Configuring XL710 with Breakout Cables for ESXi 6.5

[ANkum]

I've seen the supported media matrix for the XL710 and I've read the QSFP+ Utility Tool guide. I notice that for VMware the documentation is very vague.

Are there any special configurations or commands that need to be done in order to breakout a from 40GbE to 4x10GbE or should it recognize the breakout cable?

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ankum,

Thank you for posting in Intel Ethernet Communities. The operations in the utility will be the same on VMware as they are in the quick usage guide demonstrated in Windows. The installation will be different. The base driver is required to be installed prior to running the utility, and the utility will be called qcun64e. Example (qcun64e /nic=1 /set=4x10). Let us know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,

Daniel D

Intel Customer Support

[ANkum]

Thanks Daniel!

So I ran the Utility tool and received the following.

Intel(R) QSFP+ Configuration Utility

QCU version: v2.32.20.28

Copyright(C) 2014 - 2018 by Intel Corporation.

Software released under Intel Proprietary License.

NIC Seg:Bus Ven-Dev Mode  Adapter Name

=== ======= ========= ======== =================================================

 1) 000:094 8086-1583 N/A   Intel(R) Ethernet Converged Network Adapter XL710

Error: Invalid image on the adapter.

Then I ran the it again with switches and I got this output

[root@hostXXXX] ./qcun64e /nic=1 /set=4x10

Intel(R) QSFP+ Configuration Utility

QCU version: v2.32.20.28

Copyright(C) 2014 - 2018 by Intel Corporation.

Software released under Intel Proprietary License.

QSFP+ Configuration modification is not supported by this adapter.

How to do I resolve this, so I can break this out into 4x10GbE?

[MrH]

Hello Daniel,

Could you tell me how to install qcu utility on esxi in detail. Thanks you very much!

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ankum, Thank you for the reply. Is this an Intel retail version of the XL710 adapter, or an OEM version? Please provide the markings from the product label, and the product code of the breakout cable being used. Please provide the output of "esxcli network nic get -n <interface>", so we can see the firmware that the adapter is running. Let us know if you have any questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[ANkum]

I believe it's the Intel retail version. The XL710 are in 4 Dell C6420s.

[root@hostXXXX:~] esxcli network nic get -n vmnic3

  Advertised Auto Negotiation: true

  Advertised Link Modes: 40000BaseCR4/Full

  Auto Negotiation: false

  Cable Type: 

  Current Message Level: 15

  Driver Info: 

     Bus Info: 0000:5e:00.0

     Driver: i40e

     Firmware Version: 6.00 0x800036d2 18.5.17

     Version: 2.0.7

  Link Detected: false

  Link Status: Down 

  Name: vmnic3

  PHYAddress: 0

  Pause Autonegotiate: false

  Pause RX: false

  Pause TX: false

  Supported Ports: 

  Supports Auto Negotiation: true

  Supports Pause: true

  Supports Wakeon: false

  Transceiver: external

  Virtual Address: 00:50:56:55:b5:fa

  Wakeon: None

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ankum, Thank you for the output. From the firmware version this might be a Dell OEM adapter. We can verify this with the markings. This will help us address any firmware or breakout cable compatibility. Have you tried the i40en 1.7.1 driver from VMware? That is the compatible driver for ESXi 6.5, but VMware may have additional information about driver compatibility. Let us know if you have any other questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ankum, Please let us know if you are still in need of assistance. Please inform us if you found a solution from Dell or some other means. Let us know if you have any questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ankum, Please let us know if you have any other questions. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support

[ANkum]

Hi Daniel,

We ended up swapping the XL710 with the X710. It made things easier and we had a timeline to complete. Thank you for all you assistance.

[Daniel_D_Intel1]

Hello Ankum, Thank you for the reply. Let us know if any other questions come up. Best regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support