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How to Enable Google's TCP BBR on a Linux VPS

How to enable Google's TCP BBR on a Linux VPS

This article was contributed by Dustin B. Cisneros of RackNerd – LowEndBox appreciates your contribution as always! Be sure to check out RackNerd’s latest LowEndBox specials if you are looking for a KVM VPS.

Google’s TCP BBR, or “Bottleneck Bandwidth and Round-trip propagation time,” is a congestion control system based on cutting-edge technology. It is the same system used for traffic through Google.com, as well as YouTube. It was the reason that YouTube’s network throughput was increased by 4% annually. Moreover, Google’s BBR also significantly reduces latency as the querying, and queuing delays are minimized.

We have written this guide for you so that you can enable Google’s BBR on your Linux virtual private server.

There would be two steps in the guide, where step 1 can be optional in some instances. Let us start!

Step 1. Check and upgrade your kernel

We need Linux kernel version 4.9.0 or higher to support Google’s BBR. We will guide you on how to update it for both CentOS 7 and Ubuntu. 

To check your current kernel version, run this command:

uname -r

If this command returns a kernel version higher than 4.9.0, then you can skip step 1.

CentOS 7 Based Systems:
1) Install Elrepo repo

To update the CentOS kernel, we need to install the Elrepo repo via the following commands:

sudo rpm –import https://www.elrepo.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-elrepo.org

sudo rpm -Uvh http://www.elrepo.org/elrepo-release-7.0-2.el7.elrepo.noarch.rpm

2) Update your kernel

To install the updated kernel, run the following two commands:

sudo yum –enablerepo=elrepo-kernel install kernel-ml -y

yum list installed kernel

3) Set default boot entry

Run this command to see the list of kernels:

sudo egrep ^menuentry /etc/grub2.cfg | cut -f 2 -d \’

You should find your newly installed kernel at the top of the list. Then run the following command:

sudo grub2-set-default 0

4) Reboot and verify

Now reboot your VPS, and after it turns back on, rerun the following command to verify the install:

uname -r

Ubuntu 18.04 Based Systems

The kernel version should be compatible with Google’s BBR if you are running Ubuntu 18.04. However, you can still upgrade the kernel using the following commands.

cd /tmp/

wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.13/linux-headers-5.4.13-050413_5.4.13-050413.202001171431_all.deb

wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.13/linux-headers-5.4.13-050413-generic_5.4.13-050413.202001171431_amd64.deb

wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.13/linux-headers-5.4.13-050413-lowlatency_5.4.13-050413.202001171431_amd64.deb

wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.13/linux-image-unsigned-5.4.13-050413-generic_5.4.13-050413.202001171431_amd64.deb

wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.13/linux-image-unsigned-5.4.13-050413-lowlatency_5.4.13-050413.202001171431_amd64.deb

wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.13/linux-modules-5.4.13-050413-generic_5.4.13-050413.202001171431_amd64.deb

wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.13/linux-modules-5.4.13-050413-lowlatency_5.4.13-050413.202001171431_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

After running the commands, reboot your VPS by running the “reboot” command.

Step 2. Enable Google’s TCP BBR

The instructions below are the same for both CentOS and Ubuntu.

To start, open “/etc/sysctl.conf” in any text editor, or run the command to open it in vim or nano (your preferred text editor):

sudo vim /etc/sysctl.conf

At the end of the config file, add the following lines:

net.core.default_qdisc=fq

net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr

Then save the file, and refresh your configuration using this command:

sudo sysctl -p

Google’s BBR congestion control system has now been enabled on your VPS, to verify this, run this command:

sysctl net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control

If the enabling process were successful, the output would be:

net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control = bbr

You have now successfully enabled Google’s TCP BBR on your VPS!

Have you enabled Google’s TCP BBR on your Linux VPS? Have you seen any performance benefits? Please leave your questions or feedback in the comments section below!

Jon Biloh

6 Comments

  1. Andre Boyce:

    # https://pastebin.com/agDpaRTh

    # author: andre boyce
    # license: GPLV2
    # version: 1

    # copy paste ready
    # Enable Google’s TCP BBR on a Linux VPS
    # creates 2 files enable_google_tcp_bbr disable_google_tcp_bbr
    # todo maybe add quiet option
    # maybe make sed commands fit on one line

    # make a directory called scripts in the home directory
    mkdir -p ~/scripts
    # move in to the scripts directory
    cd ~/scripts
    # create a file called enable_google_tcp_bbr
    touch enable_google_tcp_bbr
    # make the file executable
    chmod +x enable_google_tcp_bbr

    # echo this script in to the file
    echo ‘
    # Enable Google’s TCP BBR on a Linux VPS
    # tested on ununtu 20.04, centos 8
    # run as root or as user with sudo

    # get the major_version of the kernel by splitting the result of uname -r by “.” first column. e.g. 2.4.0 should give 2
    major_version=$(uname -r | awk -F”.” ‘\”{print $1}’\”)

