What other packet types would a DPDK app use. The possible type fields are quite limited see the spec.

Plus it would be an ABI breakage would require versioning.

On Thu, May 29, 2025, 10:16 Schneide <schneide@qti.qualcomm.com> wrote:
From: Dylan Schneider <schneide@qti.qualcomm.com>

Allow the user to specify protocol link type when creating pcapng files.
This change is needed to specify the protocol type in the pcapng file,
DLT_EN10MB specifies ethernet packets only. This will allow dissectors
for other protocols to be used on files generated by pcapng.

Includes a breaking change to rte_pcapng_add_interface to add link_type
parameter. Existing calls to the function have been updated to pass
DLT_EN10MB for the link type argument.

Fixes: d1da6d0d04c7 ("pcapng: require per-interface information")
Signed-off-by: Dylan Schneider <schneide@qti.qualcomm.com>
Cc: stephen@networkplumber.org
---

diff --git a/.mailmap b/.mailmap
index d9423aa..7ef0964 100644
--- a/.mailmap
+++ b/.mailmap
@@ -388,6 +388,7 @@
 Dumitru Ceara <dceara@redhat.com> <dumitru.ceara@gmail.com>
 Duncan Bellamy <dunk@denkimushi.com>
 Dustin Lundquist <dustin@null-ptr.net>
+Dylan Schneider <schneide@qti.qualcomm.com>
 Dzmitry Sautsa <dzmitryx.sautsa@intel.com>
 Ed Czeck <ed.czeck@atomicrules.com>
 Eduard Serra <eserra@vmware.com>
diff --git a/app/dumpcap/main.c b/app/dumpcap/main.c
index 3d3c0db..e0e2b26 100644
--- a/app/dumpcap/main.c
+++ b/app/dumpcap/main.c
@@ -800,8 +800,8 @@ static dumpcap_out_t create_output(void)
                free(os);

                TAILQ_FOREACH(intf, &interfaces, next) {
-                       if (rte_pcapng_add_interface(ret.pcapng, intf->port, intf->ifname,
-                                                    intf->ifdescr, intf->opts.filter) < 0)
+                       if (rte_pcapng_add_interface(ret.pcapng, intf->port, DLT_EN10MB,
+                               intf->ifname, intf->ifdescr, intf->opts.filter) < 0)
                                rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "rte_pcapng_add_interface %u failed\n",
                                        intf->port);
                }
diff --git a/app/test/test_pcapng.c b/app/test/test_pcapng.c
index 8f2cff3..bcf9972 100644
--- a/app/test/test_pcapng.c
+++ b/app/test/test_pcapng.c
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ test_add_interface(void)
        }

        /* Add interface to the file */
-       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id,
+       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id, DLT_EN10MB,
                                       NULL, NULL, NULL);
        if (ret < 0) {
                fprintf(stderr, "can not add port %u\n", port_id);
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ test_add_interface(void)
        }

        /* Add interface with ifname and ifdescr */
-       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id,
+       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id, DLT_EN10MB,
                                       "myeth", "Some long description", NULL);
        if (ret < 0) {
                fprintf(stderr, "can not add port %u with ifname\n", port_id);
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ test_add_interface(void)
        }

        /* Add interface with filter */
-       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id,
+       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id, DLT_EN10MB,
                                       NULL, NULL, "tcp port 8080");
        if (ret < 0) {
                fprintf(stderr, "can not add port %u with filter\n", port_id);
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ test_write_packets(void)
        }

        /* Add interface to the file */
-       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id,
+       ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng, port_id, DLT_EN10MB,
                                       NULL, NULL, NULL);
        if (ret < 0) {
                fprintf(stderr, "can not add port %u\n", port_id);
diff --git a/lib/graph/graph_pcap.c b/lib/graph/graph_pcap.c
index 89525f1..46fab8c 100644
--- a/lib/graph/graph_pcap.c
+++ b/lib/graph/graph_pcap.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ graph_pcap_file_open(const char *filename)

        /* Add the configured interfaces as possible capture ports */
        RTE_ETH_FOREACH_DEV(portid) {
-               ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng_fd, portid,
+               ret = rte_pcapng_add_interface(pcapng_fd, portid, DLT_EN10MB
                                               NULL, NULL, NULL);
                if (ret < 0) {
                        graph_err("Graph rte_pcapng_add_interface port %u failed: %d",
diff --git a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c
index 16485b2..bed1e14 100644
--- a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c
+++ b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.c
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ pcapng_section_block(rte_pcapng_t *self,
 /* Write an interface block for a DPDK port */
 RTE_EXPORT_SYMBOL(rte_pcapng_add_interface)
 int
-rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port,
+rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port, uint16_t link_type,
                         const char *ifname, const char *ifdescr,
                         const char *filter)
 {
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port,
        hdr = (struct pcapng_interface_block *)buf;
        *hdr = (struct pcapng_interface_block) {
                .block_type = PCAPNG_INTERFACE_BLOCK,
-               .link_type = 1,         /* DLT_EN10MB - Ethernet */
+               .link_type = link_type,
                .block_length = len,
        };

diff --git a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h
index 48f2b57..0a35ec9 100644
--- a/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h
+++ b/lib/pcapng/rte_pcapng.h
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ rte_pcapng_close(rte_pcapng_t *self);
  *  The handle to the packet capture file
  * @param port
  *  The Ethernet port to report stats on.
+ * @param link_type
+ *  The protocol link type of the packets
  * @param ifname (optional)
  *  Interface name to record in the file.
  *  If not specified, name will be constructed from port
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ rte_pcapng_close(rte_pcapng_t *self);
  * must be added.
  */
 int
-rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port,
+rte_pcapng_add_interface(rte_pcapng_t *self, uint16_t port, uint16_t link_type,
                         const char *ifname, const char *ifdescr,
                         const char *filter);