DOCA Flow Connection Tracking

This guide provides an overview and configuration instructions for DOCA Flow CT API.

DOCA Flow Connection Tracking (CT) is a 5-tuple table which supports the following:

• Track 5-tuple sessions (or 6-tuple when a zone is available)

• Zone based – virtual tables

• Aging (i.e., removes idle connections)

• Sets metadata for a connection

• Bidirectional packet handling

• High rate of connections per second (CPS)

The CT module makes it simple and efficient to track connections by leveraging hardware resources. The module supports both autonomous and managed mode.

DOCA Flow CT pipe handles non-encapsulated TCP and UDP packets. The CT pipe only supports forward to next pipe or miss to next pipe actions:

• All packets matching known connection 6-tuples are forwarded to the CT's forward pipe

• Non-matching packets are forwarded to the miss pipe

The user application must handle packets accordingly.

The DOCA Flow CT API is built around four major parts:

• CT module manipulation – configuring CT module resources

• CT connection entry manipulation – adding, removing, or updating connection entries

• Callbacks – handling asynchronous entry processing result

• Pipe and entry statistics

Aging

Aging time is a time in seconds that sets the maximum allowed time for a session to be maintained without a packet seen. If that time elapses with no packet being detected, the session is terminated.

To support aging, a dedicated aging thread is started to poll and check counters for all connections.

Autonomous Mode

In this mode, DOCA runs multiple CT workers internally, to handle connections in parallel.

A connection's lifecycle is controlled by the connection state encapsulated in the packet and time-based aging.

CT workers establish and close connections automatically based on the connection's state stored in packet meta.

Packet meta is defined as follows:

            

            
uint32_t src : 1;      /**< Source port in multi-port E-Switch mode */
uint32_t hairpin : 1;  /**< Subject to forward using hairpin. */
uint32_t type : 2;     /**< CT packet type: New, End or Update */
uint32_t data : 28;    /**< Zone set by user or reserved after CT pipe. */
        

• data – CT table matches on packet meta (zone) and 5-tuples

• type – can have the following values:

  • NONE – (known) if packet hit any connection rule

  • NEW – if new TCP or UDP connection

  • END – if TCP connection closed

• src and hairpin – used for forwarding pipe and worker to deliver packet

Managed Mode

The application is responsible for managing the worker threads in this mode, parsing and handling the connection's lifecycle.

Managed mode uses DOCA Flow CT management APIs to create or destroy the connections.

The CT aging module notifies on aged out connections by calling callbacks.

Users can create connection rules with a different pattern, meta, or counter, for each packet direction.

Users can create one rule of a connection first, then create another rule using API doca_flow_ct_entry_add_dir().

DOCA Flow API can be used to process CT entries with a CT-dedicated queue.

• doca_flow_entries_process – process pipe entries in queue

• doca_flow_aging_handle – handle pipe entries aging

DPU

To enable DOCA Flow CT on the DPU, perform the following on the Arm:

1. Enable iommu.passthrough in Linux boot commands ( or disable SMMU from the DPU BIOS):

   1. Run:

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      sudo vim /etc/default/grub
              

   2. Set GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="iommu.passthrough=1".

   3. Run:

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      sudo update-grub
      sudo reboot
              

2. Configure DPU firmware with LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION=1:

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   sudo mlxconfig -d <device-id> s LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION=1
           

   Info

   Retrieve device-id from the output of the mst status -v command. If, under the MST tab, the value is N/A, run the mst start command.

3. Perform power cycle on the host and Arm sides.

4. If working with a single port, set the DPU into e-switch mode:

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   sudo devlink dev eswitch set pci/<pcie-address> mode switchdev
   sudo devlink dev param set pci/<pcie-address> name esw_multiport value false cmode runtime
           

   Info

   Retrieve pcie-address from the output of the mst status -v command.

5. If working with two PF ports, set the DPU into multi-port e-switch mode (for the 2 PCIe devices):

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   sudo devlink dev param set pci/<pcie-address> name esw_multiport value true cmode runtime
           

   Info

   Retrieve pcie-address from the output of the mst status -v command.

6. Define huge pages (see DOCA Flow prerequisites).

ConnectX

To enable DOCA Flow CT on the NVIDIA® ConnectX®, perform the following:

1. Configure firmware with LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION=1:

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   sudo mlxconfig -d <device-id> s LAG_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION=1
           

   Info

   Retrieve device-id from the output of the mst status -v command. If, under the MST tab, the value is N/A, run the mst start command.

