[Howto] install HP Enterprise Mellanox ConnectX-2 EN NIC (671798-001) in FreeBSD

posted in: network | 0

The required kernel module is not included in the base system. However you will find the needed modules as source-code, which you can compile and install manually. The required modules are: mlx4 and mlxen.

#tested with 'FreeBSD 11.0-Release-p7'

#download the actual source-code files
svn checkout https://svn.freebsd.org/base/releng/11.0 /usr/local/src/

#or update them only, if you have downloaded the files in the past
svn update /usr/local/src

#compile and install the mellanox base module 'mlx4'
cd /usr/src/sys/modules/mlx4
make
make install

#compile and install the mellanox ethernet module 'mlxen'
cd /usr/src/sys/modules/mlxen
make
make install

#load both compiled modules into kernel
kldload mlx4
kldload mlxen

#check, if your card is found
dmesg
ifcontrol -a

#configure and activate the new interface
ifconfig mlxen0 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 up