Huge Pages
----------
-VPP requires *'hugepages'* to run. VPP will overwrite existing hugepage
-settings when VPP is installed. By default, VPP sets the number of hugepages on
-a system to 1024 2M hugepages (1G hugepages are no longer supported). This is
-the number of hugepages on the system, not just used by VPP. When VPP is
-installed, the following file is copied to the system and used to apply the
-hugepage settings on VPP installation and system reboot:
+VPP requires *hugepages* to run during VPP operation, to manage large pages of memory.
+During VPP installation, VPP will overwrite the existing hugepage settings.
+By default, VPP sets the number of hugepages on a system to 1024 2M hugepages.
+This is the number of hugepages on the system, not just used by VPP.
+
+When VPP is installed, the following configuration file is copied to the system. The
+hugepage settings are applied in the VPP installation and on system reboots. To set
+the hugepage settings, perform the following commands:
.. code-block:: console
# to current shmmax value.
kernel.shmmax=2147483648
-Depending on how the system is being used, this file can be updated to adjust
+Depending on how the system is being used, this configuration file can be updated to adjust
the number of hugepages reserved on a system. Below are some examples of
-possible values.
-
+possible settings.
+
For a small VM with minimal workload:
.. code-block:: console
.. note::
If VPP is being run in a Virtual Machine (VM), the VM must have hugepage
- backing. When VPP is installed, it will attempt to overwrite existing
- hugepage setting. If the VM does not have hugepage backing, this will fail,
- but this may go unnoticed. When the VM is rebooted, on system startup,
- *'vm.nr_hugepages'* will be reapplied, will fail, and the VM will abort kernel
+ backing. When VPP is installed, it will attempt to overwrite existing the
+ hugepage setting. If the VM does not have hugepage backing, the install will fail,
+ but the failure may go unnoticed. When the VM is rebooted, on system startup,
+ *'vm.nr_hugepages'* will be reapplied, and will fail, and the VM will abort kernel
boot, locking up the VM. To avoid this scenario, ensure the VM has enough
hugepage backing.