1. Overview of the Oracle VM Server for SPARC Software
2. Installing and Enabling Software
4. Setting Up Services and the Control Domain
Introduction to a Virtual Network
Set Options for an Existing Virtual Switch
Managing a Virtual Network Device
Set Options for an Existing Virtual Network Device
Remove a Virtual Network Device
Virtual Device Identifier and Network Interface Name
Find Oracle Solaris OS Network Interface Name
Assigning MAC Addresses Automatically or Manually
Range of MAC Addresses Assigned to Logical Domains
Automatic Assignment Algorithm
Duplicate MAC Address Detection
Using Network Adapters With Logical Domains
Determine If a Network Adapter Is GLDv3-Compliant
Configuring Virtual Switch and Service Domain for NAT and Routing
Set Up the Virtual Switch to Provide External Connectivity to Domains
Configuring IPMP in a Logical Domains Environment
Configuring Virtual Network Devices Into an IPMP Group in a Domain
Configuring and Using IPMP in the Service Domain
Using Link-Based IPMP in Logical Domains Virtual Networking
Configure Physical Link Status Updates
Configuring and Using IPMP in Releases Prior to Logical Domains 1.3
Configuring IPMP in the Guest Domain
Configuring IPMP in the Service Domain
Assign VLANs to a Virtual Switch and Virtual Network Device
Install a Guest Domain When the Install Server Is in a VLAN
Configure a Virtual Switch With an NIU Network Device
Using Link Aggregation With a Virtual Switch
Configure Virtual Network and Virtual Switch Devices to Use Jumbo Frames
Compatibility With Older (Jumbo-Unaware) Versions of the vnet and vsw Drivers
12. Performing Other Administration Tasks
A. Oracle VM Server for SPARC Physical-to-Virtual Conversion Tool
B. Oracle VM Server for SPARC Configuration Assistant
C. Logical Domains Manager Discovery
D. Using the XML Interface With the Logical Domains Manager
The Logical Domains virtual switch (vsw) and virtual network (vnet) devices can now support Ethernet frames with payload sizes larger than 1500 bytes. This change results in these drivers being able to increase network throughput.
You enable jumbo frames by specifying the maximum transmission unit (MTU) for the virtual switch device. In such cases, the virtual switch device and all virtual network devices that are bound to the virtual switch device use the specified MTU value.
In certain circumstances, you can specify an MTU value directly on a virtual network device. You might do this if the required MTU value for the virtual network device should be less than that supported by the virtual switch.
Note - On the Oracle Solaris 10 5/09 OS, the MTU of a physical device must be configured to match the MTU of the virtual switch. For more information about configuring particular drivers, see the man page that corresponds to that driver in Section 7D of the Oracle Solaris reference manual. For example, to obtain information about the nxge driver, see the nxge(7D) man page.
Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.
You can specify an MTU value from 1500 to 16000 bytes. The specified MTU must match the MTU of the physical network device that is assigned to the virtual switch.
Do one of the following:
Enable jumbo frames on a new virtual switch device in the service domain by specifying its MTU as a value of the mtu property.
# ldm add-vsw mtu=value vswitch-name ldom
In addition to configuring the virtual switch, this command updates the MTU value of each virtual network device that will be bound to this virtual switch.
Enable jumbo frames on an existing virtual switch device in the service domain by specifying its MTU as a value of the mtu property.
# ldm set-vsw mtu=value vswitch-name
In addition to configuring the virtual switch, this command updates the MTU value of each virtual network device that will be bound to this virtual switch.
In rare circumstances, you might need to use the ldm add-vnet or ldm set-vnet command to specify an MTU value for a virtual network device that differs from the MTU value of the virtual switch. For example, you might change the virtual network device's MTU value if you configure VLANs over a virtual network device and the largest VLAN MTU is less than the MTU value on the virtual switch. A vnet driver that supports jumbo frames might not be required for domains where only the default MTU value is used. However, if the domains have virtual network devices bound to a virtual switch that uses jumbo frames, ensure that the vnet driver supports jumbo frames.
