NVIDIA Accelerated IO (XLIO) Documentation
NVIDIA Accelerated IO (XLIO) Documentation
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Installing XLIO

Before you begin, verify that your operating system and CPU architecture are supported. Refer to the System Requirements table in the front page for the full list of supported combinations.

The current version of XLIO is compatible with DOCA-Host and can be installed via one of two available driver stacks:

  • doca-libxlio: A meta-package that includes the XLIO library (libxlio) along with its required dependencies and the driver stack.

  • doca-roce: A lighter meta-package (also referred to as a profile) that includes only the driver stack dependencies. The XLIO library must be installed separately using the libxlio package.

The XLIO library is delivered as a user-space shared object: libxlio.so.X.Y.Z.

XLIO Installation Options

Option 1: Install XLIO via doca-libxlio Meta-Package (Recommended)

This is the simplest and recommended method.

The doca-libxlio meta-package includes both the XLIO user-space library and all required driver stack components.

To install: 

 sudo <your-package-manager> install -y doca-libxlio

You may refer to the NVIDIA DOCA Installation Guide for Linux section in DOCA documentation for general installation steps. Wherever the guide instructs to install doca-all, substitute it with doca-libxlio.

This approach ensures a clean, bundled installation of XLIO with minimal manual configuration and maximum compatibility.

Option 2: Install XLIO on Top of the doca-roce Driver Stack

This method provides a more modular setup. First, install the driver stack using the lightweight doca-roce profile. Then, add XLIO manually.

Step 1 – Install the driver stack: 

 sudo <your-package-manager> install -y doca-roce

Step 2 – Install the XLIO library and additional packages: 

 sudo <your-package-manager> install -y libxlio dpcp

Optional (for utilities and headers):

  • RPM-based systems: 

     sudo <your-package-manager> install -y sockperf libxlio-utils libxlio-devel

  • DEB-based systems: 

     sudo <your-package-manager> install -y sockperf libxlio-utils libxlio-dev

You may use the NVIDIA DOCA Installation Guide for Linux section in DOCA documentation to locate the appropriate driver stack for your platform. Where the guide refers to doca-all, substitute with doca-roce, and proceed with the steps above.

Installing XLIO Manually

Building XLIO from Source

If you prefer to build XLIO yourself for customization or inspection, you can download the source code from the libxlio GitHub repository.

Ensure that the NVIDIA driver stack is already installed and functioning properly. Then: 

 ./configure --enable-opt-log=none <other configure parameters> make

After compilation, the library will be located at: 

 <path-to-xlio-sources-root-tree>/src/xlio/.libs/libxlio.so

To load it: 

 LD_PRELOAD=<path>/libxlio.so sockperf ping-pong -t 5 -i 224.22.22.22

Recommendation: Do not overwrite the system-installed libxlio.so. Keep your compiled version separate.

Installing via Dedicated Packages

If you have RPM or DEB packages for XLIO:

Verify installation status:

  • RPM: 

     rpm -qil libxlio

  • DEB: 

     dpkg -s libxlio
Uninstall existing versions if needed:

  • RPM: 

     rpm -e libxlio

  • DEB: 

     apt-get remove libxlio
To install a specific binary package:

  • RPM: 

     rpm -i libxlio-X.Y.Z-R.<arch>.rpm

  • DEB: 

     dpkg -i libxlio_X.Y.Z-R_<arch>.deb

Installed files include:

  • Library: /usr/lib64/libxlio.so

  • Debug Library: /usr/lib64/libxlio-debug.so

  • Config: /etc/libxlio.conf

  • Docs: /usr/share/doc/libxlio-X.Y.Z/

  • xliod utility: /sbin

  • SysV init script: /etc/init.d/xlio

Installing libxlio-utils

Install the utilities package to get access to tools such as xlio_stats.

  • RPM: 

     rpm -i libxlio-utils-X.Y.Z-R.<arch>.rpm

  • DEB: 

    dpkg -i libxlio-utils_X.Y.Z-R_<arch>.deb

Installs: /usr/bin/xlio_stats

Installing libxlio-dev / libxlio-devel

Install development headers as needed:

  • RPM: 

     rpm -i libxlio-devel-X.Y.Z-R.<arch>.rpm

  • DEB:  

     dpkg -i libxlio-dev_X.Y.Z-R_<arch>.deb

Installs: /usr/include/mellanox/xlio_extra.h

Final Steps

After installation, validate functionality using sockperf with XLIO as described in Using sockperf with XLIO.

To configure NVIDIA ConnectX adapter ports, refer to the Type Management / VPI Cards Configuration section.


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