Ethernet Configuration and Verification

See also the HP-UX LAN Administrator's Guide.

Use this procedure to configure and verify any type of HP-UX 11i v3-based Ethernet type cards including 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and Fast Ethernet.

Procedure 9-1 Installation, Configuration, and Verification Procedure

Install LAN card (if needed) and attach cables to it according to instructions in the server’s hardware support document.
Plug LAN card into the appropriate switch port.
Boot the system.
To see all LAN cards with drivers, run:
# ioscan -fnC lan
If you do not see your card, use ioscan to determine if the card is there but needs a driver (UNCLAIMED).
# ioscan -fn
If your LAN card is a built-in card or was factory installed, the software bundle required for the card is already loaded onto your system’s hard drive.
Install or update the driver if needed (to the latest version). Get the latest driver from the latest quarterly update media for your version of HP-UX. To add new software, see “Installing or Updating a Networking Driver with swinstall”.
Verify connectivity to the switch.
# nwmgr -c lanPPA -A link_state,speed
View cards with IP addresses.
# netstat -in
Assign IP addresses and subnet masks to additional cards as desired (options given later). See “Assigning IP Addresses and Subnet Masks to Additional Cards Using Web-Based HP SMH”.
For each interface, run ifconfig to verify the correct IP, netmask, and broadcast addresses. For example:
# ifconfig lan0
For each interface, ping the broadcast address shown in Step 10 and verify that you get responses from other nodes on that subnet.

This should get the system up and connected to any local networks. To set up communication between the local network and remote networks, see “Routing: Configuring the LAN to Reach Other Networks”.

Installing or Updating a Networking Driver with swinstall

You can either load the entire HP-UX 11i v3 operating environment (OE) from the distribution media and you will automatically get the correct LAN (and if applicable, mass storage) software bundles, or you can select and load the software bundle (or bundles) required for your card. The HP-UX Ethernet Card System-Driver Matrix, located in the document Ethernet System-Driver Matrix for HP-UX 11i v1, 11i v2, and 11i v3 in the I/O Cards and Networking Software section of http://docs.hp.com , tells which drivers are used with each card. To load a specific bundle:

Load the software media into the appropriate drive.
Run the swinstall command. See swinstall(1M) for details.
In the Select Source dialog, identify the depot containing the software by setting the Source Host Name and Source Depot Path, as necessary. Click OK.
In the Software Selection window, highlight the desired software bundle, such as the 1000Base-T software driver bundle GigEther-01 (for cards such as A6825A/A6847A 1-port) or IEther-00 (for cards such as A7011A/A7012A 2-port and AB545A 4-port).
Choose Mark for Install from the Actions menu to choose the bundle.
Choose Install from the Actions menu to begin product installation and open the Install Analysis window.
Click OK when the Status field displays Ready.
Click Yes in the Confirmation window to confirm that you want to install the software. swinstall loads the bundle, runs the control scripts, and builds the kernel. This should take about 3 to 5 minutes. When the Status field indicates Ready, click Done.
A Note window opens. Click the OK button to reboot the system.

Assigning IP Addresses and Subnet Masks to Additional Cards Using Web-Based HP SMH

To configure the LAN cards, you can use the web-based HP System Management Homepage (HP SMH).

Ensure that an X Window System server is running on your local system. See “Using the X Window System”.
Start web-based HP SMH from your local system. See “Starting an HP SMH Web Client”.
Navigate to Tools Network Interfaces ConfigurationNetwork Interface Cards (the HP-UX Network Interfaces Configuration Tool screen) and select the NIC tab.
Select the radio button of the LAN card that you want to modify. The interface details are displayed below the list.
In the procedure list on the right side, click View/Modify IP Attributes. The View/Modify IP Attributes screen is displayed.
Configure the IP address, host name, and any other desired parameters. Click the question mark (?) in the upper right corner of the screen to consult the online help.
(Optional) Select Preview to see the commands that will be executed.
Click OK to continue or Cancel to quit the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section describes how to solve some of the most frequently encountered problems and answers the most frequently asked questions.