If you use the ldm set-vnet command to specify an mtu value on a virtual network device, future updates to the MTU value of the virtual switch device are not propagated to that virtual network device. To reenable the virtual network device to obtain the MTU value from the virtual switch device, run the following command:
# ldm set-vnet mtu= vnet-name ldom
Note that enabling jumbo frames for a virtual network device automatically enables jumbo frames for any HybridIO resource that is assigned to that virtual network device.
On the control domain, the Logical Domains Manager updates the MTU values that are initiated by the ldm set-vsw and ldm set-vnet commands as delayed reconfiguration operations. To make MTU updates to domains other than the control domain, you must stop a domain prior to running the ldm set-vsw or ldm set-vnet command to modify the MTU value.
Example 8-2 Configuring Jumbo Frames on Virtual Switch and Virtual Network Devices
The following example shows how to add a new virtual switch device that uses an MTU value of 9000. This MTU value is propagated from the virtual switch device to all of the client virtual network devices.
First, the ldm add-vsw command creates the virtual switch device, primary-vsw0, with an MTU value of 9000. Note that instance 0 of the network device nxge0 is specified as a value of the net-dev property.
# ldm add-vsw net-dev=nxge0 mtu=9000 primary-vsw0 primary
Next, the ldm add-vnet command adds a client virtual network device to this virtual switch, primary-vsw0. Note that the MTU of the virtual network device is implicitly assigned from the virtual switch to which it is bound. As a result, the ldm add-vnet command does not require that you specify a value for the mtu property.
# ldm add-vnet vnet01 primary-vsw0 ldom1
The ifconfig command plumbs the virtual switch interface in the service domain, primary. The ifconfig vsw0 command output shows that the value of the mtu property is 9000.
# ifconfig vsw0 plumb # ifconfig vsw0 192.168.1.100/24 up # ifconfig vsw0 vsw0: flags=201000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,CoS> mtu 9000 index 5 inet 192.168.1.100 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255 ether 0:14:4f:fa:0:99
The ifconfig command plumbs the virtual network interface in the guest domain, ldom1. The ifconfig vnet0 command output shows that the value of the mtu property is 9000.
# ifconfig vnet0 plumb # ifconfig vnet0 192.168.1.101/24 up # ifconfig vnet0 vnet0: flags=201000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,CoS> mtu 9000 index 4 inet 192.168.1.101 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255 ether 0:14:4f:f9:c4:13
The following example shows how to use the ifconfig command to change the MTU of the interface to 4000.
Note that the MTU of an interface can only be changed to a value that is less than the MTU of the device that is assigned by the Logical Domains Manager. This method is useful when VLANs are configured and each VLAN interface needs a different MTU.
# ifconfig vnet0 mtu 4000 # ifconfig vnet0 vnet0: flags=1201000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,CoS,FIXEDMTU> mtu 4000 index 4 inet 192.168.1.101 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255 ether 0:14:4f:f9:c4:13
Drivers that support jumbo frames can interoperate with drivers that do not support jumbo frames on the same system. This interoperability is possible as long as jumbo frame support is not enabled when you create the virtual switch.
Note - Do not set the mtu property if any guest or service domains that are associated with the virtual switch do not use Logical Domains drivers that support jumbo frames.
Jumbo frames can be enabled by changing the mtu property of a virtual switch from the default value of 1500. In this instance, older driver versions ignore the mtu setting and continue to use the default value. Note that the ldm list output will show the MTU value you specified and not the default value. Any frames larger than the default MTU are not sent to those devices and are dropped by the new drivers. This situation might result in inconsistent network behavior with those guests that still use the older drivers. This applies to both client guest domains and the service domain.
So, while jumbo frames are enabled, ensure that all virtual devices in the Logical Domains network are upgraded to use the new drivers that support jumbo frames. Also ensure that you upgrade to at least Logical Domains 1.2 so that you can configure jumbo frames.