1 .. SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
2 Copyright(c) 2010-2015 Intel Corporation.
4 Poll Mode Driver for Emulated Virtio NIC
5 ========================================
7 Virtio is a para-virtualization framework initiated by IBM, and supported by KVM hypervisor.
8 In the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK),
9 we provide a virtio Poll Mode Driver (PMD) as a software solution, comparing to SRIOV hardware solution,
10 for fast guest VM to guest VM communication and guest VM to host communication.
12 Vhost is a kernel acceleration module for virtio qemu backend.
13 The DPDK extends kni to support vhost raw socket interface,
14 which enables vhost to directly read/ write packets from/to a physical port.
15 With this enhancement, virtio could achieve quite promising performance.
17 For basic qemu-KVM installation and other Intel EM poll mode driver in guest VM,
18 please refer to Chapter "Driver for VM Emulated Devices".
20 In this chapter, we will demonstrate usage of virtio PMD driver with two backends,
21 standard qemu vhost back end and vhost kni back end.
23 Virtio Implementation in DPDK
24 -----------------------------
26 For details about the virtio spec, refer to the latest
27 `VIRTIO (Virtual I/O) Device Specification
28 <https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=virtio>`_.
30 As a PMD, virtio provides packet reception and transmission callbacks.
32 In Rx, packets described by the used descriptors in vring are available
33 for virtio to burst out.
35 In Tx, packets described by the used descriptors in vring are available
36 for virtio to clean. Virtio will enqueue to be transmitted packets into
37 vring, make them available to the device, and then notify the host back
40 Features and Limitations of virtio PMD
41 --------------------------------------
43 In this release, the virtio PMD driver provides the basic functionality of packet reception and transmission.
45 * It supports merge-able buffers per packet when receiving packets and scattered buffer per packet
46 when transmitting packets. The packet size supported is from 64 to 1518.
48 * It supports multicast packets and promiscuous mode.
50 * The descriptor number for the Rx/Tx queue is hard-coded to be 256 by qemu 2.7 and below.
51 If given a different descriptor number by the upper application,
52 the virtio PMD generates a warning and fall back to the hard-coded value.
53 Rx queue size can be configurable and up to 1024 since qemu 2.8 and above. Rx queue size is 256
54 by default. Tx queue size is still hard-coded to be 256.
56 * Features of mac/vlan filter are supported, negotiation with vhost/backend are needed to support them.
57 When backend can't support vlan filter, virtio app on guest should not enable vlan filter in order
58 to make sure the virtio port is configured correctly. E.g. do not specify '--enable-hw-vlan' in testpmd
59 command line. Note that, mac/vlan filter is best effort: unwanted packets could still arrive.
61 * "RTE_PKTMBUF_HEADROOM" should be defined
62 no less than "sizeof(struct virtio_net_hdr_mrg_rxbuf)", which is 12 bytes when mergeable or
63 "VIRTIO_F_VERSION_1" is set.
64 no less than "sizeof(struct virtio_net_hdr)", which is 10 bytes, when using non-mergeable.
66 * Virtio does not support runtime configuration.
68 * Virtio supports Link State interrupt.
70 * Virtio supports Rx interrupt (so far, only support 1:1 mapping for queue/interrupt).
72 * Virtio supports software vlan stripping and inserting.
74 * Virtio supports using port IO to get PCI resource when uio/igb_uio module is not available.
79 The following prerequisites apply:
81 * In the BIOS, turn VT-x and VT-d on
83 * Linux kernel with KVM module; vhost module loaded and ioeventfd supported.
84 Qemu standard backend without vhost support isn't tested, and probably isn't supported.
86 Virtio with kni vhost Back End
87 ------------------------------
89 This section demonstrates kni vhost back end example setup for Phy-VM Communication.
91 .. _figure_host_vm_comms:
93 .. figure:: img/host_vm_comms.*
95 Host2VM Communication Example Using kni vhost Back End
98 Host2VM communication example
100 #. Load the kni kernel module:
102 .. code-block:: console
106 Other basic DPDK preparations like hugepage enabling, uio port binding are not listed here.
107 Please refer to the *DPDK Getting Started Guide* for detailed instructions.
109 #. Launch the kni user application:
111 .. code-block:: console
113 examples/kni/build/app/kni -l 0-3 -n 4 -- -p 0x1 -P --config="(0,1,3)"
115 This command generates one network device vEth0 for physical port.
116 If specify more physical ports, the generated network device will be vEth1, vEth2, and so on.
118 For each physical port, kni creates two user threads.
119 One thread loops to fetch packets from the physical NIC port into the kni receive queue.
120 The other user thread loops to send packets in the kni transmit queue.
122 For each physical port, kni also creates a kernel thread that retrieves packets from the kni receive queue,
123 place them onto kni's raw socket's queue and wake up the vhost kernel thread to exchange packets with the virtio virt queue.