Driver information: What driver do I need ?
1. What is the driver name in HP SMH (or other tools), for example, iether?
  See the Ethernet Support matrixes located in the document Ethernet System-Driver Matrix for HP-UX 11i v1, 11i v2, and 11i v3 in the I/O Cards and Networking Software section of http://docs.hp.com.
2. Is the software on the system?
  The principal Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet drivers are preloaded onto your system’s hard drive; the 10 Gigabit Ethernet driver needs to be selected and loaded from the OE media. To see if the driver software bundle is loaded on your hard drive, run swlist.
3. How can I tell if the driver is in the kernel?
  See “Verifying that the Networking Driver is in the Kernel”.
4. What software do I load?
  Most networking drivers are always installed, so you don’t have to load them onto your hard drive. The ones that are preloaded need to be configured to add IP addresses, and if desired, subnet masks, and any other optional settings. The 10 Gigabit Ethernet driver ixgbe is not pre-loaded; it is selectable. So, when setting up 10 Gigabit Ethernet networking for the first time on a system, you need to load it onto your hard drive using the swinstall utility.
5. Where can I get the software?
  All of the currently used networking drivers are included in the latest quarterly HP-UX update. The drivers are also available on the web. Go to http://www.hp.com and then choose Software and Driver Downloads.
6. How can I tell which version I have installed?
  See “Verifying that the Networking Driver is in the Kernel”.
Am I connected to the switch and at what speed?
In most cases, this a speed/duplex question. For details, see “Setting Speed and Duplex Mode of the LAN Card and Link Partner (Switch or Router)”.

Verifying LAN Installation

Verify that the LAN connector’s Link LED is steadily on. This means the card and driver are installed successfully.
Obtain the card name and the station address of each card by using the nwmgr command. The MAC address labeled on each card refers to LAN port A (the right port). Add 1 for each additional port to obtain the MAC address for any additional LAN ports.
To verify link-level connectivity with a remote system, enter:
# nwmgr --diag -c cardname -A dest=0x00306E2DF7FE
For example,
# nwmgr --diag -c lan0 -A dest=0x00306E2DF7FE
When you use nwmgr, ensure that the remote system is on the same LAN segment and is an HP-UX-based system.
To verify IP-level connectivity with a remote system, enter:
# ping remote-address -n 5 # netstat -in
Each time you run the command pair, the values for Ipkts and Opkts should increase.
Installation is complete when you have successfully run nwmgr, ping and netstat.

Optionally, if you want to verify that the driver appears for each installed card, enter:

# ioscan -fknClan

The output for each port would look something like the following:

Class     I  H/W Path   Driver S/W State   H/W Type     Description
===================================================================
lan       6  1/0/2/1/0/6/0 iether CLAIMED   INTERFACE    HP AD193A PCI/PCI-X 2-port 4Gb FC/2-port 1000B-T Combo Adapter
lan       6  1/0/2/1/0/6/1 iether CLAIMED   INTERFACE    HP AD193A PCI/PCI-X 2-port 4Gb FC/2-port 1000B-T Combo Adapter

The last two digits of the hardware path (third column) reflect the path of each port; in the sample output shown, the 0 indicates LAN A and the 1 indicates LAN B (for the two LAN ports on a multiport card). In this example of a card with two LAN ports, both ports need to show as CLAIMED here.

