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diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/libbpf/libbpf_overview.rst b/Documentation/bpf/libbpf/libbpf_overview.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..f36a2d4ffe --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/bpf/libbpf/libbpf_overview.rst @@ -0,0 +1,228 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +=============== +libbpf Overview +=============== + +libbpf is a C-based library containing a BPF loader that takes compiled BPF +object files and prepares and loads them into the Linux kernel. libbpf takes the +heavy lifting of loading, verifying, and attaching BPF programs to various +kernel hooks, allowing BPF application developers to focus only on BPF program +correctness and performance. + +The following are the high-level features supported by libbpf: + +* Provides high-level and low-level APIs for user space programs to interact + with BPF programs. The low-level APIs wrap all the bpf system call + functionality, which is useful when users need more fine-grained control + over the interactions between user space and BPF programs. +* Provides overall support for the BPF object skeleton generated by bpftool. + The skeleton file simplifies the process for the user space programs to access + global variables and work with BPF programs. +* Provides BPF-side APIS, including BPF helper definitions, BPF maps support, + and tracing helpers, allowing developers to simplify BPF code writing. +* Supports BPF CO-RE mechanism, enabling BPF developers to write portable + BPF programs that can be compiled once and run across different kernel + versions. + +This document will delve into the above concepts in detail, providing a deeper +understanding of the capabilities and advantages of libbpf and how it can help +you develop BPF applications efficiently. + +BPF App Lifecycle and libbpf APIs +================================== + +A BPF application consists of one or more BPF programs (either cooperating or +completely independent), BPF maps, and global variables. The global +variables are shared between all BPF programs, which allows them to cooperate on +a common set of data. libbpf provides APIs that user space programs can use to +manipulate the BPF programs by triggering different phases of a BPF application +lifecycle. + +The following section provides a brief overview of each phase in the BPF life +cycle: + +* **Open phase**: In this phase, libbpf parses the BPF + object file and discovers BPF maps, BPF programs, and global variables. After + a BPF app is opened, user space apps can make additional adjustments + (setting BPF program types, if necessary; pre-setting initial values for + global variables, etc.) before all the entities are created and loaded. + +* **Load phase**: In the load phase, libbpf creates BPF + maps, resolves various relocations, and verifies and loads BPF programs into + the kernel. At this point, libbpf validates all the parts of a BPF application + and loads the BPF program into the kernel, but no BPF program has yet been + executed. After the load phase, it’s possible to set up the initial BPF map + state without racing with the BPF program code execution. + +* **Attachment phase**: In this phase, libbpf + attaches BPF programs to various BPF hook points (e.g., tracepoints, kprobes, + cgroup hooks, network packet processing pipeline, etc.). During this + phase, BPF programs perform useful work such as processing + packets, or updating BPF maps and global variables that can be read from user + space. + +* **Tear down phase**: In the tear down phase, + libbpf detaches BPF programs and unloads them from the kernel. BPF maps are + destroyed, and all the resources used by the BPF app are freed. + +BPF Object Skeleton File +======================== + +BPF skeleton is an alternative interface to libbpf APIs for working with BPF +objects. Skeleton code abstract away generic libbpf APIs to significantly +simplify code for manipulating BPF programs from user space. Skeleton code +includes a bytecode representation of the BPF object file, simplifying the +process of distributing your BPF code. With BPF bytecode embedded, there are no +extra files to deploy along with your application binary. + +You can generate the skeleton header file ``(.skel.h)`` for a specific object +file by passing the BPF object to the bpftool. The generated BPF skeleton +provides the following custom functions that correspond to the BPF lifecycle, +each of them prefixed with the specific object name: + +* ``<name>__open()`` – creates and opens BPF application (``<name>`` stands for + the specific bpf object name) +* ``<name>__load()`` – instantiates, loads,and verifies BPF application parts +* ``<name>__attach()`` – attaches all auto-attachable BPF programs (it’s + optional, you can have more control by using libbpf APIs directly) +* ``<name>__destroy()`` – detaches all BPF programs and + frees up all used resources + +Using the skeleton code is the recommended way to work with bpf programs. Keep +in mind, BPF skeleton provides access to the underlying BPF object, so whatever +was possible to do with generic libbpf APIs is still possible even when the BPF +skeleton is used. It's an additive convenience feature, with no syscalls, and no +cumbersome code. + +Other Advantages of Using Skeleton File +--------------------------------------- + +* BPF skeleton provides an interface for user space programs to work with BPF + global variables. The skeleton code memory maps global variables as a struct + into user space. The struct interface allows user space programs to initialize + BPF programs before the BPF load phase and fetch and update data from user + space afterward. + +* The ``skel.h`` file reflects the object file structure by listing out the + available