Using Virtual Functions in OVS switches

[RRava]

Hi,

I am using SR-IOV on an i350 interface on a Linux machine and, even though I mainly need Virtual Functions (VFs) in PCI-passthrough mode, I would also like to be able to use VFs as regular interfaces in openvswitch (OVS) switches.

For instance, here's a simple setup with SR-IOV in PCI-passthrough. A VM communicates to an external machine through VF0 in PCI-passhtrough:

[VM] <-> [VF0] <-> [external machine]

If the PF is connected through a cable to another machine, I can ping this other machine successfully from the VM.

Now, if I remove the PCI-passthrough link and replace it with an OVS switch that contains the VM interface and VF0, I cannot ping the external machine from the VM:

[VM] <-> [ OVS switch ] <-> [VF0] <-> [external machine]

I suppose that this is related to some MAC address checking going on at the VF level. One workaround I found is to assign to the VM interface the same MAC address as VF0, but clearly this is not a scalable solution. Disabling spoof checking on the host on VF0 doesn't do the trick ($ ip link set eth7 vf 1 spoofchk off).

I know that I could just replace VF0 with the corresponding PF and it would work, but is there any additional step to take to make my setup work?

[idata]

Hello Ricrav,

Thank you for posting in Intel Wired Ethernet Communities. We are currently looking into this issue. Please do not hesitate to reply with any other questions or updates. We will update you as soon as we have more information.Regards,Daniel DIntel Customer SupportAgent under contract to Intel

[idata]

Hello Ricrav,

After testing the VF in PCI-passthrough mode are you using the same VF when testing the OVS, or are you using separate VF's to test this? Please let me know.Regards,Daniel DIntel Customer SupportAgent under contract to Intel

[RRava]

Hi Daniel,

The outcome is the same whether I use the same VF or a different one and regardless of the order in which I run the two setups. Also, I can very well skip the PCI-passthrough setup all together and just run the OVS setup: the limitation on MAC addresses will still be there.

[idata]

Hello Ricrav,

We would like to try and reproduce this to find a solution. Would you be able to provide detailed setup of this configuration with steps to replicate this scenario. Please include VM configuration, Hardware in use, network settings, OVS configuration, driver version, Linux, and software versions.Regards,Daniel DIntel Customer SupportAgent under contract to Intel

[idata]

Hello Ricrav,

Please let us know if you are still encountering an issue. Waiting for a response to move forward with out investigation. Thank you for your cooperation. Please ask if you have any questions. Regards, Daniel D Intel Customer Support Agent under contract to Intel

[vutang]

Hi @RRava and @idata 

Is this problem solved? It seems that I have same issue when using X710

Regards

Vu Tang