125 For more details about kni, please refer to :ref:`kni`.
127 #. Enable the kni raw socket functionality for the specified physical NIC port,
128 get the generated file descriptor and set it in the qemu command line parameter.
129 Always remember to set ioeventfd_on and vhost_on.
133 .. code-block:: console
135 echo 1 > /sys/class/net/vEth0/sock_en
136 fd=`cat /sys/class/net/vEth0/sock_fd`
137 exec qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -cpu host \
138 -m 2048 -smp 4 -name dpdk-test1-vm1 \
139 -drive file=/data/DPDKVMS/dpdk-vm.img \
140 -netdev tap, fd=$fd,id=mynet_kni, script=no,vhost=on \
141 -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=mynet_kni,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3,ioeventfd=on \
144 In the above example, virtio port 0 in the guest VM will be associated with vEth0, which in turns corresponds to a physical port,
145 which means received packets come from vEth0, and transmitted packets is sent to vEth0.
147 #. In the guest, bind the virtio device to the uio_pci_generic kernel module and start the forwarding application.
148 When the virtio port in guest bursts Rx, it is getting packets from the
149 raw socket's receive queue.
150 When the virtio port bursts Tx, it is sending packet to the tx_q.
152 .. code-block:: console
155 echo 512 > /sys/devices/system/node/node0/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages
156 modprobe uio_pci_generic
157 python usertools/dpdk-devbind.py -b uio_pci_generic 00:03.0
159 We use testpmd as the forwarding application in this example.
161 .. figure:: img/console.*
165 #. Use IXIA packet generator to inject a packet stream into the KNI physical port.
167 The packet reception and transmission flow path is:
169 IXIA packet generator->82599 PF->KNI Rx queue->KNI raw socket queue->Guest
170 VM virtio port 0 Rx burst->Guest VM virtio port 0 Tx burst-> KNI Tx queue
171 ->82599 PF-> IXIA packet generator
173 Virtio with qemu virtio Back End
174 --------------------------------
176 .. _figure_host_vm_comms_qemu:
178 .. figure:: img/host_vm_comms_qemu.*
180 Host2VM Communication Example Using qemu vhost Back End
183 .. code-block:: console
185 qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -cpu host -m 2048 -smp 2 -mem-path /dev/
186 hugepages -mem-prealloc
187 -drive file=/data/DPDKVMS/dpdk-vm1
188 -netdev tap,id=vm1_p1,ifname=tap0,script=no,vhost=on
189 -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=vm1_p1,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3,ioeventfd=on
190 -device pci-assign,host=04:10.1 \
192 In this example, the packet reception flow path is:
194 IXIA packet generator->82599 PF->Linux Bridge->TAP0's socket queue-> Guest
195 VM virtio port 0 Rx burst-> Guest VM 82599 VF port1 Tx burst-> IXIA packet
198 The packet transmission flow is:
200 IXIA packet generator-> Guest VM 82599 VF port1 Rx burst-> Guest VM virtio
201 port 0 Tx burst-> tap -> Linux Bridge->82599 PF-> IXIA packet generator
204 Virtio PMD Rx/Tx Callbacks
205 --------------------------
207 Virtio driver has 6 Rx callbacks and 3 Tx callbacks.
211 #. ``virtio_recv_pkts``:
212 Regular version without mergeable Rx buffer support for split virtqueue.
214 #. ``virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts``:
215 Regular version with mergeable Rx buffer support for split virtqueue.
217 #. ``virtio_recv_pkts_vec``:
218 Vector version without mergeable Rx buffer support, also fixes the available
219 ring indexes and uses vector instructions to optimize performance for split
222 #. ``virtio_recv_pkts_inorder``:
223 In-order version with mergeable and non-mergeable Rx buffer support
226 #. ``virtio_recv_pkts_packed``:
227 Regular and in-order version without mergeable Rx buffer support for
230 #. ``virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts_packed``:
231 Regular and in-order version with mergeable Rx buffer support for packed
236 #. ``virtio_xmit_pkts``:
237 Regular version for split virtqueue.
239 #. ``virtio_xmit_pkts_inorder``:
240 In-order version for split virtqueue.
242 #. ``virtio_xmit_pkts_packed``:
243 Regular and in-order version for packed virtqueue.
245 By default, the non-vector callbacks are used:
247 * For Rx: If mergeable Rx buffers is disabled then ``virtio_recv_pkts``
248 or ``virtio_recv_pkts_packed`` will be used, otherwise
249 ``virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts`` or ``virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts_packed``
252 * For Tx: ``virtio_xmit_pkts`` or ``virtio_xmit_pkts_packed`` will be used.
255 Vector callbacks will be used when:
257 * Mergeable Rx buffers is disabled.
