In my previous post we went over the basics of configuring a network interface in Solaris 11, without using the Network Auto Magic (NWAM) which is enabled by default.  In this article we will go over some of the more advanced features which can be leveraged including VLANs, aggregation groups, and jumbo frames.

Configure VLAN Tagging

Create a VLAN, specify the VLAN id with the “-v”, then specify the interface with the “-l”, and finally create a name for the tagged interface (in this case user0 since this particular system is the user VLAN, if you have more descriptive names of your VLANs you can use them here).

bash 
dladm create-vlan -v 20 -l bge0 user0
bash 
dladm show-vlan
LINK            VID      OVER         FLAGS
user0           20       bge0         -----
bash 
ipadm show-if
IFNAME     STATE    CURRENT      PERSISTENT
lo0        ok       -m-v------46 ---
bge0       ok       bm--------46 -46
user0      ok       bm--------46 -46

For simplicity I will delete the IP configuration on the untagged interface.

bash 
ipadm delete-addr bge0/v4

As we did in our previous article you can now create an IP configuration on top of the new tagged interface (which in this case is DHCP).

bash 
ipadm create-addr -T dhcp user0/v4

Keep in mind if you change the VLAN you will most likely need to change your default route.  The below options “-fp” f will flush meaning delete all current routes, while the p will make the new settings persistent.  In this case afterwards we will only have 192.168.100.1 as a default gateway.

bash 
route -fp add default 192.168.100.1

Delete a VLAN

If you have used the VLAN before you will need to “unwind” the configuration before deleting the VLAN.

bash 
ipadm delete-addr user0/v4
bash 
ipadm delete-if user0

Now that this is done you can delete the VLAN.

bash 
dladm delete-vlan user0

Create an Aggregation Group

With this command we create a new aggregation group and assign interfaces to the aggregation group.  If the interface is already in use then you will need to delete the interface before adding it to an aggregation group.

bash 
dladm create-aggr -l bnx0 -l bnx1 aggr0

Now we can view the details of our aggregation group.

bash 
dladm show-aggr
LINK            POLICY   ADDRPOLICY           LACPACTIVITY  LACPTIMER   FLAGS
aggr0           L4       auto                 off           short       -----
bash 
dladm show-link
LINK        CLASS     MTU    STATE    BRIDGE     OVER
bnx0        phys      1500   up     --         --
bnx1        phys      1500   up       --         --
aggr0       aggr      1500   up  --         bnx0, bnx1

Now we add an IP configuration against the aggregated interface.

bash 
ipadm create-addr -T static -a 192.168.100.172/24 aggr0/v4

Modify an Aggregration Group

If you need to add or remove an interface from an aggregation group then the following commands will allow you to do that.

bash 
dladm add-aggr -l bnx2 aggr0
bash 
dladm remove-aggr -l bnx1 aggr0

You can also adjust the LACP Policy using the below command.  Where L4 is L2, L3, L4, or any combination of them based on the desired behavior.

bash 
dladm modify-aggr -P L4 aggr0

The LACP mode can be configured using the below command where active is either auto, active, or passive.  Additionally if configuring active mode you must also configure a timer value of short or long, this option is not needed for auto or passive.

bash 
dladm modify-aggr -L active -T short aggr0

Delete Aggregation Group

Delete the IP configuration from the aggregation group

bash 
ipadm delete-addr aggr0/v4

Delete the Aggregated Interface

bash 
ipadm delete-if aggr0

Delete the Aggregation Group

bash 
dladm delete-aggr aggr0

Enable Jumbo Frames

Basically Jumbo Frames allow the system to reduce the network overhead by combining more data into a single TCP frame, this is analogous to renting a box truck when you move into a new house.  If you had to use your Prius to move, you would spend much more time waiting to finish the process, as well as expending more resources.  Now Jumbo Frames doesn’t mean that it will always help.  If we step back to our analogy of moving into a new house, if you all of your stuff amounts to a single suitcase then renting a moving truck doesn’t do anything to make your trip more efficient.  So if you are not send large amounts of data then Jumbo Frames will not help you, however if you are working on a storage network and even with some file sharing you will get a bonus.  Also in order for Jumbo Frames to work, both sides of the communication must support it or it will not use the higher MTU, as well as all devices along the way.

To display the current mtu of an interface

bash 
dladm show-linkprop -p mtu bge0
LINK         PROPERTY        PERM VALUE          DEFAULT        POSSIBLE
bge0         mtu             rw   1500           1500           1500

To set the mtu to enable jumbo frames

bash 
dladm set-linkprop -p mtu=9000 bge0

To set the mtu to not use jumbo frames

bash 
dladm set-linkprop -p mtu=1500 bge0

UPDATE

September 16, 2011

In the comments of my article “Solaris 11: Network Configuration Basics” you will notice “Kristen” mentioned that the ipadm command has changed in newer builds of Solaris 11.  At the time she was using a newer build than I had available to me, so I could not verify her claim, however now I have verified this change against the Solaris 11 Early Adopter release snv_173.  So be prepared to make the following changes.

bash 
ipadm create-if bge0
ipadm delete-if bge0

Will now be

bash 
ipadm create-ip bge0
ipadm delete-ip bge0

The following were not changed:

  • ipadm enable-if
  • ipadm disable-if
  • ipadm show-if