NVIDIA MLNX_EN Documentation v4.9-7.1.0.0 LTS

Installing MLNX_OFED

The installation script, mlnxofedinstall, performs the following:

  • Discovers the currently installed kernel

  • Uninstalls any software stacks that are part of the standard operating system distribution or another vendor's commercial stack

  • Installs the MLNX_OFED_LINUX binary RPMs (if they are available for the current kernel)

  • Identifies the currently installed InfiniBand and Ethernet network adapters and automatically upgrades the firmware

    Note: If you wish to perform a firmware upgrade using customized FW binaries, you can provide a path to the folder that contains the FW binary files, by running --fw-image-dir. Using this option, the FW version embedded in the MLNX_OFED package will be ignored.

    Example:

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    ./mlnxofedinstall --fw-image-dir /tmp/my_fw_bin_files

Usage

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./mnt/mlnxofedinstall [OPTIONS]

The installation script removes all previously installed Mellanox OFED packages and re-installs from scratch. You will be prompted to acknowledge the deletion of the old packages.

Warning

Pre-existing configuration files will be saved with the extension “.conf.rpmsave”.

  • If you need to install Mellanox OFED on an entire (homogeneous) cluster, a common strategy is to mount the ISO image on one of the cluster nodes and then copy it to a shared file system such as NFS. To install on all the cluster nodes, use cluster-aware tools (suchaspdsh).

  • If your kernel version does not match with any of the offered pre-built RPMs, you can add your kernel version by using the “mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh” script located inside the MLNX_OFED package.

    Warning

    On Redhat and SLES distributions with errata kernel installed there is no need to use the mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh script. The regular installation can be performed and weak-updates mechanism will create symbolic links to the MLNX_OFED kernel modules.

    Warning

    If you regenerate kernel modules for a custom kernel (using --add-kernel-support), the packages installation will not involve automatic regeneration of the initramfs. In some cases, such as a system with a root filesystem mounted over a ConnectX card, not regenerating the initramfs may even cause the system to fail to reboot.

    In such cases, the installer will recommend running the following command to update the initramfs:

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    dracut -f

    The “mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh” script can be executed directly from themlnxofedinstallscript. For further information, please see '--add-kernel-support' option below.

    Warning

    On Ubuntu and Debian distributions drivers installation use Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) framework. Thus, the drivers' compilation will take place on the host during MLNX_OFED installation.
    Therefore, using "mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh" is irrelevant on Ubuntu and Debian distributions.

    Example: The following command will create a MLNX_OFED_LINUX ISO image for RedHat 6.3 under the /tmp directory.

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    # ./MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x-x-rhel6.3-x86_64/mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh -m /tmp/MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x-x-rhel6.3-x86_64/ --make-tgz Note: This program will create MLNX_OFED_LINUX TGZ for rhel6.3 under /tmp directory. All Mellanox, OEM, OFED, or Distribution IB packages will be removed. Do you want to continue?[y/N]:y See log file /tmp/mlnx_ofed_iso.21642.log   Building OFED RPMs. Please wait... Removing OFED RPMs... Created /tmp/MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x-x-rhel6.3-x86_64-ext.tgz

  • The script adds the following lines to /etc/security/limits.conf for the userspace components such as MPI:

    • * soft memlock unlimited

    • * hard memlock unlimited

      • These settings set the amount of memory that can be pinned by a userspace application to unlimited. If desired, tune the value unlimited to a specific amount of RAM.

For your machine to be part of the InfiniBand/VPI fabric, a Subnet Manager must be running on one of the fabric nodes. At this point, Mellanox OFED for Linux has already installed the OpenSM Subnet Manager on your machine.

For the list of installation options, run: ./mlnxofedinstall --h

Warning

The DKMS (on Debian based OS) and the weak-modules (RedHat OS) mechanisms rebuild the initrd/initramfs for the respective kernel in order to add the MLNX_OFED drivers.
When installing MLNX_OFED without DKMS support on Debian based OS, or without KMP support on RedHat or any other distribution, the initramfs will not be changed. Therefore, the inbox drivers may be loaded on boot. In this case, openibd service script will automatically unload them and load the new drivers that come with MLNX_OFED.

