Re: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH] doc: how to set VF MAC address on ixgbe

["Mcnamara, John" <john.mcnamara@intel.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dev [mailto:dev-bounces@dpdk.org] On Behalf Of Wenzhuo Lu
> Sent: Monday, October 23, 2017 6:38 AM
> To: dev@dpdk.org
> Cc: Lu, Wenzhuo <wenzhuo.lu@intel.com>
> Subject: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH] doc: how to set VF MAC address on ixgbe
> 
> Add the description of how to add a MAC address for a VF from PF on ixgbe.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Wenzhuo Lu <wenzhuo.lu@intel.com>
> ---
>  doc/guides/nics/ixgbe.rst | 11 +++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/ixgbe.rst b/doc/guides/nics/ixgbe.rst index
> 696ff69..bd0dc68 100644
> --- a/doc/guides/nics/ixgbe.rst
> +++ b/doc/guides/nics/ixgbe.rst
> @@ -227,6 +227,17 @@ So when the user sets different MTUs on PF and VF
> ports in one physical port,  the real MTU for all these PF and VF ports is
> the largest value set.
>  This behavior is based on the kernel driver behavior.
> 
> +VF MAC address setting
> +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> +
> +On ixgbe, the concept pool can be used for different things. It depends
> +on the mode. In VMDq mode, the pool means a VMDq pool. In IOV mode, the
> +pool means a VF.
> +When setting the parameters of a pool, in VMDq mode, it's for a VMDq
> +pool, in IOV mode, it's for a VF.
> +There's no RTE API to add a VF's MAC address from PF. On ixgbe, there's
> +a workaround to do it. "rte_eth_dev_mac_addr_add" also can be used to
> +add a VF's MAC address.

I'd suggest something like the following may be a bit clearer:

VF MAC address setting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On ixgbe, the concept of "pool" can be used for different things depending on
the mode. In VMDq mode, "pool" means a VMDq pool. In IOV mode, "pool" means a
VF.

There is no RTE API to add a VF's MAC address from the PF. On ixgbe, the
``rte_eth_dev_mac_addr_add()`` function can be can be used to add a VF's MAC
address, as a workaround.