Does CPU frequency scaling of Intel Xeon E5 v4 or E7 v4 processor series work on RHEL7.2 or openstack?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2
  • kernel-3.10.0-327
  • For example, Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 or E7-8890 v4 processor
  • Red Hat Enterprise OpenStack Platform (RHELOSP) 5
  • Red Hat Enterprise OpenStack Platform (RHELOSP) 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise OpenStack Platform (RHELOSP) 7
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) 8
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) 9

Issue

  • Does native intel_pstate based CPU frequency scaling of Intel Xeon processor E5-XXXX v4 or E7-XXXX v4 CPU series work on RHEL7.2 or openstack?

Resolution

Unfortunately, intel_pstate driver supplied in RHEL7.2 distribution may not support Xeon E5 v4 and Xeon E7 v4 series.
Please upgrade to kernel-3.10.0-327.10.1.el7 or above to support this feature.

Another workaround might be to use ACPI cpu frequency scaling if it's supported. Please check and apply correct settings in BIOS and then supply such kernel parameters to the kernel via cmdline:

intel_pstate=disable acpi=on

Alternatively, you may need to consult hardware vendor in order to check if BIOS/firmware can adjust CPU frequency on its own or other methods to enable CPU frequency scaling are supported (for example PCC on HP hardware).

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