validatorsdao/slv/slv-performance-boost

SLV CPU Performance Boost Skill

Keeps Solana validator / RPC nodes running at peak CPU frequency at all times. Runs alongside SMT disable and IRQ tuning as part of the slv v init / slv r init tuning phase.

What it applies

Related artifacts

• ansible/cmn/boost_performance.yml
• Idempotency marker: /var/lib/slv/.boost_applied
• Persistence script: /usr/local/bin/slv-cpu-boost.sh
• systemd unit: /etc/systemd/system/slv-cpu-boost.service

Options

Standalone run

ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml cmn/boost_performance.yml --limit <host>
ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml cmn/boost_performance.yml --limit <host> -e amd_pstate_mode=passive

Kernel update + reboot

When an AMD CPU is detected and uname -r is below 6.14, the playbook installs the HWE kernel, writes the amd_pstate=active GRUB cmdline, and the orchestrator (cmn/optimize_node.yml) detects need_reboot=true and reboots automatically.

Verification

The fastest way is slv check boost:

slv check boost -t validator -n mainnet -p <pubkey>
slv check boost -t rpc -n mainnet -p <pubkey>

This command is a Deno port of the master-api performanceCheckRouter and evaluates every check by category — [OS], [BIOS], [CONTROL_PLANE], [RUNTIME], [INFO] — returning OK / WARN / NG. Exit codes: OK=0, WARN=1, NG=2. When a BIOS blocker is detected, the report prints a friendly hint that lists the BIOS knobs needed to lift the firmware-side ceiling.

Manual verification:

uname -r                                                          # >= 6.14 (mandatory on AMD)
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/amd_pstate/status                     # active
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor         # performance
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/energy_performance_preference  # performance
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/boost                         # 1
grep 'cpu MHz' /proc/cpuinfo | sort -u                            # near hardware max
systemctl is-active slv-cpu-boost.service                         # active

When BIOS is the blocker

If slv check boost reports a [BIOS] blocker, the OS side is already correctly configured but cpuinfo_max_freq is below the catalog turbo frequency for the CPU model. That means the motherboard firmware / BIOS is capping the hardware ceiling. Typical fixes:

Rollback

sudo systemctl disable --now slv-cpu-boost.service
sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/slv-cpu-boost.service /usr/local/bin/slv-cpu-boost.sh
sudo sed -i 's/ amd_pstate=[^ ]*//; s/ processor.max_cstate=[^ ]*//; s/ cpufreq.default_governor=[^ ]*//' /etc/default/grub
sudo update-grub
sudo rm /var/lib/slv/.boost_applied
sudo reboot