[dpdk-dev] [PATCH 13/13] doc: add mlx5 documentation and release notes for version 2.2

Adrien Mazarguil adrien.mazarguil at 6wind.com
Mon Oct 5 19:53:09 CEST 2015


Signed-off-by: Adrien Mazarguil <adrien.mazarguil at 6wind.com>
---
 doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst             | 308 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 doc/guides/rel_notes/release_2_2.rst |   8 +
 2 files changed, 316 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst

diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst b/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdb621c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,308 @@
+..  BSD LICENSE
+    Copyright 2015 6WIND S.A.
+
+    Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+    modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+    are met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in
+    the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
+    distribution.
+    * Neither the name of 6WIND S.A. nor the names of its
+    contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+    from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+    THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+    "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+    LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+    A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+    OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+    SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+    LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+    DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+    THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+    (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+    OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+
+MLX5 poll mode driver
+=====================
+
+The MLX5 poll mode driver library (**librte_pmd_mlx5**) provides support for
+**Mellanox ConnectX-4 EN** and **Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx EN** families of
+10/25/40/50/100 Gb/s adapters as well as their virtual functions (VF) in
+SR-IOV context.
+
+Information and documentation about these adapters can be found on the
+`Mellanox website <http://www.mellanox.com>`__. Help is also provided by the
+`Mellanox community <http://community.mellanox.com/welcome>`__.
+
+There is also a `section dedicated to this poll mode driver
+<http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=209&mtag=pmd_for_dpdk>`__.
+
+.. note::
+
+   Due to external dependencies, this driver is disabled by default. It must
+   be enabled manually by setting ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_PMD=y`` and
+   recompiling DPDK.
+
+.. warning::
+
+   ``CONFIG_RTE_BUILD_COMBINE_LIBS`` with ``CONFIG_RTE_BUILD_SHARED_LIB``
+   is not supported and thus the compilation will fail with this configuration.
+
+Implementation details
+----------------------
+
+Besides its dependency on libibverbs (that implies libmlx5 and associated
+kernel support), librte_pmd_mlx5 relies heavily on system calls for control
+operations such as querying/updating the MTU and flow control parameters.
+
+For security reasons and robustness, this driver only deals with virtual
+memory addresses. The way resources allocations are handled by the kernel
+combined with hardware specifications that allow it to handle virtual memory
+addresses directly ensure that DPDK applications cannot access random
+physical memory (or memory that does not belong to the current process).
+
+This capability allows the PMD to coexist with kernel network interfaces
+which remain functional, although they stop receiving unicast packets as
+long as they share the same MAC address.
+
+Enabling librte_pmd_mlx5 causes DPDK applications to be linked against
+libibverbs.
+
+Configuration
+-------------
+
+Compilation options
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+These options can be modified in the ``.config`` file.
+
+- ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_PMD`` (default **n**)
+
+  Toggle compilation of librte_pmd_mlx5 itself.
+
+- ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_DEBUG`` (default **n**)
+
+  Toggle debugging code and stricter compilation flags. Enabling this option
+  adds additional run-time checks and debugging messages at the cost of
+  lower performance.
+
+- ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_SGE_WR_N`` (default **4**)
+
+  Number of scatter/gather elements (SGEs) per work request (WR). Lowering
+  this number improves performance but also limits the ability to receive
+  scattered packets (packets that do not fit a single mbuf). The default
+  value is a safe tradeoff.
+
+- ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_MAX_INLINE`` (default **0**)
+
+  Amount of data to be inlined during TX operations. Improves latency but
+  lowers throughput.
+
+- ``CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_MLX5_TX_MP_CACHE`` (default **8**)
+
+  Maximum number of cached memory pools (MPs) per TX queue. Each MP from
+  which buffers are to be transmitted must be associated to memory regions
+  (MRs). This is a slow operation that must be cached.
+
+  This value is always 1 for RX queues since they use a single MP.
+
+Run-time configuration
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- librte_pmd_mlx5 brings kernel network interfaces up during initialization
+  because it is affected by their state. Forcing them down prevents packets
+  reception.
+
+- **ethtool** operations on related kernel interfaces also affect the PMD.
+
+Prerequisites
+-------------
+
+This driver relies on external libraries and kernel drivers for resources
+allocations and initialization. The following dependencies are not part of
+DPDK and must be installed separately:
+
+- **libibverbs**
+
+  User space Verbs framework used by librte_pmd_mlx5. This library provides
+  a generic interface between the kernel and low-level user space drivers
+  such as libmlx5.
+
+  It allows slow and privileged operations (context initialization, hardware
+  resources allocations) to be managed by the kernel and fast operations to
+  never leave user space.
+
+- **libmlx5**
+
+  Low-level user space driver library for Mellanox ConnectX-4 devices,
+  it is automatically loaded by libibverbs.
+
+  This library basically implements send/receive calls to the hardware
+  queues.
+
+- **Kernel modules** (mlnx-ofed-kernel)
+
+  They provide the kernel-side Verbs API and low level device drivers that
+  manage actual hardware initialization and resources sharing with user
+  space processes.
+
+  Unlike most other PMDs, these modules must remain loaded and bound to
+  their devices:
+
+  - mlx5_core: hardware driver managing Mellanox ConnectX-4 devices and