This section describes the installation procedure of MLNX_OFED on Mellanox adapter cards. Additional installation procedures are provided for Mellanox Innova SmartNIC for other environment customizations, and for extra libraries and packages in “Installing MLNX_OFED on Innova™ IPsec Adapter Cards” section.

  1. Log in to the installation machine as root.

  2. Mount the ISO image on your machine.

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    host1# mount -o ro,loop MLNX_OFED_LINUX-<ver>-<OS label>-<CPU arch>.iso /mnt

  3. Run the installation script.

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    /mnt/mlnxofedinstall Logs dir: /tmp/MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x-x.logs This program will install the MLNX_OFED_LINUX package on your machine. Note that all other Mellanox, OEM, OFED, RDMA or Distribution IB packages will be removed. Those packages are removed due to conflicts with MLNX_OFED_LINUX, do not reinstall them. Starting MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x.x installation ... ........ ........ Installation finished successfully. Attempting to perform Firmware update... Querying Mellanox devices firmware ...

    Warning

    For unattended installation, use the --force installation option while running the MLNX_OFED installation script:
    /mnt/mlnxofedinstall --force

    Warning

    MLNX_OFED for Ubuntu should be installed with the following flags in chroot environment:
    ./mlnxofedinstall --without-dkms --add-kernel-support --kernel <kernel version in chroot> --without-fw-update --force
    For example:
    ./mlnxofedinstall --without-dkms --add-kernel-support --kernel 3.13.0-85-generic --without-fw-update --force
    Note that the path to kernel sources (--kernel-sources) should be added if the sources are not in their default location.

    Warning

    In case your machine has the latest firmware, no firmware update will occur and the installation script will print at the end of installation a message similar to the following:
    Device #1:
    ----------
    Device Type: ConnectX4
    Part Number: MCX456A-ECA
    Description: ConnectX-4 VPI adapter card; EDR IB (100Gb/s) and 100GbE; dual-port QSFP28; PCIe3.0 x16; ROHS R6
    PSID: MT_2190110032
    PCI Device Name: 0b:00.0
    Base MAC: 0000e41d2d5cf810
    Versions: Current Available
    FW 12.14.0114 12.14.0114
    Status: Up to date

    Warning

    In case your machine has an unsupported network adapter device, no firmware update will occur and one of the error messages below will be printed. Please contact your hardware vendor for help with firmware updates.

    Error message #1:
    Device #1:
    ----------
    evice Type: ConnectX4
    Part Number: MCX456A-ECA
    Description: ConnectX-4 VPI adapter card; EDR IB (100Gb/s) and 100GbE; dual-port QSFP28; PCIe3.0 x16; ROHS R6
    PSID: MT_2190110032
    PCI Device Name: 0b:00.0
    Base MAC: 0000e41d2d5cf810
    Versions: Current Available
    FW 12.14.0114 N/A
    Status: No matching image found

    Error message #2:
    The firmware for this device is not distributed inside Mellanox driver: 0000:01:00.0 (PSID: IBM2150110033)
    To obtain firmware for this device, please contact your HW vendor.

  4. Case A: If the installation script has performed a firmware update on your network adapter, you need to either restart the driver or reboot your system before the firmware update can take effect. Refer to the table below to find the appropriate action for your specific card.

    Action \ Adapter

    Driver Restart

    Standard Reboot (Soft Reset)

    Cold Reboot (Hard Reset)

    ConnectX-3/ConnectX-3 Pro

    +

    -

    -

    Standard ConnectX-4/ConnectX-4 Lx or higher

    -

    +

    -

    Adapters with Multi-Host Support

    -

    -

    +

    Socket Direct Cards

    -

    -

    +

    Case B: If the installations script has not performed a firmware upgrade on your network adapter, restart the driver by running: “/etc/init.d/openibd restart”.

  5. (InfiniBand only) Run the hca_self_test.ofed utility to verify whether or not the InfiniBand link is up. The utility also checks for and displays additional information such as:

  • HCA firmware version

  • Kernel architecture

  • Driver version

  • Number of active HCA ports along with their states

  • Node GUID
    For more details on hca_self_test.ofed, see the file docs/readme_and_user_manual/hca_self_test.readme.

