Configure PTP Service Using the CLI¶

You can use the CLI to configure PTP services.

PTP Service

To view the existing PTP status, use the following commands.

~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-instance-list

~(keystone_admin)]$ system host-ptp-instance-list <host>

Warning

NTP and PTP are mutually exclusive on a particular host; only one can be enabled at any time.

The default value for clock_synchronization is ntp. Use the following command to change the clock synchronization on the host. NTP and PTP are configured per host. Lock/unlock the host when updating.

~(keystone_admin)]$ system host-update controller-0 clock_synchronization=ptp
+-----------------------+---------------------------------------+
| Property              | Value                                 |
+-----------------------+---------------------------------------+
| action                | none                                  |
| administrative        | unlocked                              |
| availability          | available                             |
| bm_ip                 | None                                  |
| bm_type               | None                                  |
| bm_username           | None                                  |
| boot_device           | /dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:04:00.0-sas|
|                       |   -0x5001e6754aa38000-lun-0           |
| capabilities          | {u'stor_function': u'monitor'}        |
| clock_synchronization | ptp                                   |
| config_applied        | 590f29ad-19e2-43ee-855e-f765814e3ecd  |
| config_status         | None                                  |
| config_target         | 590f29ad-19e2-43ee-855e-f765814e3ecd  |
| console               | ttyS0,115200n8                        |
| created_at            | 2019-12-07T18:32:58.752361+00:00      |
| hostname              | controller-0                          |
| id                    | 1                                     |
| install_output        | text                                  |
| install_state         | None                                  |
| install_state_info    | None                                  |
| inv_state             | inventoried                           |
| invprovision          | provisioned                           |
| location              | {}                                    |
| mgmt_ip               | 192.168.204.3                         |
| mgmt_mac              | 00:1e:67:54:aa:39                     |
| operational           | enabled                               |
| personality           | controller                            |
| reserved              | False                                 |
| rootfs_device         | /dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:04:00.0    |
|                       |   -sas-0x5001e6754aa38000-lun-0       |
| serialid              | None                                  |
| software_load         | nn.nn                                 |
| task                  |                                       |
| tboot                 | false                                 |
| ttys_dcd              | None                                  |
| updated_at            | 2019-12-07T21:17:28.627489+00:00      |
| uptime                | 9020                                  |
| uuid                  | 92c86da2-adb7-4fb2-92fc-82759e25108d  |
| vim_progress_status   | services-enabled                      |
+-----------------------+---------------------------------------+

To view the PTP service configuration, use the following command:

~(keystone_admin)]$ system host-show controller-0
+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Property              | Value                                          |
+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| action                | none                                           |
| administrative        | unlocked                                       |
| availability          | available                                      |
| bm_ip                 | None                                           |
| bm_type               | None                                           |
| bm_username           | None                                           |
| boot_device           | /dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:04:00.0-sas         |
|                       |-0x5001e6754aa38000-lun-0                       |
| capabilities          | {u'stor_function': u'monitor', u'Personality': |
|                       | u'Controller-Active'}                          |
| clock_synchronization | ptp                                            |
| config_applied        | 590f29ad-19e2-43ee-855e-f765814e3ecd           |
| config_status         | Config out-of-date                             |
| config_target         | cd18ec25-c030-4b0c-862b-c39726275743           |
| console               | ttyS0,115200n8                                 |
| created_at            | 2019-12-09T16:10:19.143372+00:00               |
| hostname              | controller-0                                   |
| id                    | 1                                              |
| install_output        | text                                           |
| install_state         | None                                           |
| install_state_info    | None                                           |
| inv_state             | inventoried                                    |
| invprovision          | provisioned                                    |
| location              | {}                                             |
| mgmt_ip               | 192.168.204.3                                  |
| mgmt_mac              | 00:1e:67:54:aa:39                              |
| operational           | enabled                                        |
| personality           | controller                                     |
| reserved              | False                                          |
| rootfs_device         | /dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:04:00.0-sas         |
|                       | -0x5001e6754aa38000-lun-0                      |
| serialid              | None                                           |
| software_load         | nn.nn                                          |
| task                  |                                                |
| tboot                 | false                                          |
| ttys_dcd              | None                                           |
| updated_at            | 2019-12-10T14:55:58.595239+00:00               |
| uptime                | 159970                                         |
| uuid                  | 92c86da2-adb7-4fb2-92fc-82759e25108d           |
| vim_progress_status   | services-enabled                               |
+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------+

PTP Instance Configuration¶

PTP instances are the top level configuration unit. The supported instance types are:

ptp4l: Represents an instance of ptp4l. A node may have several of these instances.
phc2sys: Represents an instance of phc2sys. A node will generally only have one of these.
ts2phc: Represents an instance of ts2phc.
clock: clock is not an daemon or service, but instead an abstract unit used to hold the interfaces and configuration for setting Westport Channel or Logan Beach NIC control parameters (syncE and PPS transmission).

