Installation Procedure - Nvidia Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx Series User Manual

The "mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh" script can be executed directly from the mlnxofedinstall
script. For further information, please see '--add-kernel-support' option below.

On Ubuntu and Debian distributions drivers installation use Dynamic Kernel Module
Support (DKMS) framework. Thus, the drivers' compilation will take place on the host
during MLNX_OFED installation. Therefore, using "mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh" is
irrelevant on Ubuntu and Debian distributions.
Example
The following command will create a MLNX_OFED_LINUX ISO image for RedHat 6.3 under the /
tmp directory.
# ./MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x-x-rhel6.3-x86_64/mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh -m /tmp/MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x-x-rhel6.3-
x86_64/ --make-tgz
Note: This program will create MLNX_OFED_LINUX TGZ for rhel6.3 under /tmp directory.
All Mellanox, OEM, OFED, or Distribution IB packages will be removed.
Do you want to continue?[y/N]:y
See log file /tmp/mlnx_ofed_iso.21642.log
Building OFED RPMs. Please wait...
Removing OFED RPMs...
Created /tmp/MLNX_OFED_LINUX-x.x-x-rhel6.3-x86_64-ext.tgz
• The script adds the following lines to /etc/security/limits.conf for the userspace components
such as MPI:
• * soft memlock unlimited
• * hard memlock unlimited
• These settings set the amount of memory that can be pinned by a user space application
to unlimited. If desired, tune the value unlimited to a specific amount of RAM.
For your machine to be part of the fabric, a Subnet Manager must be running on one of the fabric
nodes. At this point, Mellanox OFED for Linux has already installed the OpenSM Subnet Manager on
your machine.
For the list of installation options, run:
./mlnxofedinstall --h

The DKMS (on Debian based OS) and the weak-modules (RedHat OS) mechanisms rebuild the
initrd/initramfs for the respective kernel in order to add the MLNX_OFED drivers.
When installing MLNX_OFED without DKMS support on Debian based OS, or without KMP
support on RedHat or any other distribution, the initramfs will not be changed. Therefore, the
inbox drivers may be loaded on boot. In this case, openibd service script will automatically
unload them and load the new drivers that come with MLNX_OFED.

Installation Procedure

1. Login to the installation machine as root.
2. Mount the ISO image on your machine.
# mount -o ro,loop MLNX_OFED_LINUX-<ver>-<OS label>-<CPU arch>.iso /mnt
3. Run the installation script.
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