    # get the minor_version of the kernel by splitting the result of uname -r by “.” second column. e.g. 2.4.0 should give 4
    minor_version=$(uname -r | awk -F”.” ‘\”{print $2}’\”)

    # if major_version of kernel less than 4.x.x
    if [ “$major_version” -lt “4” ]
    then
    echo “Kernel version is: $major_version.$minor_version which is too low please upgrade kernel to version 4.9.0 or greater”
    echo -e “\033[0;31mFailed\033[m” && exit 1;
    else
    # if major_version of kernel is equal to 4.x.x then check if minor version less than 6
    if [ “$major_version” -eq “4” ] && [ $minor_version -lt “9” ]
    then
    echo “Kernel version is: $major_version.$minor_version which is too low please upgrade kernel to version 4.9.0 or greater”
    echo -e “\033[0;31mFailed\033[m” && exit 1;
    else
    echo “Kernel version is: $major_version.$minor_version which is ok”
    fi
    fi

    # backup /etc/sysctl.conf
    yes | sudo cp /etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.conf.bak

    # if we find “net.core.default_qdisc=fq” in /etc/sysctl.conf
    if sudo grep -Fq “net.core.default_qdisc=fq” /etc/sysctl.conf
    then
    # echo “net.core.default_qdisc=fq present in /etc/sysctl.conf”
    :
    else
    echo “net.core.default_qdisc=fq” | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
    fi

    # if we find “net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr” in /etc/sysctl.conf
    if sudo grep -Fq “net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr” /etc/sysctl.conf
    then
    # echo “net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr present in /etc/sysctl.conf”
    :
    else
    echo “net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr” | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
    fi

    # show differences
    # sudo diff /etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.conf.bak

    # Reload configuration
    sudo sysctl -qp

    # if it worked then expected output net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control = bbr
    if sudo sysctl net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control | grep -q “net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control = bbr” ; then echo -e “\033[0;32mSuccess\033[m” && exit 0; else echo -e “\033[0;31mFailed\033[m” && exit 1; fi

    ‘ > ~/scripts/enable_google_tcp_bbr

    # execute the script we created
    ./enable_google_tcp_bbr

    # create another file to disable google_tcp_bbr
    touch disable_google_tcp_bbr
    chmod +x disable_google_tcp_bbr

    cat > ~/scripts/disable_google_tcp_bbr << EOF
    # remove net.core.default_qdisc=fq from /etc/sysctl.conf
    # remove net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr from /etc/sysctl.conf

    # if we find "net.core.default_qdisc=fq" in /etc/sysctl.conf
    if sudo grep -Fq "net.core.default_qdisc=fq" /etc/sysctl.conf
    then
    # note would be nice to get sed to do this in one line
    # remove net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr from /etc/sysctl.conf
    sudo sed -i "s/^net\.core\.default_qdisc\=fq//" /etc/sysctl.conf
    # remove trailing empty lines
    sudo sed -Ezi '$ s/\n+$//' /etc/sysctl.conf
    echo -e "" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
    echo "net.core.default_qdisc=fq removed from /etc/sysctl.conf"
    else
    echo "net.core.default_qdisc=fq not found in /etc/sysctl.conf"
    fi
    # if we find "net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr" in /etc/sysctl.conf
    if sudo grep -Fq "net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr" /etc/sysctl.conf
    then
    # note would be nice to get sed to do this in one line
    # remove net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr from /etc/sysctl.conf
    sudo sed -i "s/^net\.ipv4\.tcp_congestion_control\=bbr//" /etc/sysctl.conf
    # remove trailing empty lines
    sudo sed -Ezi '$ s/\n+$//' /etc/sysctl.conf
    echo -e "" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
    echo "net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr removed from /etc/sysctl.conf"
    else
    echo "net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr not found in /etc/sysctl.conf"
    fi

    # Reload configuration
    sudo sysctl -qp

    if ! sudo grep -Fq "net.core.default_qdisc=fq" /etc/sysctl.conf && ! sudo grep -Fq "net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr" /etc/sysctl.conf ; then echo -e "\033[0;32mSuccess\033[m" ; exit 0; else echo -e "\033[0;31mFailed\033[m" ; exit 1; fi
    EOF

    ls

    July 15, 2020 @ 3:29 am | Reply
  2. Andre Boyce:

    Earlier today I posted a copy and paste ready script that could activate Google’s TCP BBR.
    It would check the kernel version and if it was >= 4.9.0 would activate it.
    It appears to have been removed. Is there some rule against posting scripts?

    https://pastebin.com/agDpaRTh

    July 15, 2020 @ 1:50 pm | Reply
  3. Yuandri Trisaputra:

    I have try using centos 7 but kernel not change still 3.10, what happen?
    Thanks

    July 15, 2020 @ 10:45 pm | Reply
    • Hi Yuandri Trisaputra, thank you for commenting!

      Out of curiosity is your virtual machine OpenVZ or KVM? If it is OpenVZ, please note that OpenVZ kernel cannot be changed, it shares the same kernel as the host node.

      July 16, 2020 @ 1:06 am | Reply

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