Routing: Configuring the LAN to Reach Other Networks

Once your IP address and subnet mask have been set, HP-UX should be able to deliver data to any node on your local network. In order for your local network to reach other networks, your machine needs access to a router or switch (devices that route data to other networks). A router is also considered a gateway to another network. Configuring the identity of a default gateway on your local machine can be done in any of four ways:

Using HP SMH.
Using set_parms.
Editing the /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file. The following entries define the routing for a single interface on a system.
ROUTE_DESTINATION[0]="default" ROUTE_MASK[0]="" ROUTE_GATEWAY[0]="196.6.20.2" ROUTE_COUNT[0]="1" ROUTE_ARGS[0]=""
As needed, set ROUTE_DESTINATION[0]="default" and ROUTE_COUNT[0]="1". Save changes.
After editing the netconf file, to start services and initiate the new route, use:
# /sbin/init.d/inetd start # /sbin/init.d/net start
Using the route command to put the new route into effect on the system as follows:
# /usr/sbin/route add default router_ip_address 1
If a different default route has already been defined, avoid ending up with two default routes on the system—one to the old gateway and one to the new gateway—by removing an existing route first. Use:
# route -f # route add default router_ipaddress 1

If your system does not need to access another system on a different network, you can assign the local system’s IP address as the ROUTE_GATEWAY, because it will be routing all network traffic directly to other local area systems. If the local system will be communicating with systems outside the local network, the ROUTE_GATEWAY must be the IP address of the gateway router. The system maintains a dynamic routing table in memory. This routing table is dynamic information on how to route to a specific system or network. You can add and delete routes in this table by using the route command. You can force a specific path to a destination if there is more than one way to get there. For details, please see the route(1M) manpage.

To verify the configuration, use the netstat command to display the current routing table.

# netstat -rn
Routing tables
Destination           Gateway            Flags Refs Interface  Pmtu
127.0.0.1             127.0.0.1          UH    0    lo0        4608
12.56.219.151         12.56.219.151      UH    59   lan0       4608
12.56.216.0           12.56.219.151      U     7    lan0       1500
127.0.0.0             127.0.0.1          U     0    lo0           0
default               15.0.64.1          UG    0    lan0          0

Setting Speed and Duplex Mode of the LAN Card and Link Partner (Switch or Router)

Gigabit Ethernet Base-T connections on those cards operate at 10 or 100 megabit/s in either full- or half-duplex modes and at 1000 megabit/s only in full-duplex mode.

When the LAN autonegotiates, it achieves the highest performance if the link partner (switch or router) is also set to either autonegotiation or 1000FD. The following table shows the resulting speed depending on the settings of the ports on the card and on your router or switch.

Table 9-1 HP-UX 1000Base-T Supported Configurations

HP-UX 1000Base-T Port	Link Partner	Resulting Speed
AUTO	AUTO	Highest Common Speed (HP-UX supports 10/100/1000)
AUTO	1000 FD fixed/manual	1000 Mb/s FD
10 HD	10 HD (for example, a 10Base-T Hub)	10 Mb/s HD
10 FD	10 FD	10 Mb/s FD
100 HD	100 HD	100 Mb/s HD
100 FD	100 FD	100 Mb/s FD

Ensuring Card and Link Partner Speed and Duplex Settings

A lot of duplex mismatch issues can show up as other problems. The following nwmgr results can tell whether the card and link partner are operating as you need.

Obtain the PPA number of each LAN link you are testing with nwmgr.

Test the card and link with nwmgr, as follows:

# nwmgr -c lanPPA -A link_state,speed

For example,

# nwmgr -c lan0 -A link_state,speed
lan0 current values:
  Link State = Up
  Speed = 1 Gbps Full Duplex (Autonegotiation : On)

The Speed line includes the current speed, the current duplex setting, and how the setting was determined.

If the last item says Autonegotiation : On (as above), this indicates you have set the card to auto_on and the card determines the correct setting. On Fast Ethernet links, this is only appropriate if the switch port is also in auto_negotiate mode. It will not work properly if the switch is hard set to 100FD. If you see something like:

Speed = 100 Mbps Half Duplex (Autonegotiation : On)

(note the Half Duplex) then it almost certainly means that the switch is hard set to 100FD. In this case, you will encounter collisions and dropped packets and potentially poor network performance or even see the switch disable the network port due to a (perceived) high error rate.

