Unable to start Fastpath?

Which virtual network adapter are you using. I suggest you use vmxnet3

Currently fastpath supports the following NIC drivers: i40e, e1000, e1000e, igb, ixgbe, vmxnet3.  If fastpath is enabled when system has no supported NICs, fastpath load will fail but system will still be fully functional without the performance enhancements provided by fastpath

Stuart, I am not sure about selection of virtual network adapter, Can you please let me know how can I confirm it?

Hi James,

please read this thread that Stuart answered sometime ago.

https://community.sophos.com/products/xg-firewall/sfos-eap/sfos-v18-early-access-program/f/feedback-and-issues/118242/questions-about-the-fastpath-feature

Ian

Its been a long time since I used Fusion but I think you need to shutdown the VM, then edit the .vmx file for the VM to change the adapter type.

ethernet*.virtualDev = "vlance" - thats the PCnet32 driver which is likely what yours has defaulted to.
ethernet*.virtualDev = "vmxnet"
ethernet*.virtualDev = "vmxnet3" - thats what you want

ethernet*.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet*.virtualDev = "e1000e" - a newer version of the E1000 which uses an PCI-express slot

the * is obviously a number for your adapter.

Hello Stuart, I am getting below options

virtualHW.version = "14"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

Shall I replace pcieRootPort with vmxnet3?

Actually, I am unable to get that exact details which you have mentioned, please help me test this feature properly

.encoding = "UTF-8"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "14"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
hpet0.present = "TRUE"
displayName = "V18"
guestOS = "other"
nvram = "V18 EAP0.nvram"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
powerType.powerOff = "soft"
powerType.powerOn = "soft"
powerType.suspend = "soft"
powerType.reset = "soft"
tools.syncTime = "TRUE"
tools.upgrade.policy = "upgradeAtPowerCycle"
sound.autoDetect = "TRUE"
sound.fileName = "-1"
sound.present = "TRUE"
memsize = "5304"
ide0:0.fileName = "Virtual Disk.vmdk"
ide0:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-imageJa"
ide1:0.fileName = "/Downloads/SW-18.0.0_EAP0-43.iso"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
extendedConfigFile = "V18 EAP0.vmxf"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
ethernet1.connectionType = "hostonly"
ethernet1.addressType = "generated"
ethernet1.present = "TRUE"
ethernet2.addressType = "generated"
ethernet2.present = "TRUE"
numa.autosize.cookie = "30001"
numa.autosize.vcpu.maxPerVirtualNode = "3"
uuid.bios = "56 4d f3 17 83 42 0a d4-d7 50 6e ba 9a 04 ee a0"
uuid.location = "56 4d f3 17 83 42 0a d4-d7 50 6e ba 9a 04 ee a0"
migrate.hostlog = "./V18 EAP0-e66b1684.hlog"
ide0:0.redo = ""
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"
ethernet1.pciSlotNumber = "33"
ethernet2.pciSlotNumber = "34"
sound.pciSlotNumber = "35"
vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0C:29:04:EE:A0"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
ethernet1.generatedAddress = "00:0C:29:04:EE:AA"
ethernet1.generatedAddressOffset = "10"
ethernet2.generatedAddress = "00:0C:29:04:EE:B4"
ethernet2.generatedAddressOffset = "20"
vmci0.id = "-1710952800"
monitor.phys_bits_used = "43"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "92274688"
vmotion.checkpointSVGAPrimarySize = "92274688"
cleanShutdown = "TRUE"
softPowerOff = "TRUE"
gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "TRUE"
checkpoint.vmState = ""
gui.viewModeAtPowerOn = "windowed"
ethernet2.connectionType = "hostonly"
ethernet3.addressType = "generated"
ethernet3.present = "TRUE"
ethernet3.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"
ethernet3.pciSlotNumber = "37"
ethernet3.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:04:ee:be"
ethernet3.generatedAddressOffset = "30"
toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "4"
numvcpus = "3"
cpuid.coresPerSocket = "3"
ethernet4.connectionType = "nat"
ethernet4.addressType = "generated"
ethernet4.present = "TRUE"
ethernet4.pciSlotNumber = "38"
ethernet4.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:04:ee:c8"
ethernet4.generatedAddressOffset = "40"
bios.bootOrder = "ethernet0"

