: Customize Dataplane Cores
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Customize Dataplane Cores

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Customize Dataplane Cores

Use the CLI to customize the core division between the dataplane and the management plane from the VM-Series Firewall version 11.0 or later.
As mentioned in Software NGFW Credits, when a firewall is deployed using Software NGFW credits, the memory profile and the total number of vCPUs determine how many cores are automatically assigned to the management plane and the dataplane. The default configurations perform well in most cases.
Customize dataplane cores is an optional feature that allows you to customize the number of dataplane cores in two ways:
  • During the initial deployment, use the
    init-cfg.txt
    file bootstrap parameter
    plugin-op-commands=set-dp-cores:<#-cores>
    . See init-cfg.txt File Components.
  • From a deployed firewall, using the VM-Series CLI command
    request plugins vm_series dp-cores <#-cores>
    . This procedure is outlined below.
Typically you increase the number of dataplane cores (which decreases the number of management plane cores) to improve performance. Dataplane core customization does not require a change to the deployment profile or additional credits because the total number of vCPUs remains the same.
  • Dataplane core customization is supported on firewalls running PAN-OS 10.1 or later licensed with a Software NGFW credit pool for 10.0.4 and above.
  • Dataplane core customization is not supported for:
    • NSX-T
    • Intelligent Traffic Offload
Follow theses steps to customize the dataplane cores on the VM-Series firewall.
  1. Log in to the VM-Series firewall and view the number of cores.
    admin@PA-VM(active)>
    show plugins vm_series dp-cores
    Device current DP cores: 13 (Total cores: 18)
  2. Change the number of dataplane cores.
    Note that you must have at least one management plane core, and having too few cores affects performance.
    In this example we increase the dataplanes to 14.
    admin@PA-VM(active)>
    request plugins vm_series dp-cores 14
    Device current DP cores: 14 (Total cores: 18)
  3. Reboot the VM-Series firewall.
    Select
    Device
    Setup
    Operations
    and click
    Reboot Device
    .
  4. Use
    show plugins vm_series dp-cores
    to verify that the number of DP cores has changed.

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