2. Perform power cycle.

3. If working with a single port:

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   sudo devlink dev eswitch set pci/<pcie-address> mode switchdev
   sudo devlink dev param set pci/<pcie-address> name esw_multiport value false cmode runtime
           

   Info

   Retrieve pcie-address from the output of the mst status -v command.

4. If working with two PF ports:

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   sudo devlink dev eswitch set pci/<pcie-address0> mode switchdev
   sudo devlink dev eswitch set pci/<pcie-address1> mode switchdev
   sudo devlink dev param set pci/<pcie-address0> name esw_multiport value true cmode runtime
   sudo devlink dev param set pci/<pcie-address1> name esw_multiport value true cmode runtime
           

   Info

   Retrieve pcie-address from the output of the mst status -v command.

5. Define huge pages (see DOCA Flow prerequisites).

DOCA Flow CT supports actions based on meta and NAT operations. Each action can be defined as either shared or non-shared.

Shared Actions

Actions that can be shared between entries. Shared actions are predefined and reused in multiple entries.

The user gets a handle per shared action created and uses this handle as a reference to the action where required.

Shared actions are defined using a control queue (see struct doca_flow_ct_cfg).

Non-shared Actions

Actions provided with their data during entry create/update.

These actions are completely managed by DOCA Flow CT and cannot be reused in multiple flows (i.e., NAT operations).

Action Sets in Pipe Creation

Users must define action sets during DOCA Flow CT pipe creation (as with any other pipe).

During entry create/update, different actions can be provided per direction (different action content and/or different type).

Feature Enable

To enable user actions, configure the following parameters:

• User action templates during DOCA Flow CT pipe creation

• Maximum number of user actions (nb_user_actions on DOCA Flow CT init)

Using Actions in Autonomous Mode

Init

Configure the following parameters on doca_flow_ct_init():

• nb_ctrl_queues – number of control queues for defining shared actions

• nb_user_actions – maximum number of actions (shared and non-shared)

• worker_cb – callbacks required to communicate with the user

Create DOCA Flow CT Pipe

Configure actions sets on doca_flow_pipe_create().

Create Shared Actions

Use doca_flow_ct_actions_add_shared() with one of the control queues.

Shared actions can be added at any time before use.

Implement Worker Callbacks

Callbacks are called from each worker thread to acquire synchronization with the user code and on the first packet of a flow.

On doca_flow_ct_rule_pkt_cb:

• Determine how the packet should be treated

• If rules are required, return the actions handles to use

Using Actions in Managed Mode

Init

Configure the following parameters on doca_flow_ct_init():

• nb_ctrl_queues – number of control queues for defining shared actions

• nb_user_actions – maximum number of user actions.

Create DOCA Flow CT Pipe

Configure actions sets on doca_flow_pipe_create().

Create Shared Actions

Use doca_flow_ct_actions_add_shared() with one of the control queues.

Shared actions can be added at any time before use.

Add Entry

Entry can be created in one of the following ways:

• Using an action handle of a predefined shared action

• Using action data, which is specific to the flow, not sharable (e.g., for NAT operations)

The entry can have different actions and/or different action types per direction.

Remove Entry

Non-shared actions associated with an entry are implicitly destroyed by DOCA Flow CT.

Shared actions are not destroyed. They can be used by the user until they decide to remove them.

Update Entry

Entry actions can be updated per direction. All combinations of shared/non-shared actions are applicable (e.g., update from shared to non-shared).

DOCA Flow CT allows using a different forward pipe per flow direction.

DOCA Flow CT supports the forward pipe in two levels:

• Pipe level – a single forward pipe defined during DOCA Flow CT pipe creation and used for all entries

• Entry level – forward pipe defined during entry create

• DOCA Flow CT operates in one of the two levels

DOCA CT forward in entry level has the following characteristics:

• Supports only DOCA_FLOW_FWD_PIPE (up to 4 different forward pipes)

• Supports forward pipe per flow direction (both directions can have same/different forward pipe)

• Must set forward pipes on each entry create (no default forward pipe)

Turn on the feature:

1. Create DOCA Flow CT pipe with forward type = DOCA_FLOW_FWD_PIPE and next_pipe = NULL .

2. Call to doca_flow_ct_fwd_register to register forward pipes and get fwd_handles in return.

Using Changeable Forward in Managed Mode

1. Initialize DOCA Flow CT (doca_flow_ct_init​).

2. Register forward pipes (doca_flow_ct_fwd_register​).

   • Define pipes that can be used for forward​

3. Create DOCA Flow CT pipe​ (doca_flow_pipe_create) w ith definition of possible forward pipes.

4. Add entry (doca_flow_ct_add_entry).

   • Set origin and/or reply fwd_handles returned from doca_flow_ct_fwd_register.