After installation completion, information about the Mellanox OFED installation, such as prefix, kernel version, and installation parameters can be retrieved by running the command /etc/infiniband/info. Most of the Mellanox OFED components can be configured or reconfigured after the installation, by modifying the relevant configuration files. See the relevant chapters in this manual for details.
The list of the modules that will be loaded automatically upon boot can be found in the /etc/infiniband/openib.conf file.

Software

  • Most of MLNX_OFED packages are installed under the “/usr” directory except for the following packages which are installed under the “/opt” directory:

    • fca and ibutils

    • iproute2 (rdma tool) - installed under /opt/Mellanox/iproute2/sbin/rdma

  • The kernel modules are installed under

    • /lib/modules/`uname -r`/updates on SLES and Fedora Distributions

    • /lib/modules/`uname -r`/extra/mlnx-ofa_kernel on RHEL and other RedHat like Distributions

    • /lib/modules/`uname -r`/updates/dkms/ on Ubuntu

Firmware

  • The firmware of existing network adapter devices will be updated if the following two conditions are fulfilled:

    • The installation script is run in default mode; that is, without the option ‘--without- fw-update’

    • The firmware version of the adapter device is older than the firmware version included with the Mellanox OFED ISO image

      Note: If an adapter’s Flash was originally programmed with an Expansion ROM image, the automatic firmware update will also burn an Expansion ROM image.

  • In case your machine has an unsupported network adapter device, no firmware update will occur and the error message below will be printed.
    "The firmware for this device is not distributed inside Mellanox driver: 0000:01:00.0 (PSID: IBM2150110033)
    To obtain firmware for this device, please contact your HW vendor."

While installing MLNX_OFED, the install log for each selected package will be saved in a separate log file.

The path to the directory containing the log files will be displayed after running the installation script in the following format:

Example:

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Logs dir: /tmp/MLNX_OFED_LINUX-4.4-1.0.0.0.IBMM2150110033.logs

As of MLNX_OFED v2.2-1.0.0 the openibd script supports pre/post start/stop scripts:

This can be controlled by setting the variables below in the /etc/infiniband/openibd.conf file.

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OPENIBD_PRE_START OPENIBD_POST_START OPENIBD_PRE_STOP OPENIBD_POST_STOP

Example:

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OPENIBD_POST_START=/sbin/openibd_post_start.sh

Warning

An example of OPENIBD_POST_START script for activating all interfaces is provided in the MLNX_OFED package under the docs/scripts/openibd-post-start-configure-inter- faces/ folder.

Upon system boot, the Mellanox drivers will be loaded automatically.

To prevent the automatic load of the Mellanox drivers upon system boot:

Procedure_Heading_Icon.PNG

  1. Add the following lines to the "/etc/modprobe.d/mlnx.conf" file.

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    blacklist mlx4_core blacklist mlx4_en blacklist mlx5_core blacklist mlx5_ib

  2. Set “ONBOOT=no” in the "/etc/infiniband/openib.conf" file.

  3. If the modules exist in the initramfs file, they can automatically be loaded by the kernel. To prevent this behavior, update the initramfs using the operating systems’ standard tools.Note: The process of updating the initramfs will add the blacklists from step 1, and will prevent the kernel from loading the modules automatically.

The table below lists the mlnxofedinstall script return codes and their meanings.

Return Code

Meaning

0

The Installation ended successfully

1

The installation failed

2

No firmware was found for the adapter device

22

Invalid parameter

28

Not enough free space

171

Not applicable to this system configuration. This can occur when the required hardware is not present on the system.

172

Prerequisites are not met. For example, missing the required software installed or the hardware is not configured correctly.

173

Failed to start the mst driver

Installing MLNX_OFED on Innova™ IPsec Adapter Cards

This type of installation is applicable to RedHat 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 operating systems and Kernel 4.13.
As of version 4.2, MLNX_OFED supports Mellanox Innova IPsec EN adapter card that provides security acceleration for IPsec-enabled networks.
For information on the usage of Innova IPsec, please refer to Mellanox Innova IPsec EN Adapter Card documentation (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/networking/ethernet/innova-2-flex/).

