Simple Forward VNF
NVIDIA DOCA Simple Forward VNF Application Guide
This document provides a Simple Forward implementation on top of NVIDIA® BlueField® DPU.
Simple forward is a forwarding application which takes VXLAN traffic from a single RX port and transmits it on a single TX port.
For a packet received on an RX port, simple forward will create a flow based on the packet’s tunnel and 5-tuples. For the following packets with the same key, simple forward checks the packet’s keys. If it finds that the packet matches the existing flow, then it does not create a new flow. Otherwise, a new flow is created. And then the packets are forwarded on the other port.
Simple forward should be run with dual ports. By using a traffic generator, the RX port receives the VXLAN packets and forwarding forwards them back to the traffic generator.
Simple forward first initializes DPDK, after which the application handles the incoming packets.
The following diagram illustrates the initialization process.
![initialization-process-illustration.png](https://docscontent.nvidia.com/dims4/default/51b9e14/2147483647/strip/true/crop/955x152+0+0/resize/955x152!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk3-prod-nvidia-docs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fdita%2F0000018a-665c-da99-a9ca-667f0df20000%2Fdoca%2Farchive%2Fdoca-v1.3%2Fsimple-forward%2Fgraphics%2Finitialization-process-illustration.png)
-
Init_DPDK
– EAL init, parse argument from command line and register signal. - Start port –
mbuf_create
,dev_configure
, rx/tx/hairpin queue setup and start the port. -
Simple_fwd INIT
– create flow tables, build default forward pipes.
The following diagram illustrates how to process the packet.
![packet-processing-illustration.png](https://docscontent.nvidia.com/dims4/default/0d18599/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1100x314+0+0/resize/1100x314!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk3-prod-nvidia-docs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fdita%2F0000018a-665c-da99-a9ca-667f0df20000%2Fdoca%2Farchive%2Fdoca-v1.3%2Fsimple-forward%2Fgraphics%2Fpacket-processing-illustration.png)
- Based on the packet's info, find the key values (e.g. src/dst IP, src/dst port, etc).
- Traverse the inner flow tables, check if the keys exist or not.
- If yes, update inner counter
- If no, a new flow table is added and new pipes are configured on the DPU
- Forward the packet to the other port.
This application leverages the DOCA Flow Library.
- Parse application argument.
doca_argp_init();
- Initialize arg parser resources.
- Register DOCA general flags.
register_simple_fwd_params();
- Register simple fwd application flags.
doca_argp_start();
- Parse DPDK flags and call
rte_eal_init()
function. - Parse APP flags.
- DPDK port initialization and start.
dpdk_init();
- Initialize DPDK ports.
- Create mbuf pool using
rte_pktmbuf_pool_create
- Driver initialization – use
rte_eth_dev_configure
to configure the number of queues - Rx/Tx queue initialization – use
rte_eth_rx_queue_setup
andrte_eth_tx_queue_setup
to initialize the queues - Rx hairpin queue initialization – use
rte_eth_rx_hairpin_queue_setup
to initialize the queues - Start the port using
rte_eth_dev_start
- Simple forward initialization.
simple_fwd_init();
-
simple_fwd_create_ins
- create flow tables usingsimple_fwd_ft_create
-
simple_fwd_init_ports_and_pipes
– initialize DOCA port usingsimple_fwd_init_doca_port
and build default pipes for each port.
-
- Main loop.
simple_fwd_process_pkts();
- Receive packets using
rte_eth_rx_burst
in a loop - Process packets using
simple_fwd_process_offload
- Transmit the packets on the other port by calling
rte_eth_tx_burst
. Or free the packet mbuf ifrx_only
is set to true.
- Receive packets using
- Process packets.
simple_fwd_process_offload();
- Parse the packet's
rte_mbuf
usingsimple_fwd_pkt_info
. - Handle the packet using
simple_fwd_handle_packet
. If the packet's key does not match the existed the flow entry, create a new flow entry and PIPE usingsimple_fwd_handle_new_flow
. Otherwise, increase the total packet's counter.
