AIX UNIX: Enabling Jumbo Frames

 

by nixCraft on March 14, 2010 · 0 comments· LAST UPDATED October 26, 2012

in AIX

How do I setup jumbo frames under IBM AIX operating systems using command line tools?

You can use any one of the following method.

Tutorial details
Difficulty	Advanced (rss)
Root privileges	Yes
Requirements	AIX
Estimated completion time	N/A

Method #1: Use SMIT Tool

The AIX comes with a tool called "SYSTEM Management Interface Tool" (SMIT), It is an interactive tool bundled with AIX which provides a menu-based alternative to the command line for managing and maintaining the AIX operating system. This tool can be used to setup jumbo frames too.
smitty
OR
smitty -a
You need to go to Devices > Communication > Ethernet Adapter > Adapter > Change / Show Characteristics of an Ethernet Adapter > Select the interface in question from the list (such as ent1 or ent2). Make sure you enable jumbo frames.

                                  Change/Show Characteristics of an Ethernet Adapter
Type or select values in entry fields.
Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes.
                                                     [Entry Fields]
  Ethernet Adapter                                    ent0
  Description                                         10/100/1000 Base-TX PCI-X Adapter (14106905)
  Status                                              Available
  Location                                            1H-08
  Receive descriptor queue size                      [1024]                                                      +#
  Transmit descriptor queue size                     [512]                                                       +#
  Software transmit queue size                       [8192]                                                      +#
  Transmit jumbo frames                               yes                                                         +
  Enable hardware transmit TCP resegmentation         yes                                                         +
  Enable hardware transmit and receive checksum       yes                                                         +
  Media Speed                                         Auto_Negotiation                                            +
  Enable ALTERNATE ETHERNET address                   no                                                          +
  ALTERNATE ETHERNET address                         [0x000000000000]                                             +
  Apply change to DATABASE only                       no                                                          +
F1=Help                       F2=Refresh                    F3=Cancel                     F4=List
Esc+5=Reset                   Esc+6=Command                 Esc+7=Edit                    Esc+8=Image
Esc+9=Shell                   Esc+0=Exit                    Enter=Do

(Fig.01: A typical smitty screen to set MTU)

How do I Set MTU to 9000 under AIX operating systems?

Next, hit F3 key (or [esc]+3) and come back to the System management main menu. Go to TCP/IP item. Find MTU and set it to 9000.

Option #2: Command Line Option To Change MTU under AIX UNIX

In this example I'm setting mtu to 9000 for ent1/en1

 
chdev -Pl ent1 -a jumbo_frames=yes
chdev -Pl en1  -a mtu=9000
 

You need to reboot the server. Please note that both smit/smitty or the chdev command changes the values in the ODM database on disk so they will be permanent. Please note that the following command will only work over the ssh session if use a different interface for ssh'ing in to the server:

 
chdev -P -l ent1 -a media_speed=Auto_Negotiation
ifconfig en1 down detach
chdev -l ent1 -a jumbo_frames=yes
chdev -l en1 -a mtu=9000
chdev -l en1 -a state=up