Prerequisites

In order to obtain Innova IPsec offload capabilities once MLNX_OFED is installed, make sure Kernel v4.13 or newer is installed with the following configuration flags enabled:

  • CONFIG_XFRM_OFFLOAD

  • CONFIG_INET_ESP_OFFLOAD

  • CONFIG_INET6_ESP_OFFLOAD

For further details on how to use IPsec offload feature, please refer to 2020-05-25_15-32-31_IPSec Crypto Offload section.

Installing MLNX_OFED Using YUM

This type of installation is applicable to RedHat/OL, Fedora, XenServer operating systems.

Setting up MLNX_OFED YUM Repository

  1. Log into the installation machine as root.

  2. Mount the ISO image on your machine and copy its content to a shared location in your network.

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    # mount -o ro,loop MLNX_OFED_LINUX-<ver>-<OS label>-<CPU arch>.iso /mnt

  3. Download and install Mellanox Technologies GPG-KEY:
    The key can be downloaded via the following link:
    http://www.mellanox.com/downloads/ofed/RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox

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    # wget http://www.mellanox.com/downloads/ofed/RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox --2018-01-25 13:52:30-- http://www.mellanox.com/downloads/ofed/RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox Resolving www.mellanox.com... 72.3.194.0 Connecting to www.mellanox.com|72.3.194.0|:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 1354 (1.3K) [text/plain] Saving to: ?RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox?   100%[=================================================>] 1,354 --.-K/s in 0s   2018-01-25 13:52:30 (247 MB/s) - ?RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox? saved [1354/1354]

  4. Install the key.

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    # sudo rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox warning: rpmts_HdrFromFdno: Header V3 DSA/SHA1 Signature, key ID 6224c050: NOKEY Retrieving key from file:///repos/MLNX_OFED/<MLNX_OFED file>/RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox Importing GPG key 0x6224C050: Userid: "Mellanox Technologies (Mellanox Technologies - Signing Key v2) <support@mellanox.com>" From : /repos/MLNX_OFED/<MLNX_OFED file>/RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox Is this ok [y/N]:

  5. Check that the key was successfully imported.

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    # rpm -q gpg-pubkey --qf '%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}\t%{SUMMARY}\n' | grep Mellanox gpg-pubkey-a9e4b643-520791ba gpg(Mellanox Technologies <support@mellanox.com>)

  6. Create a yum repository configuration file called "/etc/yum.repos.d/mlnx_ofed.repo" with the following content:

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    [mlnx_ofed] name=MLNX_OFED Repository baseurl=file:///<path to extracted MLNX_OFED package>/RPMS/UPSTREAM_LIBS enabled=1 gpgkey=file:///<path to the downloaded key RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox> gpgcheck=1

    Note: If you wish to install MLNX_OFED with Mellanox Legacy libraries, make sure to replace UPSTREAM_LIBS with MLNX_LIBS in the "baseurl" path.

  7. Check that the repository was successfully added.

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    # yum repolist Loaded plugins: product-id, security, subscription-manager This system is not registered to Red Hat Subscription Management. You can use subscription-manager to register. repo id repo name status mlnx_ofed MLNX_OFED Repository 108 rpmforge RHEL 6Server - RPMforge.net - dag 4,597   repolist: 8,351

Installing MLNX_OFED Using the YUM Tool

After setting up the YUM repository for MLNX_OFED package, perform the following:

  1. View the available package groups by invoking:

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    # yum search mlnx-ofed- mlnx-ofed-all.noarch : MLNX_OFED all installer package (with KMP support) mlnx-ofed-basic.noarch : MLNX_OFED basic installer package (with KMP support) mlnx-ofed-guest.noarch : MLNX_OFED guest installer package (with KMP support) mlnx-ofed-hpc.noarch : MLNX_OFED hpc installer package (with KMP support) mlnx-ofed-hypervisor.noarch : MLNX_OFED hypervisor installer package (with KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma installer package (with KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-eth.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma-eth installer package (with KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-vpi.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma-vpi installer package (with KMP support)

    where:

    mlnx-ofed-all

    Installs all available packages in MLNX_OFED.

    mlnx-ofed-basic

    Installs basic packages required for running Mellanox cards.

    mlnx-ofed-guest

    Installs packages required by guest OS.

    mlnx-ofed-hpc

    Installs packages required for HPC.

    mlnx-ofed-hypervisor

    Installs packages required by hypervisor OS.

    mlnx-ofed-vma

    Installs packages required by VMA.

    mlnx-ofed-vma-eth

    Installs packages required by VMA to work over Ethernet.

    mlnx-ofed-vma-vpi

    Installs packages required by VMA to support VPI.