259 The corresponding callbacks are:
261 * For Rx: ``virtio_recv_pkts_vec``.
263 There is no vector callbacks for packed virtqueue for now.
266 Example of using the vector version of the virtio poll mode driver in
269 testpmd -l 0-2 -n 4 -- -i --rxq=1 --txq=1 --nb-cores=1
271 In-order callbacks only work on simulated virtio user vdev.
275 * For Rx: If in-order is enabled then ``virtio_recv_pkts_inorder`` is used.
277 * For Tx: If in-order is enabled then ``virtio_xmit_pkts_inorder`` is used.
279 For packed virtqueue, the default callbacks already support the
285 .. _virtio_interrupt_mode:
287 There are three kinds of interrupts from a virtio device over PCI bus: config
288 interrupt, Rx interrupts, and Tx interrupts. Config interrupt is used for
289 notification of device configuration changes, especially link status (lsc).
290 Interrupt mode is translated into Rx interrupts in the context of DPDK.
294 Virtio PMD already has support for receiving lsc from qemu when the link
295 status changes, especially when vhost user disconnects. However, it fails
296 to do that if the VM is created by qemu 2.6.2 or below, since the
297 capability to detect vhost user disconnection is introduced in qemu 2.7.0.
299 Prerequisites for Rx interrupts
300 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
302 To support Rx interrupts,
303 #. Check if guest kernel supports VFIO-NOIOMMU:
305 Linux started to support VFIO-NOIOMMU since 4.8.0. Make sure the guest
306 kernel is compiled with:
308 .. code-block:: console
310 CONFIG_VFIO_NOIOMMU=y
312 #. Properly set msix vectors when starting VM:
314 Enable multi-queue when starting VM, and specify msix vectors in qemu
315 cmdline. (N+1) is the minimum, and (2N+2) is mostly recommended.
317 .. code-block:: console
319 $(QEMU) ... -device virtio-net-pci,mq=on,vectors=2N+2 ...
321 #. In VM, insert vfio module in NOIOMMU mode:
323 .. code-block:: console
325 modprobe vfio enable_unsafe_noiommu_mode=1
328 #. In VM, bind the virtio device with vfio-pci:
330 .. code-block:: console
332 python usertools/dpdk-devbind.py -b vfio-pci 00:03.0
337 Here we use l3fwd-power as an example to show how to get started.
341 .. code-block:: console
343 $ l3fwd-power -l 0-1 -- -p 1 -P --config="(0,0,1)" \
344 --no-numa --parse-ptype
350 Below devargs are supported by the PCI virtio driver:
354 A virtio device could also be driven by vDPA (vhost data path acceleration)
355 driver, and works as a HW vhost backend. This argument is used to specify
356 a virtio device needs to work in vDPA mode.
357 (Default: 0 (disabled))
359 Below devargs are supported by the virtio-user vdev:
363 It is used to specify a path to connect to vhost backend.
367 It is used to specify the MAC address.
371 It is used to enable the control queue. (Default: 0 (disabled))
375 It is used to specify the queue size. (Default: 256)
379 It is used to specify the queue number. (Default: 1)
383 It is used to specify the host interface name for vhost-kernel
388 It is used to enable the server mode when using vhost-user backend.
389 (Default: 0 (disabled))
393 It is used to enable virtio device mergeable Rx buffer feature.
394 (Default: 1 (enabled))
398 It is used to enable virtio device in-order feature.
399 (Default: 1 (enabled))
403 It is used to enable virtio device packed virtqueue feature.
404 (Default: 0 (disabled))
406 Virtio paths Selection and Usage
407 --------------------------------
409 Logically virtio-PMD has 9 paths based on the combination of virtio features
410 (Rx mergeable, In-order, Packed virtqueue), below is an introduction of these
413 * `Rx mergeable <https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.1/cs01/
414 virtio-v1.1-cs01.html#x1-2140004>`_: With this feature negotiated, device
415 can receive large packets by combining individual descriptors.
416 * `In-order <https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.1/cs01/
417 virtio-v1.1-cs01.html#x1-690008>`_: Some devices always use descriptors
418 in the same order in which they have been made available, these
419 devices can offer the VIRTIO_F_IN_ORDER feature. With this feature negotiated,
420 driver will use descriptors in order.
421 * `Packed virtqueue <https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.1/cs01/
422 virtio-v1.1-cs01.html#x1-610007>`_: The structure of packed virtqueue is
423 different from split virtqueue, split virtqueue is composed of available ring,
424 used ring and descriptor table, while packed virtqueue is composed of descriptor
425 ring, driver event suppression and device event suppression. The idea behind
426 this is to improve performance by avoiding cache misses and make it easier
427 for hardware to implement.
