Installation guide

On an Intel system, enable Intel VT-d in the BIOS if it is not enabled already. Refer to
Procedure 12.1, “Preparing an Intel system for PCI device assignment” for procedural help on
enabling Intel VT-d in the BIOS and kernel.
Skip this step if Intel VT-d is already enabled and working.
On an AMD system, enable the AMD IOMMU specifications in the BIOS if they are not enabled
already. Refer to Procedure 12.2, “ Preparing an AMD system for PCI device assignment” for
procedural help on enabling IOMMU in the BIOS.
2. Verif y su p p o rt
Verify if the PCI device with SR-IOV capabilities is detected. This example lists an Intel 82576
network interface card which supports SR-IOV. Use the l spci command to verify whether the
device was detected.
# lspci
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82576 Gigabit
Network Connection (rev 01)
03:00.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82576 Gigabit
Network Connection (rev 01)
Note that the output has been modified to remove all other devices.
3. St art t h e SR- IO V kern el mo d ules
If the device is supported the driver kernel module should be loaded automatically by the
kernel. Optional parameters can be passed to the module using the mo d pro be command.
The Intel 82576 network interface card uses the i g b driver kernel module.
# modprobe igb [<option>=<VAL1>,<VAL2>,]
# lsmod |grep igb
igb 87592 0
dca 6708 1 igb
4. Act ivat e Virt u al Fu n ct io n s
The max_vfs parameter of the i g b module allocates the maximum number of Virtual
Functions. The max_vfs parameter causes the driver to spawn, up to the value of the
parameter in, Virtual Functions. For this particular card the valid range is 0 to 7.
Remove the module to change the variable.
# modprobe -r igb
Restart the module with the max_vfs set to 7 or any number of Virtual Functions up to the
maximum supported by your device.
# modprobe igb max_vfs=7
5. Make t h e Virt ual Fu n ct io ns p ersist en t
Add the line o pti o ns i g b max_vfs= 7 to any file in /etc/mo d pro be. d to make the
Virtual Functions persistent. For example:
⁠Chapt er 1 3. SR- IO V
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