maps, programs, etc. BPF skeleton provides direct access to all the + BPF maps and BPF programs as struct fields. This eliminates the need for + string-based lookups with ``bpf_object_find_map_by_name()`` and + ``bpf_object_find_program_by_name()`` APIs, reducing errors due to BPF source + code and user-space code getting out of sync. + +* The embedded bytecode representation of the object file ensures that the + skeleton and the BPF object file are always in sync. + +BPF Helpers +=========== + +libbpf provides BPF-side APIs that BPF programs can use to interact with the +system. The BPF helpers definition allows developers to use them in BPF code as +any other plain C function. For example, there are helper functions to print +debugging messages, get the time since the system was booted, interact with BPF +maps, manipulate network packets, etc. + +For a complete description of what the helpers do, the arguments they take, and +the return value, see the `bpf-helpers +<https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/bpf-helpers.7.html>`_ man page. + +BPF CO-RE (Compile Once – Run Everywhere) +========================================= + +BPF programs work in the kernel space and have access to kernel memory and data +structures. One limitation that BPF applications come across is the lack of +portability across different kernel versions and configurations. `BCC +<https://github.com/iovisor/bcc/>`_ is one of the solutions for BPF +portability. However, it comes with runtime overhead and a large binary size +from embedding the compiler with the application. + +libbpf steps up the BPF program portability by supporting the BPF CO-RE concept. +BPF CO-RE brings together BTF type information, libbpf, and the compiler to +produce a single executable binary that you can run on multiple kernel versions +and configurations. + +To make BPF programs portable libbpf relies on the BTF type information of the +running kernel. Kernel also exposes this self-describing authoritative BTF +information through ``sysfs`` at ``/sys/kernel/btf/vmlinux``. + +You can generate the BTF information for the running kernel with the following +command: + +:: + + $ bpftool btf dump file /sys/kernel/btf/vmlinux format c > vmlinux.h + +The command generates a ``vmlinux.h`` header file with all kernel types +(:doc:`BTF types <../btf>`) that the running kernel uses. Including +``vmlinux.h`` in your BPF program eliminates dependency on system-wide kernel +headers. + +libbpf enables portability of BPF programs by looking at the BPF program’s +recorded BTF type and relocation information and matching them to BTF +information (vmlinux) provided by the running kernel. libbpf then resolves and +matches all the types and fields, and updates necessary offsets and other +relocatable data to ensure that BPF program’s logic functions correctly for a +specific kernel on the host. BPF CO-RE concept thus eliminates overhead +associated with BPF development and allows developers to write portable BPF +applications without modifications and runtime source code compilation on the +target machine. + +The following code snippet shows how to read the parent field of a kernel +``task_struct`` using BPF CO-RE and libbf. The basic helper to read a field in a +CO-RE relocatable manner is ``bpf_core_read(dst, sz, src)``, which will read +``sz`` bytes from the field referenced by ``src`` into the memory pointed to by +``dst``. + +.. code-block:: C + :emphasize-lines: 6 + + //... + struct task_struct *task = (void *)bpf_get_current_task(); + struct task_struct *parent_task; + int err; + + err = bpf_core_read(&parent_task, sizeof(void *), &task->parent); + if (err) { + /* handle error */ + } + + /* parent_task contains the value of task->parent pointer */ + +In the code snippet, we first get a pointer to the current ``task_struct`` using +``bpf_get_current_task()``. We then use ``bpf_core_read()`` to read the parent +field of task struct into the ``parent_task`` variable. ``bpf_core_read()`` is +just like ``bpf_probe_read_kernel()`` BPF helper, except it records information +about the field that should be relocated on the target kernel. i.e, if the +``parent`` field gets shifted to a different offset within +``struct task_struct`` due to some new field added in front of it, libbpf will +automatically adjust the actual offset to the proper value. + +Getting Started with libbpf +=========================== + +Check out the `libbpf-bootstrap <https://github.com/libbpf/libbpf-bootstrap>`_ +repository with simple examples of using libbpf to build various BPF +applications. + +See also `libbpf API documentation +<https://libbpf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html>`_. + +libbpf and Rust +=============== + +If you are building BPF applications in Rust, it is recommended to use the +`Libbpf-rs <https://github.com/libbpf/libbpf-rs>`_ library instead of bindgen +bindings directly to libbpf. Libbpf-rs wraps libbpf functionality in +Rust-idiomatic interfaces and provides libbpf-cargo plugin to handle BPF code +compilation and skeleton generation. Using Libbpf-rs will make building user +space part of the BPF application easier. Note that the BPF program themselves +must still be written in plain C. + +Additional Documentation +======================== + +* `Program types and ELF Sections <https://libbpf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/program_types.html>`_ +* `API naming convention <https://libbpf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/libbpf_naming_convention.html>`_ +* `Building libbpf <https://libbpf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/libbpf_build.html>`_ +* `API documentation Convention <https://libbpf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/libbpf_naming_convention.html#api-documentation-convention>`_ |