- Parse the packet's
- Simple forward destroy.
simple_fwd_destroy();
- Simple forward close port and clean the flow resources.
dpdk_fini();
- Arg parser destroy.
doca_argp_destroy();
- Free DPDK resources by call
rte_eal_cleanup()
function.
- Free DPDK resources by call
- Refer to the following documents:
- NVIDIA DOCA Installation Guide 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 applications.
- The simple forward binary is located under /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/simple_fwd_vnf/bin/doca_simple_fwd_vnf. To build all the applications together, Run:
cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/ meson build ninja -C build
- To build the simple forward sample only:
- Edit the following flags in
/opt/mellanox/doca/applications/meson_option.txt
:- Set
enable_all_applications
tofalse
- Set
enable_simple_fwd_vnf
totrue
- Set
- Run the commands in step 2.
Note:
doca_simple_fwd_vnf
is created under./build/simple_fwd_vnf/src/
.
Application usage:
Usage: doca_simple_forward_vnf [DPDK Flags] -- [DOCA Flags] [Program Flags] DOCA Flags: -h, --help Print a help synopsis -v, --version Print program version information -l, --log-level Set the log level for the app <CRITICAL=0, DEBUG=4> Program Flags: -t, --stats-timer <time> Set interval to dump stats information -q, --nr-queues <num> Set queues number -r, --rx-only Set rx only -o, --hw-offload Set hw offload -hq, --hairpinq Set forwarding to hairpin queue -a, --age-thread Start thread do aging
Note:For additional information on available flags for DPDK, use
-h
before the--
separator:/opt/mellanox/doca/applications/simple_fwd_vnf/bin/doca_simple_fwd_vnf -h
Note:For additional information on the application, use -h after the -- separator:
/opt/mellanox/doca/applications/simple_fwd_vnf/bin/doca_simple_fwd_vnf -- -h
- Edit the following flags in
- Running the application on BlueField:
- Pre-run setup:
- The simple forward example is based on DPDK libraries. Therefore, the user is required to provide DPDK flags, and allocate huge pages.
echo 2048 > /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages
- Make sure the RegEx engine is active:
systemctl status mlx-regex
If the status is inactive (Active: failed
), run:systemctl start mlx-regex
- The simple forward example is based on DPDK libraries. Therefore, the user is required to provide DPDK flags, and allocate huge pages.
- CLI example for running the app:
/opt/mellanox/doca/applications/simple_fwd_vnf/bin/doca_simple_fwd_vnf -a auxiliary:mlx5_core.sf.4 -a auxiliary:mlx5_core.sf.5 -- -l 4
Note:The flag
-a auxiliary:mlx5_core.sf.4 -a auxiliary:mlx5_core.sf.5
is mandatory for proper usage of the application. Modifying this flag results unexpected behavior as only 2 ports are supported. The SF number is arbitrary and configurable.Note:SFs must be enabled according to Scalable Function Setup Guide.
- Pre-run setup:
- Running the application on the host, CLI example:
doca_simple_fwd_vnf -a 04:00.3 -a 04:00.4 -- -l 4
Note:Refer to section "Running DOCA Application on Host" in NVIDIA DOCA Virtual Functions User Guide.
- To run
doca_simple_fwd_vnf
using a JSON file:doca_simple_fwd_vnf --json [json_file]
cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/simple_fwd_vnf/bin ./doca_simple_fwd_vnf --json simple_fwd_params.json
Refer to NVIDIA DOCA Arg Parser User Guide for more information.
Flag Type | Short Flag | Long Flag/JSON Key | Description | JSON Content |
---|---|---|---|---|
DPDK Flags | a | devices | Add a PCIe device into the list of devices to probe |
|
General Flags | l | log-level | Set the log level for the application:
|
|
v | version | Print program version information | N/A | |
h | help | Print a help synopsis | N/A | |
Program Flags | t | stats-timer | Set interval to dump stats information |
|
q | nr-queues | Set queues number |
|
|
r | rx-only | Set rx only |
|
|
o | hw-offload | Set HW offload |
|
|
hq | hairping | Set forwarding to hairpin queue |
|
|
a | age-thread | Start thread do aging |
|
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