Re: [PATCH v3 3/5] doc: give specific instructions for running as non-root

[Bruce Richardson <bruce.richardson@intel.com>]

On Fri, Jun 24, 2022 at 11:48:15AM +0300, Dmitry Kozlyuk wrote:
> The guide to run DPDK applications as non-root in Linux
> did not provide specific instructions to configure the required access
> and did not explain why each bit is needed.
> The latter is important because running as non-root
> is one of the ways to tighten security and grant minimal permissions.
> 
> Cc: stable@dpdk.org
> 
> Signed-off-by: Dmitry Kozlyuk <dkozlyuk@nvidia.com>

Good improvements. One small suggestion below, otherwise:

Acked-by: Bruce Richardson <bruce.richardson@intel.com>

> ---
>  doc/guides/linux_gsg/enable_func.rst          | 89 +++++++++++++------
>  .../prog_guide/env_abstraction_layer.rst      |  2 +
>  2 files changed, 64 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/doc/guides/linux_gsg/enable_func.rst b/doc/guides/linux_gsg/enable_func.rst
> index 1df3ab0255..0b57417c94 100644
> --- a/doc/guides/linux_gsg/enable_func.rst
> +++ b/doc/guides/linux_gsg/enable_func.rst
> @@ -13,13 +13,63 @@ Enabling Additional Functionality
>  Running DPDK Applications Without Root Privileges
>  -------------------------------------------------
>  
> -In order to run DPDK as non-root, the following Linux filesystem objects'
> -permissions should be adjusted to ensure that the Linux account being used to
> -run the DPDK application has access to them:
> +The following sections describe generic requirements and configuration
> +for running DPDK applications as non-root.
> +There may be additional requirements documented for some drivers.
>  
> -*   All directories which serve as hugepage mount points, for example, ``/dev/hugepages``
> +Hugepages
> +~~~~~~~~~
>  
> -*   If the HPET is to be used,  ``/dev/hpet``
> +Hugepages must be reserved as root before running the application as non-root,
> +for example::
> +
> +  sudo dpdk-hugepages.py --reserve 1G
> +
> +If multi-process is not required, running with ``--in-memory``
> +bypasses the need to access hugepage mount point and files within it.
> +Otherwise, hugepage directory must be made accessible
> +for writing to the unprivileged user.
> +A good way for managing multiple applications using hugepages
> +is to mount the filesystem with group permissions
> +and add a supplementary group to each application or container.
> +
> +One option is to use the script provided by this project::
> +
> +  export HUGEDIR=$HOME/huge-1G
> +  mkdir -p $HUGEDIR
> +  sudo dpdk-hugepages.py --mount --directory $HUGEDIR --owner `id -u`:`id -g`
> +
> +In production environment, the OS can manage mount points
> +(`systemd example <https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/units/dev-hugepages.mount>`_).
> +
> +The ``hugetlb`` filesystem has additional options to guarantee or limit
> +the amount of memory that is possible to allocate using the mount point.
> +Refer to the `documentation <https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/vm/hugetlbpage.txt>`_.
> +
> +If the driver requires using physical addresses (PA),
> +the executable file must be granted additional capabilities:
> +
> +* ``SYS_ADMIN`` to read ``/proc/self/pagemaps``
> +* ``IPC_LOCK`` to lock hugepages in memory
> +
> +.. code-block:: console
> +
> +   setcap cap_ipc_lock,cap_sys_admin+ep <executable>
> +
> +If physical addresses are not accessible,
> +the following message will appear during EAL initialization::
> +
> +  EAL: rte_mem_virt2phy(): cannot open /proc/self/pagemap: Permission denied
> +
> +It is harmless in case PA are not needed.
> +
> +.. note::
> +
> +   Using ``vfio-pci`` kernel driver, if applicable, can eliminate the need
> +   for physical addresses and therefore reduce the permission requirements.
> +

Can we move this note up a bit, to immediately after the paragraph about
requiring physical addresses. It's better to inform the user immediately if
a section is not relevant to them, than only telling them at the end once
they have already read it.

/Bruce