabilities.

Here is an example of ethtool output showing a correctly identified optic:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -m swp1
        Identifier                                : 0x0d (QSFP+)
        Extended identifier                       : 0x00 (1.5W max. Power consumption, No CDR in TX, No CDR in RX)
        Connector                                 : 0x0c (MPO Parallel Optic)
        Transceiver codes                         : 0x04 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x40 0x40 0x02 0x00
        Transceiver type                          : 40G Ethernet: 40G Base-SR4
        Transceiver type                          : FC: short distance (S)
        Transceiver type                          : FC: Shortwave laser w/o OFC (SN)
        Transceiver type                          : FC: Multimode, 50um (OM3)

Here is an example of ethtool output showing an optic that has not identified its capabilities:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ethtool -m swp29
        Identifier                                : 0x0d (QSFP+)
        Extended identifier                       : 0xdc (3.5W max. Power consumption, CDR present in TX, CDR present in RX)
        Connector                                 : 0x07 (LC)
        Transceiver codes                         : 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
        Encoding                                  : 0x05 (64B/66B)

Resolution

If you encounter this message and believe the optic is not behaving as expected, then NVIDIA Cumulus support team.

Suppressing Log Messages

The “Invalid SFF Identifer” log message generates constantly in your /var/log/syslog, making it harder to interpret other log messages. You can prevent the logging of this message by adding the following line to your rsyslog configuration:

:msg, contains, "invalid SFF identifier:" ~

You need to add this configuration before the system defines the /var/log/syslog file. The simplest way to do this is to create a file named /etc/rsyslogd.d/1-suppress.conf and put the entry in this file:

1. Create the file:

   cumulus@switch:~$ sudo vi /etc/rsyslog.d/1-suppress.conf
   

2. Add the following line to the file:

   :msg, contains, "invalid SFF identifier:" ~
   

3. Restart rsyslogd:

   cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl restart rsyslog.service