    Note: MLNX_OFED provides kernel module RPM packages with KMP support for RHEL and SLES. For other operating systems, kernel module RPM packages are provided only for the operating system's default kernel. In this case, the group RPM packages have the supported kernel version in their package's name.

    Example:

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    mlnx-ofed-all-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED all installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-basic-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED basic installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-guest-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED guest installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-hpc-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED hpc installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-hypervisor-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED hypervisor installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-eth-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma-eth installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-vpi-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma-vpi installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-hypervisor-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED hypervisor installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-eth-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma-eth installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support) mlnx-ofed-vma-vpi-3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64.noarch : MLNX_OFED vma-vpi installer package for kernel 3.17.4-301.fc21.x86_64 (without KMP support)

    If you have an operating system different than RHEL or SLES, or you have installed a kernel that is not supported by default in MLNX_OFED, you can use the mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh script to build MLNX_OFED for your kernel.
    The script will automatically build the matching group RPM packages for your kernel so that you can still install MLNX_OFED via yum.
    Please note that the resulting MLNX_OFED repository will contain unsigned RPMs, therefore, you should set 'gpgcheck=0' in the repository configuration file.

  2. Install the desired group.

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    # yum install mlnx-ofed-all Loaded plugins: langpacks, product-id, subscription-manager Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package mlnx-ofed-all.noarch 0:3.1-0.1.2 will be installed --> Processing Dependency: kmod-isert = 1.0-OFED.3.1.0.1.2.1.g832a737.rhel7u1 for package: mlnx-ofed-all-3.1-0.1.2.noarch .................. .................. qperf.x86_64 0:0.4.9-9  rds-devel.x86_64 0:2.0.7-1.12 rds-tools.x86_64 0:2.0.7-1.12 sdpnetstat.x86_64 0:1.60-26 srptools.x86_64 0:1.0.2-12   Complete!

Warning

Installing MLNX_OFED using the “YUM” tool does not automatically update the firmware.
To update the firmware to the version included in MLNX_OFED package, run:
# yum install mlnx-fw-updater
OR:
Update the firmware to the latest version available on Mellanox Technologies’ Web site as described in “Updating Firmware After Installation” section.

Installing MLNX_OFED Using apt-get

This type of installation is applicable to Debian and Ubuntu operating systems.

Setting up MLNX_OFED apt-get Repository

  1. Log into the installation machine as root.

  2. Extract the MLNX_OFED package on a shared location in your network.
    You can download it from https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/networking/ → Products → Software→ InfiniBand Drivers

  3. Create an apt-get repository configuration file called "/etc/apt/sources.list.d/mlnx_ofed.list" with the following content:

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    deb file:/<path to extracted MLNX_OFED package>/DEBS/UPSTREAM_LIBS ./

    Note: If you wish to install MLNX_OFED with Mellanox Legacy libraries, make sure to replace UPSTREAM_LIBS with MLNX_LIBS.

  4. Download and install Mellanox Technologies GPG-KEY.

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    # wget -qO - http://www.mellanox.com/downloads/ofed/RPM-GPG-KEY-Mellanox | sudo apt-key add -

  5. Verify that the key was successfully imported.

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    # apt-key list pub 1024D/A9E4B643 2013-08-11 uid Mellanox Technologies <support@mellanox.com> sub 1024g/09FCC269 2013-08-11

  6. Update the apt-get cache.

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    # sudo apt-get update

Installing MLNX_OFED Using the apt-get Tool

After setting up the apt-get repository for MLNX_OFED package, perform the following:

