NVMe-TCP on Debian/Ubuntu - Distribution-Specific Considerations

Linux
Audience
Public
Product
FlashBlade
FlashArray
Technology Integrations
Linux
Source Type
Documentation

Debian vs Ubuntu

Debian:

  • Stable, conservative release cycle

  • Minimal default installation

  • Traditional /etc/network/interfaces or netplan (11+)

  • AppArmor available but not enabled by default

  • Manual firewall configuration (iptables/nftables)

Ubuntu:

  • More frequent releases (LTS every 2 years)

  • Netplan default for network configuration

  • AppArmor enabled by default

  • UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) wrapper

  • More pre-installed packages

Recommended Versions

Production deployments:

  • Debian: 11 (Bullseye) or 12 (Bookworm)

  • Ubuntu: 20.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS, or 24.04 LTS

Kernel requirements:

  • Minimum: Kernel 5.4 (Ubuntu 20.04)

  • Recommended: Kernel 5.10+ (Debian 11) or 5.15+ (Ubuntu 22.04)

Check kernel version: 

uname -r

# Verify NVMe-TCP module is available
modinfo nvme-tcp

Package Management

Essential packages: 

# Core NVMe and multipath tools
sudo apt install -y \
    nvme-cli \
    multipath-tools \
    lvm2 \
    sg3-utils

# Performance monitoring tools
sudo apt install -y \
    sysstat \
    iotop \
    iftop \
    htop \
    linux-tools-common \
    linux-tools-$(uname -r)

# Network tools
sudo apt install -y \
    ethtool \
    iproute2 \
    iputils-ping \
    netcat-openbsd \
    dnsutils

# Ubuntu-specific: netplan
sudo apt install -y netplan.io  # Ubuntu

# Debian-specific: ifupdown or netplan
sudo apt install -y ifupdown  # Traditional Debian
# OR
sudo apt install -y netplan.io  # Modern Debian 11+