If you see:

Speed = 100 Mbps Full Duplex

(note the missing (Autonegotiation : On)), it means that your card is hard set to 100FD and is not autonegotiating. In this case, the switch must also be hard set or you will see errors as noted above.

HP recommends the settings shown in Table 9-1. For 100Mb/s links, setting one side of the link to autonegotiate and the other hard set to 100FD will cause connectivity problems. Always verify that the switch setting is the recommended one used across your site (such as 100FD).

Configuring Optional Jumbo Frames Size for Gigabit Ethernet

(Jumbo frames are supported only at 1000 Mb/s)

Jumbo frames for the iether and igelan drivers have a maximum transmission unit (MTU) in the range 1501 to 9000 bytes. Normal frames on have an MTU in the range 256 to 1500. If you are using Jumbo Ethernet frames, ensure that:
- All end stations on a given LAN have the same MTU setting;
  (In the Jumbo Frames description, “LAN” means that the end stations do not have any routers or layer 3 switches between them.)
- Intermediate stations such as switch ports in your LAN have an MTU equal to or greater than the end station’s MTU.
Obtain the PPA number of the card by entering nwmgr.
Start web-based HP SMH as described in “Starting an HP SMH Web Client”. Then:
1. Navigate to Tools Network Interfaces ConfigurationNetwork Interface Cards.
2. Select the NIC tab.
3. Select the LAN interface by clicking the radio button.
  The interface details are displayed below the list box.
4. In the right hand actions column, click View/Modify NIC Attributes.
  The View/Modify NIC Attributes window is displayed.
5. To use Jumbo Frames with the iether and igelan drivers, set the MTU value to a number in the range 1501 to 9000 bytes.
  The interface will be configured for Jumbo Frame operation, which will be retained across reboots.
Verify the MTU change by entering netstat -rn. If the MTU has not changed, enter the following commands (as root):
# ifconfig lanPPA unplumb # ifconfig lanPPA ip_addressnetmask netmask up

Verifying that the Networking Driver is in the Kernel

The Gigabit Ethernet drivers updated in December 2006 work on HP-UX 11i v3. To verify that the driver was loaded in the kernel, execute the following command:

# what /stand/vmunix |grep drivername

where drivername is igelan for the GigEther-01 bundled Gigabit Ethernet or iether for the IEther-00 bundle.

You should see a response like:

igelan_ilan Version: 1 Dec 18 2006
igelan Revision: B.11.31.05 Dec 18 2006

Related System and Network Administration

Refer to Table 9-2 to determine what configuration tool is best for a specific job and where to find information on them.

Table 9-2 Choosing a Configuration Tool

Associated system and networking tasks	Use tool or command	For further information
If setting up first network access on a system, you will need an IP address, and a host name.	set_parms You can configure the first or “core” LAN even if the configuration was postponed until after startup.	See “Setting System and Network Parameters” or set_parms(1M).
If adding multiple LAN cards:	To assign static IP addresses, use HP SMH.	See “Assigning IP Addresses and Subnet Masks to Additional Cards Using Web-Based HP SMH”.
	To assign dynamic IP addresses, use DHCP.	See the HP-UX IP Address and Client Management Administrator's Guide or the Ignite-UX Administration Guide.
	To resolve host names, use the domain name service (DNS).	See the HP-UX IP Address and Client Management Administrator's Guide.
	To aggregate ports for improved load balancing and failover, use HP Auto Port Aggregation (APA).	See the HP APA Support Guide.
If configuring multiple systems, and installing multiple OE images:	Use Ignite-UX.	See the Ignite-UX Administration Guide.
If setting up network services:	Enable Internet Services governed by inetd. Automatically done by start-up script.	See Using Internet Services.

Further Ethernet Information

For further information on all the current 10 Gigabit, Gigabit, and Fast Ethernet, see the I/O Cards and Networking Software section on the HP Technical Documentation web site, http://docs.hp.com.

For maintenance and troubleshooting information about the current 10 Gigabit, Gigabit, and Fast Ethernet drivers, see the Ethernet Support Guide