DOCA Documentation v2.5.1 LTS
1.0

NVIDIA DOCA File Compression Application Guide

This document provides a file compression implementation on top of the NVIDIA® BlueField® DPU.

The file compression application exhibits how to use the DOCA Compress API to compress and decompress data using hardware acceleration as well as sending and receiving it using the DOCA Comm Channel API.

The application's logic includes both a client and a server:

  • Client side – the application opens a file, compresses it, and sends the checksum of the source file with the compressed data to the server

  • Server side – the application saves the received file in a buffer, decompresses it, and compares the received checksum with the calculated one

The file compression application client runs on the host and the server runs on the DPU.

sys-design-version-1-modificationdate-1702685108777-api-v2.png

The file compression application runs on top of the DOCA Comm Channel API to send and receive the file from the host and to the DPU.

app-arch-version-1-modificationdate-1702685107750-api-v2.png

  1. Connection is established on both sides by DOCA Comm Channel API.

  2. Client compresses the data:

    • When compress engine is available – submits compress job with DOCA Compress API and sends the result to the server

    • When compress engine is unavailable – compresses the data in software

  3. Client sends the number of messages needed to send the compressed content of the file.

  4. Client sends data segments in size of up to 4080 bytes.

  5. Server saves the received data in a buffer and submits a decompress job.

  6. Server sends an ACK message to the client when all parts of the file are received successfully.

  7. Server compares the received checksum to the calculated checksum.

  8. Server writes the decompressed data to an output file.

This application leverages the following DOCA libraries:

Refer to their respective programming guide for more information.

Installation

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

Application Execution

The file compression application is provided in both source and binary forms. The binary is located under /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression.

  1. Application usage instructions:

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    Usage: doca_file_compression [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 DOCA Comm Channel device PCI address -r, --rep-pci DOCA Comm Channel device representor PCI address -f, --file File to send by the client / File to write by the server -t, --timeout Application timeout for receiving file content messages, default is 5 sec

    Note

    This usage printout can be printed to the command line using th e -h (or --help) options:

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    /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression -h

    Note

    For additional information, refer to section "Command Line Flags".

  2. CLI example for running the application on BlueField:

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    /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression -p 03:00.0 -r 3b:00.0 -f received.txt

    Warning

    Both the DOCA Comm Channel device PCIe address (03:00.0) and the DOCA Comm Channel device representor PCIe address (3b:00.0) should match the addresses of the desired PCIe devices.

  3. CLI example for running the application on the host:

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    /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/doca_file_compression -p 3b:00.0 -f send.txt

    Warning

    The DOCA Comm Channel device PCIe address (3b:00.0) should match the address of the desired PCIe device.

  4. The application also supports a JSON-based deployment mode, in which all command-line arguments are provided through a JSON file:

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    doca_file_compression --json [json_file]

    For example:

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    cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin ./doca_file_compression --json ./file_compression_params.json

    Warning

    Before execution, ensure that the used JSON file contains the correct configuration parameters, and especially the PCIe addresses necessary for the deployment.

Command Line Flags

Flag Type

Short Flag

Long Flag/JSON Key

Description

JSON Content

General flags

h

help

Prints a help synopsis

N/A

v

version

Prints program version information

N/A

l

log-level

Set the log level for the application:

  • DISABLE=10

  • CRITICAL=20

  • ERROR=30

  • WARNING=40

  • INFO=50

  • DEBUG=60

  • TRACE=70 (requires compilation with TRACE log level support)

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"log-level": 60

N/A

sdk-log-level

Sets the log level for the program:

  • DISABLE=10

  • CRITICAL=20

  • ERROR=30

  • WARNING=40

  • INFO=50

  • DEBUG=60

  • TRACE=70

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"sdk-log-level": 40

j

json

Parse all command flags from an input JSON file

N/A

Program flags

f

file

For client – path to the file to be sent

For server – path to write the file into

Warning

This is a mandatory flag.

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"file": "/tmp/data.txt"

p

pci-addr

Comm Channel DOCA device PCIe address

Warning

This is a mandatory flag.

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"pci-addr": 03:00.1 

r

rep-pci

Comm Channel DOCA device representor PCIe address

Warning

This flag is mandatory only on the DPU.

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"rep-pci": b1:00.1 

Note

Refer to DOCA Arg Parser for more information regarding the supported flags and execution modes.


Troubleshooting

Refer to the NVIDIA DOCA Troubleshooting Guide for any issue encountered with the installation or execution of the DOCA applications.

In addition to providing the application in binary form, the installation also includes all of the application sources and compilation instructions so as to allow modifying the sources and recompiling the application. For more information about the applications, as well as development and compilation tips, refer to the DOCA Applications page.

The sources of the application can be found under the /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/src directory.

Recompiling All Applications

The applications are all defined under a single meson project, so the default compilation recompiles all the DOCA applications.

To build all the applications together, run:

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cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/ meson /tmp/build ninja -C /tmp/build

Note

doca_file_compression is created under /tmp/build/file_compression/src/.


Recompiling File Compression Application Only

To directly build only the f ile compression application:

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cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/ meson /tmp/build -Denable_all_applications=false -Denable_file_compression=true ninja -C /tmp/build

Note

doca_file_compression is created under /tmp/build/file_compression/src/.

Alternatively, the user may set the desired flags in the meson_options.txt file instead of providing them in the compilation command line:

  1. Edit the following flags in /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/meson_options.txt:

    • Set enable_all_applications to false

    • Set enable_file_compression to true

  2. Run the following compilation commands :

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    cd /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/ meson /tmp/build ninja -C /tmp/build

    Note

    doca_file_compression is created under /tmp/build/file_compression/src/.

Troubleshooting

Refer to the NVIDIA DOCA Troubleshooting Guide for any issue encountered with the compilation of the application.

  1. Parse application argument.

    1. Initialize arg parser resources and register DOCA general parameters.

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      doca_argp_init();

    2. Register file compression application parameters.

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      register_file_compression_params();

    3. Parse the arguments.

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      doca_argp_start();

      1. Parse app parameters.

  2. Set endpoint attributes.

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    set_endpoint_properties();

    1. Set maximum message size of 4080 bytes.

    2. Set maximum number of messages allowed.

  3. Create comm channel endpoint.

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    doca_comm_channel_ep_create();

    1. Create endpoint for client/server.

  4. Run client/server main logic.

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    file_compression_client/server();

  5. Clean up the file compression application.

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    file_compression_cleanup();

    1. Free all application resources.

  6. Arg parser destroy.

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    doca_argp_destroy()

  • /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/src

  • /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/file_compression/bin/file_compression_params.json

© Copyright 2023, NVIDIA. Last updated on Mar 5, 2024.