Bluefield ARM chip unable to communicate through ethernet port, are there setup steps for that?

1

I’ve configured the cards according to the quickstart guide here:

https://docs.mellanox.com/pages/releaseview.action?pageId=15049820

using the Ubuntu bfb provided by Mellanox.

Beyond that, I’ve configured the ethernet interface on the arm with an IP/subnet. However, trying to communicate through that interface always fails to connect, even to devices on the same subnet/switch. Are there any specific steps needed to enable direct communication through the ethernet ports on the ARM side?

Thanks for any help!

2

Hi Matthew,

The SmartNIC can operate in 2 modes:

SEPERATED_HOST (default mode) - the hosting server and the SmartNIC ARM OS act as separated entities

SmartNIC - the hosting server is communicating with the outer world only through the SmartNIC ARM

SmartNIC mode requires having a bridge, in the example we configure an OVS bridge.

There is no need to configure IP on the ARM.

For more information, I suggest to follow the extended User Manual:

https://docs.mellanox.com/display/BlueFieldSWv25111213/Virtual+Switch+on+BlueField+SmartNIC

I also recommend watching this BlueField bring-up video:

https://community.mellanox.com/s/article/BlueField-SmartNIC-Bring-Up-Video

Regards,

Chen

3

Hi Chen,

Thank you for your reply. I did forget to mention in the original post that the NIC is already configured for SEPARATED_HOST mode, by running:

mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 s INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=0

mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0.1 s INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=0

and rebooting. Querying the mode successfully reports that it is in separated host mode. Is there anything else that needs to be configured for the ARM to be able to access the outer world as a separate entity?

Thanks,

Matthew