+    related Ethernet kernel network devices.
+  - mlx5_ib: InifiniBand device driver.
+  - ib_uverbs: user space driver for Verbs (entry point for libibverbs).
+
+- **Firmware update**
+
+  Mellanox OFED releases include firmware updates for ConnectX-4 adapters.
+
+  Because each release provides new features, these updates must be applied to
+  match the kernel modules and libraries they come with.
+
+.. note::
+
+   Both libraries are BSD and GPL licensed. Linux kernel modules are GPL
+   licensed.
+
+Getting Mellanox OFED
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+While these libraries and kernel modules are available on OpenFabrics
+Alliance's `website <https://www.openfabrics.org/>`__ and provided by package
+managers on most distributions, this PMD requires Ethernet extensions that
+may not be supported at the moment (this is a work in progress).
+
+`Mellanox OFED
+<http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=26&mtag=linux>`__
+includes the necessary support and should be used in the meantime. For DPDK,
+only libibverbs, libmlx5, mlnx-ofed-kernel packages and firmware updates are
+required from that distribution.
+
+.. note::
+
+   Several versions of Mellanox OFED are available. Installing the version
+   this DPDK release was developed and tested against is strongly
+   recommended. Please check the `prerequisites`_.
+
+Usage example
+-------------
+
+This section demonstrates how to launch **testpmd** with Mellanox ConnectX-4
+devices managed by librte_pmd_mlx5.
+
+#. Load the kernel modules:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      modprobe -a ib_uverbs mlx5_core mlx5_ib
+
+   .. note::
+
+      User space I/O kernel modules (uio and igb_uio) are not used and do
+      not have to be loaded.
+
+#. Make sure Ethernet interfaces are in working order and linked to kernel
+   verbs. Related sysfs entries should be present:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      ls -d /sys/class/net/*/device/infiniband_verbs/uverbs* | cut -d / -f 5
+
+   Example output:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      eth30
+      eth31
+      eth32
+      eth33
+
+#. Optionally, retrieve their PCI bus addresses for whitelisting:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      {
+          for intf in eth2 eth3 eth4 eth5;
+          do
+              (cd "/sys/class/net/${intf}/device/" && pwd -P);
+          done;
+      } |
+      sed -n 's,.*/\(.*\),-w \1,p'
+
+   Example output:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      -w 0000:05:00.1
+      -w 0000:06:00.0
+      -w 0000:06:00.1
+      -w 0000:05:00.0
+
+#. Request huge pages:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      echo 1024 > /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages/nr_hugepages
+
+#. Start testpmd with basic parameters:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      testpmd -c 0xff00 -n 4 -w 05:00.0 -w 05:00.1 -w 06:00.0 -w 06:00.1 -- --rxq=2 --txq=2 -i
+
+   Example output:
+
+   .. code-block:: console
+
+      [...]
+      EAL: PCI device 0000:05:00.0 on NUMA socket 0
+      EAL:   probe driver: 15b3:1013 librte_pmd_mlx5
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: PCI information matches, using device "mlx5_0" (VF: false)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 1 port(s) detected
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: port 1 MAC address is e4:1d:2d:e7:0c:fe
+      EAL: PCI device 0000:05:00.1 on NUMA socket 0
+      EAL:   probe driver: 15b3:1013 librte_pmd_mlx5
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: PCI information matches, using device "mlx5_1" (VF: false)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 1 port(s) detected
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: port 1 MAC address is e4:1d:2d:e7:0c:ff
+      EAL: PCI device 0000:06:00.0 on NUMA socket 0
+      EAL:   probe driver: 15b3:1013 librte_pmd_mlx5
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: PCI information matches, using device "mlx5_2" (VF: false)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 1 port(s) detected
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: port 1 MAC address is e4:1d:2d:e7:0c:fa
+      EAL: PCI device 0000:06:00.1 on NUMA socket 0
+      EAL:   probe driver: 15b3:1013 librte_pmd_mlx5
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: PCI information matches, using device "mlx5_3" (VF: false)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 1 port(s) detected
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: port 1 MAC address is e4:1d:2d:e7:0c:fb
+      Interactive-mode selected
+      Configuring Port 0 (socket 0)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8cba80: TX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8cba80: RX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      Port 0: E4:1D:2D:E7:0C:FE
+      Configuring Port 1 (socket 0)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8ccac8: TX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8ccac8: RX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      Port 1: E4:1D:2D:E7:0C:FF
+      Configuring Port 2 (socket 0)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8cdb10: TX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8cdb10: RX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      Port 2: E4:1D:2D:E7:0C:FA
+      Configuring Port 3 (socket 0)
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8ceb58: TX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      PMD: librte_pmd_mlx5: 0x8ceb58: RX queues number update: 0 -> 2
+      Port 3: E4:1D:2D:E7:0C:FB
+      Checking link statuses...
+      Port 0 Link Up - speed 40000 Mbps - full-duplex
+      Port 1 Link Up - speed 40000 Mbps - full-duplex
+      Port 2 Link Up - speed 10000 Mbps - full-duplex
+      Port 3 Link Up - speed 10000 Mbps - full-duplex
+      Done
+      testpmd>
diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_2_2.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_2_2.rst
index 5687676..e562030 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_2_2.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_2_2.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ DPDK Release 2.2
 New Features
 ------------
 
+* **Added support for Mellanox ConnectX-4 adapters (mlx5).**
+
+  The mlx5 poll-mode driver implements support for Mellanox ConnectX-4 EN
+  and Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx EN families of 10/25/40/50/100 Gb/s adapters.
+
+  Like mlx4, this PMD is only available for Linux and is disabled by default
+  due to external dependencies (libibverbs and libmlx5).
+
 
 Resolved Issues
 ---------------
-- 
2.1.0



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