EX710 multicast joins are sometimes not processed by NIC

[RoyLoo]

I was experiencing multiple issues with multicast traffic on RHEL 7.5 with the X710 - DA4 FH / EX710DA4FHG1P5 running EX710 firmware version 8.15 and i40e driver version 2.1.14.
So decided to upgrade to the latest available versions released in December 2022:
• EX710 firmware-version: 9.10
• i40e driver version: 2.22.8

This solved many of the issues however one problem still seems to exist.

Sometimes (it occurs randomly) the IGMP join messages for multicast traffic don’t seem to be handled by the NIC (possibly driver/firmware).
In the OS I see that for the specific multicast group the binds are correctly handled and visible (netstat -ng) on the expected NIC interface.
I also see the IGMP join message passing by in Wireshark.
But the multicast stream is not let through the NIC, the network itself has IGMP snooping disabled so the traffic is always send to the node.
Once I enable “promiscuous” mode or the “all multicast” flag on the specific interface the multicast traffic is let through.
If I retransmit a join for the same traffic the join seems to be processed by the NIC and the data is also received by the applications that require it.
This lead me more and more into the direction of the NIC itself.

Very curious if anybody else is also experiencing this issue and/or knows a solution to solve this abnormal behavior.

[Faez_Intel]

Hi Roy,

Good day and I hope this message finds you well!

Thank you for the detailed description of the issue that you are currently facing for the multicast.

Based on your statement, did you only now need to enable the 'promiscuous' mode for the multicast traffic to be pass through compared to before you perform the driver upgrade for both the EX710  and i40e?

As for the multicast stream is not let through the NIC, this could refer to the NIC using its LAN engine features. Refer as below :

VMDq defines the hardware offloads that support Virtual Bridges (VBs) implemented in software (usually in a VMM). X710/XXV710/XL710 supports both VMDq version 1 and version 2.

Some of the major features of VMDq version 2 (VMDq2) — Internal switching from a TQ to a RQ — Broadcast and multicast replication — Ability to sort packets based on a combination VLAN tag and MAC address filter — Anti-spoofing transmit filters (VLAN and MAC)

Let me know if you have any other inquiries and I will be gladly assisting you accordingly.

Best regards,

Faez_Intel,

Intel Customer Support 

[Faez_Intel]

Hi Roy,

Good day and I hope this message finds you well!

This is just a follow up regarding on your inquiries. Kindly let us know if you have any additional questions or clarifications.

Should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out on accordingly.

Thanks,

Faez

[Faez_Intel]

Hi Roy,

I hope you're having a wonderful day. I am just sending a follow up to check if you still have any questions or clarifications. We will await for your reply. As for now, we will be closing your thread.

If you want for a continued support, please reply to this community thread and we will reopen your case or create a new one so that we can continue to support you.

Best regards,

Faez.

Intel Customer Support