Failed to set VSI 18 as the default forwarding VSI on Intel E810 4-port 25G and solution

[dmembibre]

Hello,

We have a 7-node cluster Proxmox VE 9.1 using the Intel Ethernet Controller E810-C for SFP (Intel ice driver). We encountered a critical issue in our 4-port network bond configuration, leading to the following repeated kernel errors on all nodes for port enp129s0f3np3:

[Thu Nov 27 09:17:40 2025] ice 0000:81:00.3: Failed to set VSI 18 as the default forwarding VSI, error -5
[Thu Nov 27 09:17:40 2025] ice 0000:81:00.3 enp129s0f3np3: Error -5 setting default VSI 18 Rx rule
[Thu Nov 27 09:17:40 2025] ice 0000:81:00.3: Failed to set VSI 18 as the default forwarding VSI, error -5
[Thu Nov 27 09:17:40 2025] ice 0000:81:00.3 enp129s0f3np3: Error -5 setting default VSI 18 Rx rule

lshw -class network
  *-network:0               
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: Ethernet Controller E810-C for SFP
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:81:00.0
       logical name: enp129s0f0np0
       version: 02
       serial: 90:5a:08:a0:c5:2c
       capacity: 25Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi msix pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical fibre 1000bt-fd 25000bt-fd
       configuration: autonegotiation=off broadcast=yes driver=ice driverversion=6.17.2-1-pve duplex=full firmware=4.80 0x80020c3b 1.3815.0 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=fibre slave=yes
       resources: iomemory:5000-4fff iomemory:5000-4fff irq:247 memory:5004c000000-5004dffffff memory:5004e030000-5004e03ffff memory:b2300000-b23fffff
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: Ethernet Controller E810-C for SFP
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0.1
       bus info: pci@0000:81:00.1
       logical name: enp129s0f1np1
       version: 02
       serial: 90:5a:08:a0:c5:2c
       capacity: 25Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi msix pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical fibre 1000bt-fd 25000bt-fd
       configuration: autonegotiation=off broadcast=yes driver=ice driverversion=6.17.2-1-pve duplex=full firmware=4.80 0x80020c3b 1.3815.0 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=fibre slave=yes
       resources: iomemory:5000-4fff iomemory:5000-4fff irq:247 memory:5004a000000-5004bffffff memory:5004e020000-5004e02ffff memory:b2200000-b22fffff
  *-network:2
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: Ethernet Controller E810-C for SFP
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0.2
       bus info: pci@0000:81:00.2
       logical name: enp129s0f2np2
       version: 02
       serial: 90:5a:08:a0:c5:2c
       capacity: 25Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi msix pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical fibre 1000bt-fd 25000bt-fd
       configuration: autonegotiation=off broadcast=yes driver=ice driverversion=6.17.2-1-pve duplex=full firmware=4.80 0x80020c3b 1.3815.0 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=fibre slave=yes
       resources: iomemory:5000-4fff iomemory:5000-4fff irq:247 memory:50048000000-50049ffffff memory:5004e010000-5004e01ffff memory:b2100000-b21fffff
  *-network:3
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: Ethernet Controller E810-C for SFP
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0.3
       bus info: pci@0000:81:00.3
       logical name: enp129s0f3np3
       version: 02
       serial: 90:5a:08:a0:c5:2c
       capacity: 25Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi msix pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical fibre 1000bt-fd 25000bt-fd
       configuration: autonegotiation=off broadcast=yes driver=ice driverversion=6.17.2-1-pve duplex=full firmware=4.80 0x80020c3b 1.3815.0 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=fibre promiscuous=yes slave=yes
       resources: iomemory:5000-4fff iomemory:5000-4fff irq:247 memory:50046000000-50047ffffff memory:5004e000000-5004e00ffff memory:b2000000-b20fffff

Packets flowing through this port failed to reach their destination until the port was manually disabled.

We resolved this issue by manually compiling and installing the latest version of the ice driver from Intel (which is newer than the one included in the Proxmox kernel version 6.17.2-1-pve).

ethtool -i enp129s0f3np3
driver: ice
version: 2.3.15
firmware-version: 4.80 0x80020c3b 1.3815.0
expansion-rom-version:
bus-info: 0000:81:00.3
supports-statistics: yes
supports-test: yes
supports-eeprom-access: yes
supports-register-dump: yes
supports-priv-flags: yes

We kindly request that you evaluate adding this newer version of the Intel ice driver to a future Proxmox kernel update to prevent other users with the Intel E810 series from experiencing similar connectivity issues.

Thank you for your time.

 

[MagicFab]

Thanks for sharing this information, I couldn't find existing bug reports requesting this update.

As a support subscriber, I'd open a ticket about this, after filing a proper bug report at https://bugzilla.proxmox.com/ (search first to double check).

Again, as a support subcriber, it may be possible for Proxmox devs to provide a custom kernel that will not break with upgrades from the Enterprise repository - I can't speak for them but I've seen this in other similar commercial support in other projects.

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Fabián Rodríguez | Le Goût du Libre Inc. | Montreal, Canada | Mastodon
Proxmox Silver Partner, server and desktop enterprise support in French, English and Spanish