Initialize SoftNIC to work with rte_flow rules

Initialize SoftNIC to work with rte_flow rules

[Lukáš Šišmiš]

Hi all,


I am trying to setup completely virtual development environment where it 
would be possible to develop applications with rte_flow rules.

For this, I've found SoftNIC as a viable solution as this is supposed to 
be a software NIC that also supports rte_flow rules.

However, I am having a hard time to set it up, I couldn't find good 
examples/documentation for this. Examples/docs found in 
ip_pipeline/pipeline examples are outdated.

I was able to make it run through testpmd but without the support for 
rte_flow.

Could you please help me to create spec/cli file that would support this 
use case?


I am currently primarily interested in RX direction although being able 
to work in the TX direction would be greatly appreciated.

The solution I am currently thinking of:

net_pcap0 -> net_softnic0 -> DPDK application + TX( -> net_softnic0 -> 
net_ring/net_null)


The RX path can be done - and I was able to run it in testpmd but then 
testpmd complained when I tried to apply rte_flow rules (not 
implemented). Makes sense considering that the softnic default pipeline 
doesn't contain any tables I guess.


Thank you all in advance.

I'm CC'ing Cristian as he is the SoftNIC maintainer.


Cheers,

Lukas Sismis

RE: Initialize SoftNIC to work with rte_flow rules

[Dumitrescu, Cristian]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lukáš Šišmiš <sismis@cesnet.cz>
> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023 9:36 AM
> To: users@dpdk.org
> Cc: Dumitrescu, Cristian <cristian.dumitrescu@intel.com>
> Subject: Initialize SoftNIC to work with rte_flow rules
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> I am trying to setup completely virtual development environment where it
> would be possible to develop applications with rte_flow rules.
> 
> For this, I've found SoftNIC as a viable solution as this is supposed to
> be a software NIC that also supports rte_flow rules.
> 
> However, I am having a hard time to set it up, I couldn't find good
> examples/documentation for this. Examples/docs found in
> ip_pipeline/pipeline examples are outdated.
> 
> I was able to make it run through testpmd but without the support for
> rte_flow.
> 
> Could you please help me to create spec/cli file that would support this
> use case?
> 
> 
> I am currently primarily interested in RX direction although being able
> to work in the TX direction would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> The solution I am currently thinking of:
> 
> net_pcap0 -> net_softnic0 -> DPDK application + TX( -> net_softnic0 ->
> net_ring/net_null)
> 
> 
> The RX path can be done - and I was able to run it in testpmd but then
> testpmd complained when I tried to apply rte_flow rules (not
> implemented). Makes sense considering that the softnic default pipeline
> doesn't contain any tables I guess.
> 
> 
> Thank you all in advance.
> 
> I'm CC'ing Cristian as he is the SoftNIC maintainer.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Lukas Sismis
> 

Hi Lukas,

The Soft NIC driver does not currently have RTE_FLOW support.

For now, you have to use the DPDK pipeline-specific API for populating the
pipeline tables:

1. You can put these commands in the firmware.cli file to be run at
Initialization.

2. You can use the run-time CLI (the best option) by doing "telnet 0.0.0.0 8086"
after the device initialization is complete. In case you're using test-pmd, beware
of the change required, as stated in the default "drivers/net/softnic/firmware.cli"
file.

3. You can call the C API directly in your app.

Regards,
Cristian

Re: Initialize SoftNIC to work with rte_flow rules

[Lukáš Šišmiš]

Hi Cristian,


OK, thank you for the reply.

Are you/anyone aware of a virtual driver that implements at least some 
level of rte_flow support?

Thanks in advance.


Lukas


On 29. 09. 23 11:55, Dumitrescu, Cristian wrote:
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Lukáš Šišmiš <sismis@cesnet.cz>
>> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023 9:36 AM
>> To: users@dpdk.org
>> Cc: Dumitrescu, Cristian <cristian.dumitrescu@intel.com>
>> Subject: Initialize SoftNIC to work with rte_flow rules
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>>
>> I am trying to setup completely virtual development environment where it
>> would be possible to develop applications with rte_flow rules.
>>
>> For this, I've found SoftNIC as a viable solution as this is supposed to
>> be a software NIC that also supports rte_flow rules.
>>
>> However, I am having a hard time to set it up, I couldn't find good
>> examples/documentation for this. Examples/docs found in
>> ip_pipeline/pipeline examples are outdated.
>>
>> I was able to make it run through testpmd but without the support for
>> rte_flow.
>>
>> Could you please help me to create spec/cli file that would support this
>> use case?
>>
>>
>> I am currently primarily interested in RX direction although being able
>> to work in the TX direction would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> The solution I am currently thinking of:
>>
>> net_pcap0 -> net_softnic0 -> DPDK application + TX( -> net_softnic0 ->
>> net_ring/net_null)
>>
>>
>> The RX path can be done - and I was able to run it in testpmd but then
>> testpmd complained when I tried to apply rte_flow rules (not
>> implemented). Makes sense considering that the softnic default pipeline
>> doesn't contain any tables I guess.
>>
>>
>> Thank you all in advance.
>>
>> I'm CC'ing Cristian as he is the SoftNIC maintainer.
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Lukas Sismis
>>
> Hi Lukas,
>
> The Soft NIC driver does not currently have RTE_FLOW support.
>
> For now, you have to use the DPDK pipeline-specific API for populating the
> pipeline tables:
>
> 1. You can put these commands in the firmware.cli file to be run at
> Initialization.
>
> 2. You can use the run-time CLI (the best option) by doing "telnet 0.0.0.0 8086"
> after the device initialization is complete. In case you're using test-pmd, beware
> of the change required, as stated in the default "drivers/net/softnic/firmware.cli"
> file.
>
> 3. You can call the C API directly in your app.
>
> Regards,
> Cristian