mlx5tool(8)

💖 NAME

okay so bestie, meet mlx5tool(8) — yes, from the System Manager's Manual — the utility for managing Connect-X 4/5/6 Mellanox network adapters. It's giving “PCIe card whisperer” energy, and honestly? Obsessed. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS

mlx5tool -d domain:bus:slot:func -E
mlx5tool -d domain:bus:slot:func -e
mlx5tool -d domain:bus:slot:func -f file.mfa2
mlx5tool -d domain:bus:slot:func -o file -w
mlx5tool -d domain:bus:slot:func -r
mlx5tool -d domain:bus:slot:func -z

🌸 DESCRIPTION

So mlx5tool is here for the parts of managing Connect-X4, 5 and 6 network adapters that the generic ifconfig(8) command doesn't cover — mostly stuff related to the PCIe attachment and the internal card working. It runs commands on a specific adapter, addressed using device:bus:slot:function conventions of the PCIe buses. You can match adapters' ethernet name and addresses with the pciconf(8) utility. That address is passed as an argument of the -d option, and bestie, -d must be specified for each invocation. No skipping it. 🫶

When the driver detects the malfunctioning of the hardware — or when a user requests it — it's possible to create a firmware dump. That dump contains debugging information about internal device state, for analysis of the failure by the Mellanox support team. Very “support ticket main character” of it. 😭

💅 the commands currently implemented

• -E — Print EEPROM information. Cute little info moment. ✨
• -e — Snapshot the firmware registers state and stash it in the kernel buffer. The buffer must be empty — in other words, no dumps should be written so far, or existing dump cleared with the or existing dump cleared with the ... and yes, the original sentence literally trails off right there. Iconic cliffhanger, no cap. 🎀
• -f — Flashes the firmware image file.mfa2 to the specified adapter. Image must be in MFA2 pack format and contain a component suitable for the adapter hardware.

Typically, PCIe link-level reset is required to activate the newly flashed image, which can be performed by the system reboot or using the -z option. -r command for the specified device. — yep, that stray line is in the original too; I'm not hiding it. 🔥

• -r — Clear the stored firmware dump, preparing the kernel buffer for the next dump. Fresh-start energy. 🌈
• -w — Fetches the stored firmware dump and writes it into the file specified by the -o option argument. 🍓
• -z — Performs PCIe link-level reset on the specified device. Reset era, honestly. 💅

Little caution flag from the page: for -e, the kernel buffer must be empty, and for -f, a PCIe link-level reset is typically required to activate the newly flashed image. This is not a drill. 🚨

🎀 FILES

The /dev/mlx5ctl devfs(4) node is used to pass commands to the driver. That's the whole files section, bestie. 💖

🦋 SEE ALSO

• mlx5en(4)
• mlx5ib(4)
• mlx5io(4)
• ifconfig(8)
• pciconf(8)

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okay that's the whole mlx5tool(8) page, brought to you by Debian, dated May 7, 2019, and yes — the manual is literally mlx5tool(8). Stay slay, keep your PCIe cards cozy. 💜