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authorDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-09 13:16:35 +0000
committerDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-09 13:16:35 +0000
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Adding upstream version 9.1.upstream/9.1
Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>
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+FPM
+===
+
+FPM stands for Forwarding Plane Manager and it's a module for use with Zebra.
+
+The encapsulation header for the messages exchanged with the FPM is
+defined by the file :file:`fpm/fpm.h` in the frr tree. The routes
+themselves are encoded in Netlink or protobuf format, with Netlink
+being the default.
+
+Netlink is standard format for encoding messages to talk with kernel space
+in Linux and it is also the name of the socket type used by it.
+The FPM netlink usage differs from Linux's in:
+
+- Linux netlink sockets use datagrams in a multicast fashion, FPM uses
+ as a stream and it is unicast.
+- FPM netlink messages might have more or less information than a normal
+ Linux netlink socket message (example: RTM_NEWROUTE might add an extra
+ route attribute to signalize VxLAN encapsulation).
+
+Protobuf is one of a number of new serialization formats wherein the
+message schema is expressed in a purpose-built language. Code for
+encoding/decoding to/from the wire format is generated from the
+schema. Protobuf messages can be extended easily while maintaining
+backward-compatibility with older code. Protobuf has the following
+advantages over Netlink:
+
+- Code for serialization/deserialization is generated automatically. This
+ reduces the likelihood of bugs, allows third-party programs to be integrated
+ quickly, and makes it easy to add fields.
+- The message format is not tied to an OS (Linux), and can be evolved
+ independently.
+
+.. note::
+
+ Currently there are two FPM modules in ``zebra``:
+
+ * ``fpm``
+ * ``dplane_fpm_nl``
+
+fpm
+^^^
+
+The first FPM implementation that was built using hooks in ``zebra`` route
+handling functions. It uses its own netlink/protobuf encoding functions to
+translate ``zebra`` route data structures into formatted binary data.
+
+
+dplane_fpm_nl
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The newer FPM implementation that was built using ``zebra``'s data plane
+framework as a plugin. It only supports netlink and it shares ``zebra``'s
+netlink functions to translate route event snapshots into formatted binary
+data.
+
+
+Protocol Specification
+----------------------
+
+FPM (in any mode) uses a TCP connection to talk with external applications.
+It operates as TCP client and uses the CLI configured address/port to connect
+to the FPM server (defaults to port ``2620``).
+
+FPM frames all data with a header to help the external reader figure how
+many bytes it has to read in order to read the full message (this helps
+simulates datagrams like in the original netlink Linux kernel usage).
+
+Frame header:
+
+::
+
+ 0 1 2 3
+ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+ +---------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
+ | Version | Message type | Message length |
+ +---------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
+ | Data... |
+ +---------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+Version
+^^^^^^^
+
+Currently there is only one version, so it should be always ``1``.
+
+
+Message Type
+^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Defines what underlining protocol we are using: netlink (``1``) or protobuf (``2``).
+
+
+Message Length
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Amount of data in this frame in network byte order.
+
+
+Data
+^^^^
+
+The netlink or protobuf message payload.
+
+
+Route Status Notification from ASIC
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The dplane_fpm_nl has the ability to read route netlink messages
+from the underlying fpm implementation that can tell zebra
+whether or not the route has been Offloaded/Failed or Trapped.
+The end developer must send the data up the same socket that has
+been created to listen for FPM messages from Zebra. The data sent
+must have a Frame Header with Version set to 1, Message Type set to 1
+and an appropriate message Length. The message data must contain
+a RTM_NEWROUTE netlink message that sends the prefix and nexthops
+associated with the route. Finally rtm_flags must contain
+RTM_F_OFFLOAD, RTM_F_TRAP and or RTM_F_OFFLOAD_FAILED to signify
+what has happened to the route in the ASIC.