Setting the Mode of Operation for DCB

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Oracle Solaris hosts can use either the IEEE DCBX or CEE DCBX protocol to exchange information about DCB features with their peers that are directly connected, for example, the first hop switch. The exchange enables negotiating and configuring DCB features both on the host and the peer.

The following table shows the DCBX applications that are supported for the IEEE DCBX and CEE DCBX versions.

Table 4 Applications Supported for IEEE DCBX and CEE DCBX Versions

Applications	IEEE DCBX	CEE DCBX
PFC	Yes	Yes
Application TLVs	Yes	Yes
ETS configuration	Yes	No
ETS recommendation	Yes	No

You can select ieee, cee, or auto as the mode of operation for DCB depending on the standard that the switch supports. The default mode is auto, which by default operates in IEEE mode and switches to CEE mode when the host receives a CEE packet from the peer. To select the mode, you need to set the property dcbx-version by using the lldpadm command.

If you explicitly set the mode, the mode does not transition to CEE or IEEE when the CEE or IEEE packets are received.

The transition from IEEE to CEE happens only once. Subsequently, when the peer changes its DCBX mode, Oracle Solaris will not switch mode automatically.

Some switches initiate exchange of information regardless of the peer. However, some switches might listen to the peer and respond only if it supports the DCBX version. For example, if you configure the DCBX mode of an Oracle Solaris host as auto, then by default it sends IEEE DCBX packets. If this host is connected to a switch that does not support IEEE DCBX, then the switch might not respond even if it supports CEE DCBX version. In such cases, you must explicitly configure the DCBX mode as cee.

How to Set the Mode of Operation for DCB

Become an administrator.

(Optional) Display the current DCBX mode.

$ lldpadm show-agentprop -p dcbx-version net0
AGENT        PROPERTY        PERM VALUE   EFFECTIVE     DEFAULT        POSSIBLE
net0         dcbx-version    rw   auto    ieee          auto           auto,ieee,cee

Set the mode of the operation.
```
$ lldpadm set-agentprop -p dcbx-version=DCBX-mode net0
```
where DCBX-mode can be set to one of the following values:
- auto – The default DCBX mode. When the mode is auto, DCBX operates in IEEE mode and switches to CEE mode when the host receives a CEE packet from the peer.
- ieee – Uses only Ithe EEE protocol to exchange information.
- cee – Uses only the CEE protocol to exchange information.

(Optional) Display the current mode.

$ lldpadm show-agentprop -p dcbx-version net0
AGENT        PROPERTY        PERM VALUE   EFFECTIVE     DEFAULT        POSSIBLE
net0         dcbx-version    rw   auto    cee           auto           auto,ieee,cee

Tip - To reset the DCBX mode to the default setting, use the following command:

$ lldpadm reset-agentprop -p dcbx-version net0