Valid instance level parameters are found in the man pages for each service, under:

GLOBAL OPTIONS - ptp4l
OPTIONS - phc2sys
GLOBAL OPTIONS - ts2phc
None for clock

Set host to use PTP:

~(keystone_admin)]$ system host-update controller-0 clock_synchronization=ptp

Create an instance and assigning parameters¶

Create an instance by providing a name and type.

~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-instance-add myptp1 ptp4l

Add any required instance level parameters.

~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-instance-parameter-add myptp1 domainNumber=24 slaveOnly=0

Create an interface and assign to ports¶

Create an interface unit by providing a name and assigning it to an instance.
```
~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-interface-add ptpinterface myptp1
```

Add ports to the interface.

~(keystone_admin)]$ system host-if-ptp-assign controller-0 oam0 ptpinterface

Add interface level parameters as required.

~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-interface-parameter-add ptpinterface masterOnly=1

Note

Multiple ports may be assigned to an interface in order to simplify parameter application.

~(keystone_admin)]$ system host-if-ptp-assign controller-0 data0 ptpinterface
~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-interface-show ptpinterface

Assign the instance to a host and apply the configuration.
1. Assign the PTP instance to a host so that the configuration can be applied.
```
~(keystone_admin)]$ system host-ptp-instance-assign controller-0 myptp1
```
2. Apply the configuration and verify that it completed.
```
~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-instance-apply
~(keystone_admin)]$ fm alarm-list
```

PTP Limitations¶

NICs using the Intel® ice driver may report the following error in the ptp4l logs, which results in a PTP port switching to FAULTY before re-initializing.

Note

PTP ports frequently switching to FAULTY may degrade the accuracy of the PTP timing.
```
ptp4l[80330.489]: timed out while polling for tx timestamp
ptp4l[80330.489]: increasing tx_timestamp_timeout may correct this issue, but it is likely caused by a driver bug
```
Note

This is due to a limitation with the Intel® ice driver as the driver cannot guarantee the time interval to return the timestamp to the ptp4l user space process which results in the occasional timeout error message.

Workaround: The workaround recommended by Intel is to increase the tx_timestamp_timeout parameter in the ptp4l config. The increased timeout value gives more time for the ice driver to provide the timestamp to the ptp4l user space process. Timeout values of 50ms and 700ms have been validated. However, the user can use a different value if it is more suitable for their system.
```
~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-instance-parameter-add <instance_name> tx_timestamp_timeout=700
~(keystone_admin)]$ system ptp-instance-apply
```
Note

The ptp4l timeout error log may also be caused by other underlying issues, such as NIC port instability. Therefore, it is recommended to confirm the NIC port is stable before adjusting the timeout values.

Silicom and Intel based Time Sync NICs may not be deployed on the same system due to conflicting time sync services and operations.

PTP configuration for Silicom TimeSync (STS) cards is handled separately from StarlingX host PTP configuration and may result in configuration conflicts if both are used at the same time.

The sts-silicom application provides a dedicated phc2sys instance which synchronizes the local system clock to the Silicom TimeSync (STS) card. Users should ensure that phc2sys is not configured via StarlingX PTP Host Configuration when the sts-silicom application is in use.

Additionally, if StarlingX PTP Host Configuration is being used in parallel for non-STS NICs, users should ensure that all ptp4l instances do not use conflicting domainNumber values.
When the Silicom TimeSync (STS) card is configured in timing mode using the sts-silicom application, the card goes through an initialization process on application apply and server reboots. The ports will bounce up and down several times during the initialization process, causing network traffic disruption. Therefore, configuring the platform networks on the Silicom TimeSync (STS) card is not supported since it will cause platform instability.