How to change the CPU frequency settings

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 1 (SLES 12 SP1)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 2 (SLES 12 SP2)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 Service Pack 1 (SLED 12 SP1)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 Service Pack 1 (SLED 12 SP2)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 2 (SLES 12 SP2)

Situation

How to set CPU C-States in the SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) 12 family.

Resolution

To temporarily change the setting (resets upon reboot) run:

sudo /usr/bin/cpupower frequency-set <options>

For available options review the "cpupower-frequency-set" man page.

To permanently change the setting create a custom systemd service with the required settings, for example:

1. Create the file "/etc/systemd/system/cpupower.service" with the following content:

[Unit]

Description=CPU powersave

[Service]

Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/cpupower frequency-set -g performance

[Install]

WantedBy=multi-user.target

2. Once the file is created execute:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

systemctl enable cpupower.service

Cause

From SLE 12 onwards it is not possible anymore to set CPU C-States with YaST.

Disclaimer

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