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diff --git a/Documentation/networking/xsk-tx-metadata.rst b/Documentation/networking/xsk-tx-metadata.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..bd033fe95c --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/networking/xsk-tx-metadata.rst @@ -0,0 +1,81 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +================== +AF_XDP TX Metadata +================== + +This document describes how to enable offloads when transmitting packets +via :doc:`af_xdp`. Refer to :doc:`xdp-rx-metadata` on how to access similar +metadata on the receive side. + +General Design +============== + +The headroom for the metadata is reserved via ``tx_metadata_len`` in +``struct xdp_umem_reg``. The metadata length is therefore the same for +every socket that shares the same umem. The metadata layout is a fixed UAPI, +refer to ``union xsk_tx_metadata`` in ``include/uapi/linux/if_xdp.h``. +Thus, generally, the ``tx_metadata_len`` field above should contain +``sizeof(union xsk_tx_metadata)``. + +The headroom and the metadata itself should be located right before +``xdp_desc->addr`` in the umem frame. Within a frame, the metadata +layout is as follows:: + + tx_metadata_len + / \ + +-----------------+---------+----------------------------+ + | xsk_tx_metadata | padding | payload | + +-----------------+---------+----------------------------+ + ^ + | + xdp_desc->addr + +An AF_XDP application can request headrooms larger than ``sizeof(struct +xsk_tx_metadata)``. The kernel will ignore the padding (and will still +use ``xdp_desc->addr - tx_metadata_len`` to locate +the ``xsk_tx_metadata``). For the frames that shouldn't carry +any metadata (i.e., the ones that don't have ``XDP_TX_METADATA`` option), +the metadata area is ignored by the kernel as well. + +The flags field enables the particular offload: + +- ``XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_TIMESTAMP``: requests the device to put transmission + timestamp into ``tx_timestamp`` field of ``union xsk_tx_metadata``. +- ``XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_CHECKSUM``: requests the device to calculate L4 + checksum. ``csum_start`` specifies byte offset of where the checksumming + should start and ``csum_offset`` specifies byte offset where the + device should store the computed checksum. + +Besides the flags above, in order to trigger the offloads, the first +packet's ``struct xdp_desc`` descriptor should set ``XDP_TX_METADATA`` +bit in the ``options`` field. Also note that in a multi-buffer packet +only the first chunk should carry the metadata. + +Software TX Checksum +==================== + +For development and testing purposes its possible to pass +``XDP_UMEM_TX_SW_CSUM`` flag to ``XDP_UMEM_REG`` UMEM registration call. +In this case, when running in ``XDK_COPY`` mode, the TX checksum +is calculated on the CPU. Do not enable this option in production because +it will negatively affect performance. + +Querying Device Capabilities +============================ + +Every devices exports its offloads capabilities via netlink netdev family. +Refer to ``xsk-flags`` features bitmask in +``Documentation/netlink/specs/netdev.yaml``. + +- ``tx-timestamp``: device supports ``XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_TIMESTAMP`` +- ``tx-checksum``: device supports ``XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_CHECKSUM`` + +See ``tools/net/ynl/samples/netdev.c`` on how to query this information. + +Example +======= + +See ``tools/testing/selftests/bpf/xdp_hw_metadata.c`` for an example +program that handles TX metadata. Also see https://github.com/fomichev/xskgen +for a more bare-bones example. |