XenServer – Change Bonding Mode

Thursday, 13. August 2009

By default XenServer 5.5 uses source-based ARP load balancing (balance-slb or mode 7) for bonding.  If this is needed to be changed to a different mode all that is needed to do is edit the file /opt/xensource/libexec/interface-reconfigure on line 863.  Do this using the following command:

vi /opt/xensource/libexec/interface-reconfigure +863

once there the value for mode can be changed from “balance-slb” to any supported mode.  Here is a list of the modes:

balance-rr
active-backup
balance-xor
broadcast
802.3ad
balance-tlb
balance-alb
balance-slb

See Linux Channel Bonding for more information on the types of bond modes.  Unfortunately I could not find much information on balance-slb.

To check if the bond mode change worked correctly run

cat /proc/net/bonding/bond<bondnumber>

Run ifconfig to find the bondnumber.

This will list the bond mode and the slave interfaces to the bond.

12 Responses to “XenServer – Change Bonding Mode”



  1. Nils Rossmann Says:

    Brian,

    thanks for your helpful entry. As I’m using a xenserver oem from a sd-card, I can’t change this file because it is read-only.
    I found a solution for this problem in this forum:
    http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?threadID=249554&tstart=0

    xe pif-param-set uuid= other-config:bond-mode=
    where is one of the above mentioned modes.
    is the UUID of the bonding interface.

    best regards
    Nils



  2. Nils Rossmann Says:

    The blog tool removed the variables:

    xe pif-param-set uuid=UUID other-config:bond-mode=MODE
    where UUID is the UUID of the bonding interface and MODE is one of the above mentioned modes.



  3. Jason Says:

    It keeps saying read only file system so I can’t modify it. Any ideas?



  4. nc Says:

    Have you had any luck finding news on balance-slb? It appears to be a patch that Citrix is applying, but I’m not finding the source for it. Maybe I should grab the source kit and see if it’s in there..



  5. Tina Says:

    Brian you need to update this for XenServer 5.6



  6. Robert Says:

    You can find the official description of citrix “balance-sbl” on the XenServer Administrator’s Guide
    http://docs.vmd.citrix.com/XenServer/5.6.0/1.0/en_gb/reference.html#networking-concepts-nic_bonds

    please also note the last note. It does describe the 3.1 seconds delay highlighted by Bret Palsson

    WARNIG: looks also like that using mode 802.3ad in XenServer 5.6 goes to panic the kernel (read last posts in this thread http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1425438)

    R.



  7. Bob Says:

    @Tina

    The method Nils Rossmann described works on 5.6.

    xe pif-param-set uuid=UUID other-config:bond-mode=MODE
    where UUID is the UUID of the bonding interface and MODE is one of the above mentioned modes.



  8. Bruno Says:

    @Bob
    Can you tell me in which file this can be changed on 5.6? Because there is no line 836



  9. Dave Says:

    @Bruno
    Look at InterfaceReconfigureBridge.py and InterfaceReconfigureVswitch.py. They both set a bond mode. If you search for “balance” you will find the lines.



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