[dpdk-dev] [RFC] ethdev: support metadata as flow rule criteria

[Yongseok Koh]

> On Aug 24, 2018, at 3:11 AM, Ananyev, Konstantin <konstantin.ananyev at intel.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Yongseok Koh [mailto:yskoh at mellanox.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2018 10:32 PM
>> To: Andrew Rybchenko <arybchenko at solarflare.com>
>> Cc: Dekel Peled <dekelp at mellanox.com>; dev at dpdk.org; orika at mellanox.com; shahafs at mellanox.com; Thomas Monjalon
>> <thomas at monjalon.net>; Ananyev, Konstantin <konstantin.ananyev at intel.com>; Yigit, Ferruh <ferruh.yigit at intel.com>; Adrien
>> Mazarguil <adrien.mazarguil at 6wind.com>; Olivier Matz <olivier.matz at 6wind.com>
>> Subject: Re: [dpdk-dev] [RFC] ethdev: support metadata as flow rule criteria
>> 
>> On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 04:31:14PM +0300, Andrew Rybchenko wrote:
>>> On 13.08.2018 10:46, Dekel Peled wrote:
>>>> Current implementation of rte_flow allows match pattern of flow rule,
>>>> based on packet data or header fields.
>>>> This limits the application use of match patterns.
>>>> 
>>>> For example, consider a vswitch application which controls a set of VMs,
>>>> connected with virtio, in a fabric with overlay of VXLAN.
>>>> Several VMs can have the same inner tuple, while the outer tuple is
>>>> different and controlled by the vswitch (encap action).
>>>> For the vswtich to be able to offload the rule to the NIC, it must use a
>>>> unique match criteria, independent from the inner tuple, to perform the
>>>> encap action.
>>>> 
>>>> This RFC adds support for additional metadata to use as match pattern.
>>>> The metadata is an opaque item, fully controlled by the application.
>>>> 
>>>> The use of metadata is relevant for egress rules only.
>>>> It can be set in the flow rule using the RTE_FLOW_ITEM_META.
>>>> 
>>>> Application should set the packet metdata in the mbuf->metadata field,
>>>> and set the PKT_TX_METADATA flag in the mbuf->ol_flags.
>>>> The NIC will use the packet metadata as match criteria for relevant flow
>>>> rules.
>>>> 
>>>> For example, to do an encap action depending on the VM id, the
>>>> application needs to configure 'match on metadata' rte_flow rule with
>>>> VM id as metadata, along with desired encap action.
>>>> When preparing an egress data packet, application will set VM id data in
>>>> mbuf metadata field and set PKT_TX_METADATA flag.
>>>> 
>>>> PMD will send data packets to NIC, with VM id as metadata.
>>>> Egress flow on NIC will match metadata as done with other criteria.
>>>> Upon match on metadata (VM id) the appropriate encap action will be
>>>> performed.
>>>> 
>>>> This RFC introduces metadata item type for rte_flow RTE_FLOW_ITEM_META,
>>>> along with corresponding struct rte_flow_item_meta and ol_flag
>>>> PKT_TX_METADATA.
>>>> It also enhances struct rte_mbuf with new data item, uint64_t metadata.
>>>> 
>>>> Comments are welcome.
>>>> 
>>>> Signed-off-by: Dekel Peled <dekelp at mellanox.com>
>>>> ---
>>>>  doc/guides/prog_guide/rte_flow.rst | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
>>>>  lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.c       |  1 +
>>>>  lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.h       | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>>>  lib/librte_mbuf/rte_mbuf.h         | 11 +++++++++++
>>>>  4 files changed, 58 insertions(+)
>>>> 
>>>> diff --git a/doc/guides/prog_guide/rte_flow.rst b/doc/guides/prog_guide/rte_flow.rst
>>>> index b305a72..b6e35f1 100644
>>>> --- a/doc/guides/prog_guide/rte_flow.rst
>>>> +++ b/doc/guides/prog_guide/rte_flow.rst
>>>> @@ -1191,6 +1191,27 @@ Normally preceded by any of:
>>>>  - `Item: ICMP6_ND_NS`_
>>>>  - `Item: ICMP6_ND_OPT`_
>>>> +Item: ``META``
>>>> +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>> +
>>>> +Matches an application specific 64 bit metadata item.
>>>> +
>>>> +- Default ``mask`` matches any 64 bit value.
>>>> +
>>>> +.. _table_rte_flow_item_meta:
>>>> +
>>>> +.. table:: META
>>>> +
>>>> +   +----------+----------+---------------------------+