James, your installation is using the pcnet32 driver by default hence why it's not listed. Simply add

ethernet*.virtualDev = "vmxnet3"

replace the * with unique number for each interface. eg ethernet0.virtualdev = "vmxnet3"

Stuart, You are my savior. Issue got resolved as per changes suggested from your end

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# ethtool -i Port1
driver: vmxnet3
version: 1.4.a.0-k-NAPI
firmware-version:
expansion-rom-version:
bus-info: 0000:03:00.0
supports-statistics: yes
supports-test: no
supports-eeprom-access: no
supports-register-dump: yes
supports-priv-flags: no
SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# cish
console> system firewall-acceleration show
Firewall Acceleration is Enabled.
console>

Stuart, I tried to follow your steps which resolved this issue  for fastpath but suddenly all traffic from my WAN interface is not working after applying this changes

console> ping 10.10.5.100 (It is my upstream gateway)
PING 10.10.5.100 (10.10.5.100): 56 data bytes
^C
--- 10.10.5.100 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

console> system diagnostics utilities arp ping interface Port2 10.10.5.100
ARPING to 10.10.5.100 from 10.10.5.2 via Port2
^CSent 3 probe(s) (3 broadcast(s))
Received 0 reply (0 request(s), 0 broadcast(s))

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# ethtool -i Port1
driver: vmxnet3

console> system firewall-acceleration show
Firewall Acceleration is Enabled.
console> system firewall-acceleration disable
Firewall Acceleration Disabled Successfully.
console> system firewall-acceleration show
Firewall Acceleration is Disabled.

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# drppkt host 8.8.8.8
^CSFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1#

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# tcpdump -ni any host 8.8.8.8
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on any, link-type LINUX_SLL (Linux cooked v1), capture size 262144 bytes
^C
0 packets captured
0 packets received by filter
0 packets dropped by kernel

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# ping 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes
^C
--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss
SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1#

Stuart, I tried to follow your steps which resolved this issue  for fastpath but suddenly all traffic from my WAN interface is not working after applying this changes

console> ping 10.10.5.100 (It is my upstream gateway)
PING 10.10.5.100 (10.10.5.100): 56 data bytes
^C
--- 10.10.5.100 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

console> system diagnostics utilities arp ping interface Port2 10.10.5.100
ARPING to 10.10.5.100 from 10.10.5.2 via Port2
^CSent 3 probe(s) (3 broadcast(s))
Received 0 reply (0 request(s), 0 broadcast(s))

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# ethtool -i Port1
driver: vmxnet3

console> system firewall-acceleration show
Firewall Acceleration is Enabled.
console> system firewall-acceleration disable
Firewall Acceleration Disabled Successfully.
console> system firewall-acceleration show
Firewall Acceleration is Disabled.

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# drppkt host 8.8.8.8
^CSFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1#

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# tcpdump -ni any host 8.8.8.8
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on any, link-type LINUX_SLL (Linux cooked v1), capture size 262144 bytes
^C
0 packets captured
0 packets received by filter
0 packets dropped by kernel

SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1# ping 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes
^C
--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss
SFVUNL_SO01_SFOS 18.0.0 EAP3-Refresh1#

I dont have Fusion as I said, but the fact this doesnt work when you have acceleration disabled or enabled tells me this is a straight networking issue. I would look at the overall vmware network configuration, especially how the VM is bridged to your local adapter.

Probably the first step would be to comment out the changes you just made and make sure you still have connectivity with the default driver.

Stuart, I have managed to resolved it by changing the driver as per below

ethernet1.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet2.virtualDev = "e1000"

Thanks for all your help

Glad you got it working.

One thing to note: vmxnet3 is an actual vmware network driver whereas e1000 is actually emulating the Intel card. vmxnet3 therefore will have much better performance than the e1000

I dont understand why this didnt work for you, vmxnet3 has been in Fusion for a looooong time. Maybe it might be worth investigating upgrading to Fusion 11, but as I say it should just work.

Stuart