  1. View the available package groups by invoking:

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    # apt-cache search mlnx-ofed- mlnx-ofed-vma-eth - MLNX_OFED vma-eth installer package (with DKMS support) mlnx-ofed-hpc - MLNX_OFED hpc installer package (with DKMS support) mlnx-ofed-vma-vpi - MLNX_OFED vma-vpi installer package (with DKMS support) mlnx-ofed-basic - MLNX_OFED basic installer package (with DKMS support) mlnx-ofed-vma - MLNX_OFED vma installer package (with DKMS support) mlnx-ofed-all - MLNX_OFED all installer package (with DKMS support)

    where:

    mlnx-ofed-all

    MLNX_OFED all installer package.

    mlnx-ofed-basic

    MLNX_OFED basic installer package.

    mlnx-ofed-vma

    MLNX_OFEDvmainstaller package.

    mlnx-ofed-hpc

    MLNX_OFED HPC installer package.

    mlnx-ofed-vma-eth

    MLNX_OFEDvma-eth installer package.

    mlnx-ofed-vma-vpi

    MLNX_OFEDvma-vpiinstaller package.

  2. Install the desired group.

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    apt-get install '<group name>'

    Example:

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    apt-get install mlnx-ofed-all

    Warning

    Installing MLNX_OFED using the “apt-get” tool does not automatically update the firmware.
    To update the firmware to the version included in MLNX_OFED package, run:
    # apt-get install mlnx-fw-updater
    OR:
    Update the firmware to the latest version available on Mellanox Technologies’ Web site as described in “Updating Firmware After Installation” section.

Installing Mellanox Legacy Libraries

Installation Using mlnxofedinstall Script

As of MLNX_OFED v5.0, users can opt to install the driver with Mellanox Legacy libraries instead of upstream rdma-core libraries embedded in MLNX_OFED package.
In order to install the Mellanox Legacy libraries, add --mlnx-libs flag to the mlnxofedinstall script run.

Example:

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# /mnt/mlnxofedinstall --mlnx-libs

Warning
  • If using MLNX_OFED 4.9 LTS with MLNX_OFED 5.x with upstream verbs, MLNX_OFED 4.9 must be installed with --upstream-libs flag so the verbs libraries match.

  • A combination of 4.9 LTS default verbs and MOFED 5.x upstream verbs is not supported.

Installation Using Repositories

Mellanox Legacy Libraries can also be installed using the operating system's standard package manager (yum, apt-get, etc.).

  • For RPM based operating systems, follow the steps in “Installing MLNX_OFED Using YUM” section, using the directory “MLNX_LIBS" instead of “UPSTREAM_LIBS” when creating the “/etc/yum.repos.d/mlnx_ofed.repo” file.

  • For Debian based operating systems, follow the steps in “Installing MLNX_OFED Using apt-get” section using the directory “MLNX_LIBS” instead of “UPSTREAM_LIBS” when creating the “/etc/apt/sources.list.d/mlnx_ofed.list” file.

Finally, for both RPM and Debian based OSs, install the new metadata package called “mlnx-ofed-dpdk-upstream-libs”, which will install both the user space and kernel packages.
If you wish to install only the user space packages, make sure to install the metadata package called “mlnx-ofed-dpdk-upstream-libs-user-only”.

Warning

Note that upgrading the MLNX_OFED from an UPSTREAM_LIBS based version to an MLNX_LIBS based version requires uninstallation and re-installation of the driver.

Installing libdisni Package

DiSNI is a Java library for direct storage and networking access from user-space. It currently provides an RDMA interface to access remote memory, and an NVMf interface to access remote NVMe storage. The optional package installed as part of MLNX_OFED, contains the system-dependent part of DiSNI, and allows seamless use of DiSNI Java applications without any further installations. For more information, please visit:https://github.com/zrlio/disni.
In order to install the libdisni package, add the --with-libdisni flag to the mlnxofedinstall script.

Warning

This option is not installed by default.

Example:

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# /mnt/mlnxofedinstall --with-libdisni


As of MLNX_OFED v4.5, NEO-Host users can opt to install the NEO-Host package embedded in MLNX_OFED package.
In order to install NEO-Host, add the --with-neohost-backend flag to the mlnxofedinstall script run.

Example:

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# /mnt/mlnxofedinstall --with-neohost-backend

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