Remove TNSR NIC for Host Use¶

If TNSR is controlling a network interface that should be used by the host OS, it can be returned to host OS control in a few steps.

Locate the Interface¶

First, identify the interface in question. The PCI ID and Linux interface name are required to proceed, and Host Interface Name to Dataplane ID Mapping explains the relationship between these interface names and IDs.

In this example, the TNSR interface GigabitEthernet0/14/3 will be returned to the host OS. Based on the name, the PCI ID is 0000:00:14.3, and converting from hexadecimal to decimal yields the Linux interface name enp0s20f3. This is determined based on PCI bus 0, Bus slot 20 (decimal), function 3.

Remove the Interface from TNSR¶

First, remove any configuration items using the interface. The interface could be present in several places, so inspect the entire running configuration for references to this interface and then remove them.

Next, remove the interface configuration itself:

tnsr# configure
tnsr(config)# no interface GigabitEthernet0/14/3

The manual specification in the dataplane by PCI ID as mentioned in Configuring Interfaces for TNSR must be removed. This will be present in the running configuration inside the <dataplane> section, if one exists. To remove the configuration, follow this example using the correct PCI ID:

tnsr(config)# no dataplane dpdk dev 0000:00:14.3

Save the configuration after making these changes, as the next steps will involve actions that may result in the startup configuration being used by TNSR:

tnsr(config)# db copy running startup

Exit the TNSR CLI.

Reactivate the Host Interface¶

At this point, the interface is ready to return to host OS control. There are two methods to complete the process: Reboot the host, or manually reactivate the interface.

Reboot¶

The fastest and easiest option is to reboot the host. This will allow the host to naturally locate and resume control of the device.

Warning

All traffic processing by TNSR will stop while the host is rebooting!

Reboot the host from the shell as follows:

$ sudo shutdown -r

Manually Reactivate¶

Warning

The following procedure is advanced and the best practice is to reboot and not follow this method. This should only be attempted in cases where the device cannot be rebooted.

There is also a manual method which may be used if a reboot is not feasible.

First, stop TNSR and related services:

Warning

This command will stop TNSR and all traffic processing!

$ sudo tnsrctl stop

Next, start a root shell and unbind the device from the current driver (TNSR):

$ sudo -s
# echo '0000:00:14.3' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:14.3/driver/unbind'

Warning

Note the use of the PCI ID in both locations in the command, and the use of quotes around parameters.

That leaves the device unbound. Now it must be returned to a host kernel driver. The name of this driver depends on the hardware. For most Netgate TNSR devices this will be igb or igc depending on the interface involved.

Still using the root shell from the previous command, bind the interface to the driver as follows:

# echo '0000:00:14.3' > '/sys/bus/pci/drivers/igb/bind'

Note

For different types of interfaces, replace igb in that command with the name of the appropriate driver, e.g. igc.

Lastly, start the dataplane and related services:

$ sudo tnsrctl start

Configure the Host Interface¶

With the interface returned to host OS control, now it can be configured for use by the TNSR host using the TNSR CLI.

Using the TNSR CLI¶

Using the TNSR CLI to manage host interfaces is the best practice as the configuration will be managed by and visible from within TNSR, offering a more consistent experience and avoiding the need for tracking down or manually configuring items in the host OS. Any required changes in the host OS configuration can be accounted for in TNSR updates, so this is also more likely to work properly between OS updates.

DHCP¶

For an interface receiving its IP address and routes from DHCP, the configuration is fairly simple:

tnsr(config)# host interface enp0s20f3
tnsr(config-host-if)# enable
tnsr(config-host-if)# ip dhcp-client enable
tnsr(config-host-if)# exit

The interface will start at this point and request an address.

Now save the configuration:

tnsr(config)# db copy running startup

Static IP Address¶

First set the interface address:

tnsr(config)# host interface enp0s20f3
tnsr(config-host-if)# enable
tnsr(config-host-if)# ip address 172.19.10.2/24
tnsr(config-host-if)# exit

The interface will be up and configured at this point but without any routes.

Next, set the default route:

tnsr(config)# host route table default
tnsr(config-host-route-table)# interface enp0s20f3
tnsr(config-host-route)# route 0.0.0.0/0
tnsr(config-host-route-ip4)# via 172.19.10.1
tnsr(config-host-route-ip4)# end config

After exiting the route configuration, the routes will be present in the host OS routing table.

Now save the configuration:

tnsr(config)# db copy running startup

Check the Host Interface¶

At this point the interface is now under host OS control and will be listed in the output of ip and similar commands.

$ ip addr show dev enp0s20f3
5: enp0s20f3: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:08:a2:09:95:b4 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff