IXGBE(4)

πŸ’– IXGBE(4) πŸ’–

okay bestie, buckle up, we're reading the ixgbe page from the Kernel Interfaces Manual and honestly? it's giving network queen. this is the manual page for the Intel(R) 10Gb Ethernet driver for the FreeBSD operating system, and yes we are going to read the whole thing together, no skimming, no skipping. πŸ¦‹


✨ NAME ✨

ixgbe β€” Intel(R) 10Gb Ethernet driver for the FreeBSD operating system

like. that's the whole name. short, sweet, slays. πŸ‘‘


🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

so if you wanna compile this driver into the kernel (main character move, honestly), you drop these lines into your kernel configuration file:

device iflib
device ixgbe

or, alternatively, if you'd rather load the driver as a module at boot time, you put this line in loader.conf(5):

if_ixgbe_load="YES"

that's it. two paths, one driver. pick your fighter. πŸ’…


πŸ’œ DESCRIPTION πŸ’œ

okay so the ixgbe driver provides support for PCI 10Gb Ethernet adapters based on the Intel 82598EB Intel(R) Network Connections. and the driver supports Jumbo Frames, MSIX, TSO, and RSS. that's four whole acronyms, we love a multi-talented icon. ✨

got questions about hardware requirements? bestie, refer to the documentation supplied with your Intel 10GbE adapter. and note this: all hardware requirements listed there apply to use with FreeBSD. all of them. every single one. 🫢

Support for Jumbo Frames is provided via the interface MTU setting. so when you select an MTU larger than 1500 bytes with the ifconfig(8) utility, that configures the adapter to receive and transmit Jumbo Frames. and the maximum MTU size for Jumbo Frames is 16114. big frames, big vibes. πŸŽ€

also! this driver version supports VLANs. for information on enabling VLANs, see ifconfig(8). iykyk. 🌈


πŸ”₯ HARDWARE πŸ”₯

the ixgbe driver supports the following cards:

  • Intel(R) 10 Gigabit XF SR/AF Dual Port Server Adapter
  • Intel(R) 10 Gigabit XF SR/LR Server Adapter
  • Intel(R) 82598EB 10 Gigabit AF Network Connection
  • Intel(R) 82598EB 10 Gigabit AT CX4 Network Connection

four cards, all of them valid, all of them invited to the party. πŸ’–


πŸ’€ DIAGNOSTICS πŸ’€

these are the messages the driver might hit you with. pay attention, bestie, some of these are not cute.

ixgbe%d: Unable to allocate bus resource: memory β€” a fatal initialization error has occurred. 😭

ixgbe%d: Unable to allocate bus resource: interrupt β€” a fatal initialization error has occurred. 😭

ixgbe%d: watchdog timeout -- resetting β€” the device has stopped responding to the network, or there is a problem with the network connection (cable).

not me seeing "fatal initialization error" twice in a row. twice!! fix your resources, bestie, this driver is begging you. πŸ™ˆ

🫢 SUPPORT 🫢

for general information and support, go to the Intel support website at: http://support.intel.com.

and if an issue is identified with the released source code on the supported kernel with a supported adapter, email the specific information related to the issue to ⟨freebsd@intel.com⟩. be specific! give them the info! they want the info! πŸ’œ


🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

altq(4), arp(4), netintro(4), ng_ether(4), polling(4), vlan(4), ifconfig(8)

a whole little reading list. go forth and educate yourself. πŸ“šβœ¨


πŸ¦‹ HISTORY πŸ¦‹

the ixgbe device driver first appeared in FreeBSD 7.0. vintage. iconic. still here. πŸ‘‘


πŸŽ€ AUTHORS πŸŽ€

the ixgbe driver was written by Intel Corporation <freebsd@intel.com>. give them their flowers. πŸ’


and that's the whole page, bestie!! no cap, you now know everything this manual knows. go configure some 10Gb Ethernet and be the main character of your own network. πŸ’…βœ¨

this little love letter to ixgbe comes to you from the Debian edition of the manual, dated January 30, 2019. mwah. 🫢

πŸ“¦ where this page comes from