Understanding NetQueue logging

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The vmkernel file (located in /var/log) contains log entries similar to:

Jul 28 00:22:50 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:34:20.049 cpu14:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:22:50 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:34:20.049 cpu14:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xa
Jul 28 00:22:55 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:34:25.050 cpu8:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xa from rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:22:55 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:34:25.050 cpu8:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_free_rx_queue: freed rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:24:10 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:35:40.050 cpu12:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:24:10 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:35:40.050 cpu12:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xb
Jul 28 00:24:30 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:36:00.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xb from rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:24:30 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:36:00.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_free_rx_queue: freed rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:25:20 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:36:50.050 cpu15:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:25:20 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:36:50.050 cpu15:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xc
Jul 28 00:25:25 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:36:55.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xc from rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:25:25 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:36:55.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xd
Jul 28 00:25:30 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:00.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xd from rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:25:30 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:00.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_free_rx_queue: freed rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:25:55 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:25.050 cpu8:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:25:55 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:25.050 cpu8:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xc
Jul 28 00:26:00 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:30.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xc from rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:26:00 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:30.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_free_rx_queue: freed rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:26:20 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:50.049 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:26:20 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:37:50.049 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xe
Jul 28 00:27:40 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:39:10.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xe from rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:27:40 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:39:10.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_free_rx_queue: freed rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:28:00 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:39:30.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xf from rx queue 2
Jul 28 00:28:00 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:39:30.050 cpu10:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_free_rx_queue: freed rx queue 2
Jul 28 00:28:05 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:39:35.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:28:05 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:39:35.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xf
Jul 28 00:29:45 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:41:15.050 cpu14:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 1
Jul 28 00:29:45 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:41:15.050 cpu14:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic6: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 1 to ##:##:##:##:##:xe
Jul 28 00:31:00 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:42:30.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_alloc_rx_queue: allocated rx queue 2
Jul 28 00:31:00 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:42:30.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_apply_rx_filter: Setting rx queue 2 to ##:##:##:##:##:xc
Jul 28 00:31:15 ve6hm006 vmkernel: 268:08:42:45.050 cpu9:4153)<3>ixgbe: vmnic7: ixgbe_remove_rx_filter: Clearing ##:##:##:##:##:xc from rx queue 2

 

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

NetQueue allows multiple transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) queues on certain 10Gbps physical NICs. The number of queues that a NIC makes available depends on the NIC type and number of cores on the system. Based on the number of queues and number of vNICs sharing the physical NIC, a vNIC may or may not get its own queue. The logging shows how the different queues are being allocated and cleared for virtual machines where the virtual machines are identified by their MAC address.

Note: For some drivers, the vmkernel logging occurs only when using the async version of the driver, not when using the inbox driver.

Resolution

This is expected behavior and the messages can be safely ignored.

Additional Information

For more information about NetQueue, see NetQueue and Networking Performance in VMware vSphere Documentation