5. Update forward for entry direction (doca_flow_ct_update_entry​).

   Note

   Updating forward handle requires setting all other parameters with their previous values.​

Using Changeable Forward in Autonomous Mode

1. Initialize DOCA Flow CT (doca_flow_ct_init​).

2. Register forward pipes (doca_flow_ct_fwd_register​).

   • Define pipes that can be used for forward.

3. Create DOCA Flow CT pipe​ (doca_flow_pipe_create) w ith definition of possible forward pipes.

4. CT workers start to handle traffic.​

5. On the first flow packet, doca_flow_ct_rule_pkt callback​ is called.

   • In this callback, determine if the entry should be created, and which actions and/or forward handles should be used for this entry.

For the library API reference, refer to DOCA Flow and CT API documentation in the NVIDIA DOCA Library APIs.

The following sections provide additional details about the library API.

enum doca_flow_ct_flags

DOCA Flow CT configuration optional flags.

enum doca_flow_ct doca_flow_ct_entry_flags

DOCA Flow CT Entry optional flags.

enum doca_flow_ct_rule_opr

Options for handling flows in autonomous mode with shared actions. The decision is taken on the first flow packet.

struct direction_cfg

Managed mode configuration for origin or reply direction.

struct doca_flow_ct_worker_callbacks

Set of callbacks for using shared actions in autonomous mode.

struct doca_flow_ct_cfg

DOCA Flow CT configuration.

            

            
uint32_t nb_arm_queues;
uint32_t nb_ctrl_queues;
uint32_t nb_user_actions;
uint32_t nb_arm_sessions[DOCA_FLOW_CT_SESSION_MAX];
uint32_t flags;
struct doca_dev *doca_dev;
void *ib_dev;
void *ib_pd;
uint16_t aging_core;
uint16_t aging_query_delay_s;
doca_flow_ct_flow_log_cb flow_log_cb;
struct doca_flow_ct_aging_ops *aging_ops;
uint32_t base_core_id;
uint32_t dup_filter_sz;
union {
                /* Managed mode configuration for origin and reply direction. */
                struct direction_cfg direction[2];
 
                /* Below fields are dedicate for autonomous mode */
                struct {
 						uint16_t tcp_timeout_s;
  						uint16_t tcp_session_del_s;
  						uint16_t udp_timeout_s;
                        enum doca_flow_tun_type tunnel_type;
                        uint16_t vxlan_dst_port;
                        enum doca_flow_ct_hash_type hash_type;
                        uint32_t meta_user_bits;
                        uint32_t meta_action_bits;
                        struct doca_flow_meta *meta_zone_mask;
                        struct doca_flow_meta *connection_id_mask;
                        struct doca_flow_ct_worker_callbacks worker_cb;
               };
       };
        

Where:

struct doca_flow_ct_actions

This structure is used in the following cases:

• For defining shared actions. In this case, action data is provided by the user. The action handle is returned by DOCA Flow CT.

• For defining an entry with actions. The structure can be filled with two options:

  • With action handle of a previously created shared action

  • With non-shared action data

DOCA Flow CT action structure.

            

            
enum doca_flow_resource_type  resource_type;
union {
			   /* Used when creating an entry with a shared action. */
               uint32_t action_handle;
 
               /* Used when creating an entry with non-shared action or when creating a shared action. */
               struct {   
                          uint32_t action_idx;
                          struct doca_flow_meta meta;
                          struct doca_flow_header_l4_port l4_port;
                          union {
                                    struct doca_flow_ct_ip4 ip4;
                                    struct doca_flow_ct_ip6 ip6;
                           };
               } data;
       };
        

Where:

This section describes DOCA Flow CT samples based on the DOCA Flow CT pipe.

The samples illustrate how to use the library API to manage TCP/UDP connections.

