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SLES9 64-bit with (GRE) tunnel - File transfer fails - Disabling TSO

Details

64-bit SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 with e1000 Virtual Device and Remote Console for Virtual Machines
When performing a file transfer from an SLES9 SP2 or SP3 virtual machine on an ESX Server host in a remote location while connected using a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) tunnel, the file transfer might fail.
SLES9 SP2 and SLES9 SP3 64-bit guest operating systems might send large-sized frames after receiving the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) from the tunnel.
Smaller-sized frames are not resent.

Solution

The e1000 virtual device has TCP Segmentation Offloading (TSO) capability built into it.

Use ethtool to turn off TSO capability as a workaround to manage the MTU size and file transfers.

Note: There are no problems with unsuccessful file transfers with the SLES10 guest operating system.

To query TSO settings in a SLES9 virtual machine use the command:

ethtool -k eth0

To change TSO settings in a SLES9 virtual machine use the command:

ethtool -K eth0 tso off

To retain the configuration after a system reboot a dd the following statements to /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-eth0 :

BOOTPROTO=static

IPADDR=10.1.1.10

NETMASK=255.255.255.0

BROADCAST=10.1.1.255

NETWORK=10.1.1.0

STARTMODE=onboot

TYPE=Ethernet

POST_UP_SCRIPT='/etc/sysconfig/network/tsooff-eth0'

/etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-eth0: #!/bin/bash ETHTOOL=`which ethtool` ${ETHTOOL} -K eth0 tso off

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KB Article: 1003563
Updated: Aug 14, 2009

Products:
VMware ESX
Product Versions:
VMware ESX 3.0.x

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