Onload Kernel Modules

Onload Kernel Modules - UG1586

Onload User Guide (UG1586)

Document ID

UG1586

Release Date

2025-11-03

Revision

1.31 English

To identify relevant drivers already installed on the server:

find /lib/modules/`uname -r` -type f -name '*.ko' -printf '%f\n' | grep -E 'sfc|onload'

Table 1. Driver Names and Descriptions
Driver Name	Description
sfc.ko	A Linux net driver provides the interface between the Linux network stack and the Solarflare network adapter.
sfc_char.ko	Provides low level access to the Solarflare network adapter virtualized resources. Supports direct access to the network adapter for applications that use the ef_vi user-level interface for maximum performance.
sfc_tune.ko	This is used to prevent the kernel during idle periods from putting the CPUs into a sleep state. Removed in openonload-201405.
sfc_affinity.ko	Used to direct traffic flow managed by a thread to the core the thread is running on, inserts packet filters that override the RSS behavior. Removed in Onload 8.0.0.
sfc_resource.ko	Manages the virtualization resources of the adapter and shares the resources between other drivers.
onload.ko	The kernel component of Onload.
onload_cplane.ko	The control plane component of Onload. User of Onload-201710 onwards refer to User-space Control Plane Server. Removed in Onload 8.0.0.

To unload any loaded drivers:

onload_tool unload

To load the Solarflare net driver (if not already loaded):

modprobe sfc

To reload drivers following upgrade or changed settings:

onload_tool reload

Note: The onload_tool reload command reloads drivers listed in the preceding table, but does not reload other network drivers such as the xilinx_efct driver used by X3 series adapters. To reload any unlisted drivers, use the modprobe command.