Running the Samples

1. Refer to the following documents:

   • NVIDIA DOCA Installation Guide for Linux for details on how to install BlueField-related software.

   • NVIDIA DOCA Troubleshooting Guide for any issue you may encounter with the installation, compilation, or execution of DOCA samples.

2. To build a given sample:

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   cd /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp
   meson /tmp/build
   ninja -C /tmp/build
           

   Info

   The binary doca_flow_ct_udp is created under /tmp/build/samples/.

3. Sample (e.g., doca_flow_ct_udp ) usage:

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   Usage: doca_<sample_name> [DOCA Flags] [Program Flags]
     
   DOCA Flags:
     -h, --help                              Print a help synopsis
     -v, --version                           Print program version information    
     -l, --log-level                         Set the (numeric) log level for the program <10=DISABLE, 20=CRITICAL, 30=ERROR, 40=WARNING, 50=INFO, 60=DEBUG, 70=TRACE>
     --sdk-log-level                         Set the SDK (numeric) log level for the program <10=DISABLE, 20=CRITICAL, 30=ERROR, 40=WARNING, 50=INFO, 60=DEBUG, 70=TRACE>
     -j, --json <path>                       Parse all command flags from an input json file
      
   Program Flags:
     -p, --pci_addr <PCI-ADDRESS>            PCI device address
           

4. For additional information per sample, use the -h option:

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   /tmp/build/samples/<sample_name> -h
           

5. The following is a CLI example for running the samples when port 03:00.0 is configured (multi-port e-switch) as manager port:

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   /tmp/build/samples/doca_<sample_name> -- -p 03:00.0 -l 60
           

Samples

Flow CT UDP

This sample illustrates how to create a simple UDP pipeline with a CT pipe in it.

The sample logic includes:

1. Initializing DOCA Flow by indicating mode_args="switch,hws" in the doca_flow_cfg struct.

2. Initializing DOCA Flow CT .

3. Starting two DOCA Flow uplink representor ports where port 0 has a special role of being a switch manager port.

   Info

   Ports are configured according to the parameters provided to doca_dpdk_port_probe() in the main function.

4. Creating a pipeline on the main port:

   1. Building an UDP pipe to filter non-UDP packets.

   2. Building a CT pipe to hold UDP session entries.

   3. Building a counter pipe with an example 5-tuple entry to which non-unidentified UDP sessions should be sent.

   4. Building a VXLAN encapsulation pipe to encapsulate all identified UDP sessions.

   5. Building an RSS pipe from which all packets are directed to the sample main thread for parsing and processing.

5. Packet processing:

   1. The first UDP packet triggers the miss flow as the CT pipe is empty.

   2. 5-tuple packet parsing is performed.

   3. doca_flow_ct_add_entry() is called to create a hardware rule according to the parsed 5-tuple info.

   4. The second UDP packet based on the the same 5-tuple should be sent again. Packet hits the HW rule inserted before and directed to port 0 after VXLAN encapsulation.

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp/flow_ct_udp_sample.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp/flow_ct_udp_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp/meson.build

Flow CT UDP Query

This sample illustrates how to query a Flow CT UDP session entry. The query can be done according to session direction (origin or reply). The pipeline is identical to that of the Flow CT UDP sample.

This sample adds the following logic:

1. Dumping port 0 information into a file at ./port_0_info.txt.

2. Querying UDP session hardware entry created after receiving the first UDP packet:

   • Origin total bytes received

   • Origin total packets received

   • Reply total bytes received

   • Reply total packets received

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp_query/flow_ct_udp_query_sample.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp_query/flow_ct_udp_query_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp_query/meson.build

Flow CT UDP Update

This sample illustrates how a CT entry can be updated after creation.

The pipeline is identical to that of the Flow CT UDP sample . In case of non-active UDP sessions, a relevant entry shall be updated with an aging timeout.

This sample adds the following logic:

1. Querying all UDP sessions for the total number of packets received in both the origin and reply directions.

2. Updating entry aging timeout to 2 seconds once a session is not active (i.e., no packets received on either side).

3. Waiting until all non-active session are aged and deleted.

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp_update/flow_ct_udp_update_sample.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp_update/flow_ct_udp_update_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_udp_update/meson.build

Flow CT UDP Single Match

This sample is based on the Flow CT UDP sample. The sample illustrates that a hardware entry can be created with a single match (matching performed in one direction only) in the API call doca_flow_ct_add_entry().