>>>> +   | Field    | Subfield | Value                     |
>>>> +   +==========+==========+===========================+
>>>> +   | ``spec`` | ``data`` | 64 bit metadata value     |
>>>> +   +----------+--------------------------------------+
>>>> +   | ``last`` | ``data`` | upper range value         |
>>>> +   +----------+----------+---------------------------+
>>>> +   | ``mask`` | ``data`` | zeroed to match any value |
>>>> +   +----------+----------+---------------------------+
>>>> +
>>>>  Actions
>>>>  ~~~~~~~
>>>> diff --git a/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.c b/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.c
>>>> index cff4b52..54e5ef8 100644
>>>> --- a/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.c
>>>> +++ b/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.c
>>>> @@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ struct rte_flow_desc_data {
>>>>  		     sizeof(struct rte_flow_item_icmp6_nd_opt_sla_eth)),
>>>>  	MK_FLOW_ITEM(ICMP6_ND_OPT_TLA_ETH,
>>>>  		     sizeof(struct rte_flow_item_icmp6_nd_opt_tla_eth)),
>>>> +	MK_FLOW_ITEM(META, sizeof(struct rte_flow_item_meta)),
>>>>  };
>>>>  /** Generate flow_action[] entry. */
>>>> diff --git a/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.h b/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.h
>>>> index f8ba71c..b81c816 100644
>>>> --- a/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.h
>>>> +++ b/lib/librte_ethdev/rte_flow.h
>>>> @@ -413,6 +413,15 @@ enum rte_flow_item_type {
>>>>  	 * See struct rte_flow_item_mark.
>>>>  	 */
>>>>  	RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_MARK,
>>>> +
>>>> +	/**
>>>> +	 * [META]
>>>> +	 *
>>>> +	 * Matches a metadata value specified in mbuf metadata field.
>>>> +	 *
>>>> +	 * See struct rte_flow_item_meta.
>>>> +	 */
>>>> +	RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_META,
>>>>  };
>>>>  /**
>>>> @@ -849,6 +858,22 @@ struct rte_flow_item_gre {
>>>>  #endif
>>>>  /**
>>>> + * RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_META.
>>>> + *
>>>> + * Matches a specified metadata value.
>>>> + */
>>>> +struct rte_flow_item_meta {
>>>> +	uint64_t data;
>>>> +};
>>>> +
>>>> +/** Default mask for RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_META. */
>>>> +#ifndef __cplusplus
>>>> +static const struct rte_flow_item_meta rte_flow_item_meta_mask = {
>>>> +	.data = RTE_BE64(UINT64_MAX),
>>>> +};
>>>> +#endif
>>>> +
>>>> +/**
>>>>   * RTE_FLOW_ITEM_TYPE_FUZZY
>>>>   *
>>>>   * Fuzzy pattern match, expect faster than default.
>>>> diff --git a/lib/librte_mbuf/rte_mbuf.h b/lib/librte_mbuf/rte_mbuf.h
>>>> index 9ce5d76..8f06a78 100644
>>>> --- a/lib/librte_mbuf/rte_mbuf.h
>>>> +++ b/lib/librte_mbuf/rte_mbuf.h
>>>> @@ -182,6 +182,11 @@
>>>>  /* add new TX flags here */
>>>>  /**
>>>> + * This flag indicates that the metadata field in the mbuf is in use.
>>>> + */
>>>> +#define PKT_TX_METADATA		(1ULL << 41)
>>>> +
>>>> +/**
>>>>   * UDP Fragmentation Offload flag. This flag is used for enabling UDP
>>>>   * fragmentation in SW or in HW. When use UFO, mbuf->tso_segsz is used
>>>>   * to store the MSS of UDP fragments.
>>>> @@ -593,6 +598,12 @@ struct rte_mbuf {
>>>>  	 */
>>>>  	struct rte_mbuf_ext_shared_info *shinfo;
>>>> +	/**
>>>> +	 * Application specific metadata value for flow rule match.
>>>> +	 * Valid if PKT_TX_METADATA is set.
>>>> +	 */
>>>> +	uint64_t metadata;
>>>> +
>>> 
>>> I don't see the difference from hash union which is 64-bit wide as well.
>>> hash.fdir.hi is used by flow mark action and mark match item (but just
>>> 32-bit).
>> 
>> Rx metadata would be different from flow mark ID. Mark ID is set when the flow
>> is created (it is a kind of marking classification result) but metadata could be
>> sent by other entity, e.g. VM-to-VM traffic or VM-to-HV traffic.
> 
> Ok, but it could be either rss OR flow id OR metdata (based on ol_flags) -
> hash is a union after all.
> Konstantin

Not sure, why can't both (flow ID and metadata) be set in a mbuf?
Why do you think it has to be exclusive?

Thanks,
Yongseok