429 Virtio paths Selection
430 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
432 If packed virtqueue is not negotiated, below split virtqueue paths will be selected
433 according to below configuration:
435 #. Split virtqueue mergeable path: If Rx mergeable is negotiated, in-order feature is
436 not negotiated, this path will be selected.
437 #. Split virtqueue non-mergeable path: If Rx mergeable and in-order feature are not
438 negotiated, also Rx offload(s) are requested, this path will be selected.
439 #. Split virtqueue in-order mergeable path: If Rx mergeable and in-order feature are
440 both negotiated, this path will be selected.
441 #. Split virtqueue in-order non-mergeable path: If in-order feature is negotiated and
442 Rx mergeable is not negotiated, this path will be selected.
443 #. Split virtqueue vectorized Rx path: If Rx mergeable is disabled and no Rx offload
444 requested, this path will be selected.
446 If packed virtqueue is negotiated, below packed virtqueue paths will be selected
447 according to below configuration:
449 #. Packed virtqueue mergeable path: If Rx mergeable is negotiated, in-order feature
450 is not negotiated, this path will be selected.
451 #. Packed virtqueue non-mergeable path: If Rx mergeable and in-order feature are not
452 negotiated, this path will be selected.
453 #. Packed virtqueue in-order mergeable path: If in-order and Rx mergeable feature are
454 both negotiated, this path will be selected.
455 #. Packed virtqueue in-order non-mergeable path: If in-order feature is negotiated and
456 Rx mergeable is not negotiated, this path will be selected.
458 Rx/Tx callbacks of each Virtio path
459 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
461 Refer to above description, virtio path and corresponding Rx/Tx callbacks will
462 be selected automatically. Rx callbacks and Tx callbacks for each virtio path
463 are shown in below table:
465 .. table:: Virtio Paths and Callbacks
467 ============================================ ================================= ========================
468 Virtio paths Rx callbacks Tx callbacks
469 ============================================ ================================= ========================
470 Split virtqueue mergeable path virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts virtio_xmit_pkts
471 Split virtqueue non-mergeable path virtio_recv_pkts virtio_xmit_pkts
472 Split virtqueue in-order mergeable path virtio_recv_pkts_inorder virtio_xmit_pkts_inorder
473 Split virtqueue in-order non-mergeable path virtio_recv_pkts_inorder virtio_xmit_pkts_inorder
474 Split virtqueue vectorized Rx path virtio_recv_pkts_vec virtio_xmit_pkts
475 Packed virtqueue mergeable path virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts_packed virtio_xmit_pkts_packed
476 Packed virtqueue non-meregable path virtio_recv_pkts_packed virtio_xmit_pkts_packed
477 Packed virtqueue in-order mergeable path virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts_packed virtio_xmit_pkts_packed
478 Packed virtqueue in-order non-mergeable path virtio_recv_pkts_packed virtio_xmit_pkts_packed
479 ============================================ ================================= ========================
481 Virtio paths Support Status from Release to Release
482 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
484 Virtio feature implementation:
486 * In-order feature is supported since DPDK 18.08 by adding new Rx/Tx callbacks
487 ``virtio_recv_pkts_inorder`` and ``virtio_xmit_pkts_inorder``.
488 * Packed virtqueue is supported since DPDK 19.02 by adding new Rx/Tx callbacks
489 ``virtio_recv_pkts_packed`` , ``virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts_packed`` and
490 ``virtio_xmit_pkts_packed``.
492 All virtio paths support status are shown in below table:
494 .. table:: Virtio Paths and Releases
496 ============================================ ============= ============= =============
497 Virtio paths 16.11 ~ 18.05 18.08 ~ 18.11 19.02 ~ 19.11
498 ============================================ ============= ============= =============
499 Split virtqueue mergeable path Y Y Y
500 Split virtqueue non-mergeable path Y Y Y
501 Split virtqueue vectorized Rx path Y Y Y
502 Split virtqueue simple Tx path Y N N
503 Split virtqueue in-order mergeable path Y Y
504 Split virtqueue in-order non-mergeable path Y Y
505 Packed virtqueue mergeable path Y
506 Packed virtqueue non-mergeable path Y
507 Packed virtqueue in-order mergeable path Y
508 Packed virtqueue in-order non-mergeable path Y
509 ============================================ ============= ============= =============
514 * Qemu now supports three paths of split virtqueue: Split virtqueue mergeable path,
515 Split virtqueue non-mergeable path, Split virtqueue vectorized Rx path.
516 * Since qemu 4.2.0, Packed virtqueue mergeable path and Packed virtqueue non-mergeable
517 path can be supported.
522 If you meet performance drop or some other issues after upgrading the driver
523 or configuration, below steps can help you identify which path you selected and
526 #. Run vhost/virtio test case;
527 #. Run "perf top" and check virtio Rx/Tx callback names;
528 #. Identify which virtio path is selected refer to above table.