Flow CT Aging

This sample illustrates the use of the DOCA Flow CT aging functionality. It demonstrates how to build a pipe and add different entries with different aging times and user data.

No packets need to be sent for this sample.

The sample logic includes:

1. Initializing DOCA Flow by indicating mode_args="switch,hws" in the doca_flow_cfg struct.

2. Initializing DOCA Flow CT .

3. Starting two DOCA Flow uplink representor ports where port 0 has a special role of being a switch manager port.

   Info

   Ports are configured according to the parameters provided to doca_dpdk_port_probe() in the main function.

4. Building a UDP pipe to serve as the root pipe.

5. Building a counter pipe with an example 5-tuple entry to which CT forwards packets.

6. Adding 32 entries with a different 5-tuple match, different aging time (3-12 seconds), and setting user data. User data will contain the port ID, entry number, and status.

7. Handling aging in small intervals and removing each entry after age-out.

8. Running these commands until all 32 entries age out.

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_aging/flow_ct_aging_sample.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_aging/flow_ct_aging_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_aging/meson.build

Flow CT TCP

This sample illustrates how to manage TCP flags with CT to achieve better control over TCP sessions.

The sample logic includes:

1. Initializing DOCA Flow by indicating mode_args="switch,hws" in the doca_flow_cfg struct.

2. Initializing DOCA Flow CT .

3. Starting two DOCA Flow uplink representor ports where port 0 has a special role of being a switch manager port.

   Info

   Ports are configured according to the parameters provided to doca_dpdk_port_probe() in the main function.

4. Creating a pipeline on the main port:

   1. Building an TCP pipe to filter non-TCP packets.

   2. Building a CT pipe to hold TCP session entries.

   3. Building a CT miss pipe which forwards all packets to RSS pipe.

   4. Building an RSS pipe from which all packets are directed to the sample main thread for parsing and processing.

   5. Building a TCP flags filter pipe which identifies the TCP flag inside the packets. SYN, FIN, and RST packets are forwarded the to RSS pipe while all others are forwarded to the EGRESS pipe.

   6. Building an EGRESS pipe to forward packets to uplink representor port 1.

5. Packet processing:

   1. The first TCP packet triggers the miss flow as the CT pipe is empty.

   2. 5-tuple packet parsing is performed.

   3. TCP flag is examined.

      • In case of a SYN flag, a hardware entry is created.

      • For FIN or RST flags, the HW entry is removed and all packets are transferred to uplink representor port 1 using rte_eth_tx_burst()on port 0 (proxy port) by rte_flow_dynf_metadata_set() to 1.

   4. From this point on, all TCP packets belonging to the above session are offloaded directly to uplink port representor 1.

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp/flow_ct_tcp_sample.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp/flow_ct_tcp_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp/meson.build

Flow CT TCP Actions

This sample illustrates how a to add shared and non-shared actions to CT TCP sessions. The pipeline is identical to that of the Flow CT TCP sample.

This sample adds a shared action on one side of the session that placed the value 1 in the packet's metadata, while on the other side of the session a non-shared action is placed. The non-shared action simply flips the order of the source-destination IP addresses and port numbers.

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp_actions/flow_ct_tcp_actions_sample.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp_actions/flow_ct_tcp_actions_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp_actions/meson.build

Flow CT TCP Flow Log

This sample illustrate how to use the flow log callback to alert when a session is aged/removed.

This sample is based on the Flow CT TCP sample. Once a session is removed (after receiving FIN packet), the callback is triggered and session counters are queried.

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp_flow_log/flow_ct_tcp_flow_log_sample.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp_flow_log/flow_ct_tcp_flow_log_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp_flow_log/meson.build

Flow CT TCP IPv4/IPv6

This sample illustrates how to manage a flow with a different IP type per direction.

In case of a SYN flag:

1. A single HW entry of IPv4 is created as origin direction

2. An additional HW entry of IPv6 is created as reply direction

3. From this point on, all IP v4 TCP packets (belonging to the origin direction) and all IPv6 TCP packets (belonging to the reply direction) are offloaded.

Reference:

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp/flow_ct_tcp_sample_ipv4_ipv6.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp/flow_ct_tcp_ipv4_ipv6_main.c

• /opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_flow/flow_ct_tcp/meson.build