path: root/doc/guides/nics/nfp.rst

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NFP poll mode driver library
============================

Netronome's sixth generation of flow processors pack 216 programmable
cores and over 100 hardware accelerators that uniquely combine packet,
flow, security and content processing in a single device that scales
up to 400 Gbps.

This document explains how to use DPDK with the Netronome Poll Mode
Driver (PMD) supporting Netronome's Network Flow Processor 6xxx
(NFP-6xxx).

Currently the driver supports virtual functions (VFs) only.

Dependencies
------------

Before using the Netronome's DPDK PMD some NFP-6xxx configuration,
which is not related to DPDK, is required. The system requires
installation of **Netronome's BSP (Board Support Package)** which includes
Linux drivers, programs and libraries.

If you have a NFP-6xxx device you should already have the code and
documentation for doing this configuration. Contact
**support@netronome.com** to obtain the latest available firmware.

The NFP Linux kernel drivers (including the required PF driver for the
NFP) are available on Github at
**https://github.com/Netronome/nfp-drv-kmods** along with build
instructions.

DPDK runs in userspace and PMDs uses the Linux kernel UIO interface to
allow access to physical devices from userspace. The NFP PMD requires
a separate UIO driver, **nfp_uio**, to perform correct
initialization. This driver is part of Netronome´s BSP and it is
equivalent to Intel's igb_uio driver.

Building the software
---------------------

Netronome's PMD code is provided in the **drivers/net/nfp** directory.
Because Netronome´s BSP dependencies the driver is disabled by default
in DPDK build using **common_linuxapp configuration** file. Enabling the
driver or if you use another configuration file and want to have NFP
support, this variable is needed:

- **CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_NFP_PMD=y**

Once DPDK is built all the DPDK apps and examples include support for
the NFP PMD.


System configuration
--------------------

Using the NFP PMD is not different to using other PMDs. Usual steps are:

#. **Configure hugepages:** All major Linux distributions have the hugepages
   functionality enabled by default. By default this allows the system uses for
   working with transparent hugepages. But in this case some hugepages need to
   be created/reserved for use with the DPDK through the hugetlbfs file system.
   First the virtual file system need to be mounted:

   .. code-block:: console

      mount -t hugetlbfs none /mnt/hugetlbfs

   The command uses the common mount point for this file system and it needs to
   be created if necessary.

   Configuring hugepages is performed via sysfs:

   .. code-block:: console

      /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages

   This sysfs file is used to specify the number of hugepages to reserve.
   For example:

   .. code-block:: console

      echo 1024 > /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages

   This will reserve 2GB of memory using 1024 2MB hugepages. The file may be
   read to see if the operation was performed correctly:

   .. code-block:: console

      cat /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages

   The number of unused hugepages may also be inspected.

   Before executing the DPDK app it should match the value of nr_hugepages.

   .. code-block:: console

      cat /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/free_hugepages

   The hugepages reservation should be performed at system initialization and
   it is usual to use a kernel parameter for configuration. If the reservation
   is attempted on a busy system it will likely fail. Reserving memory for
   hugepages may be done adding the following to the grub kernel command line:

   .. code-block:: console

      default_hugepagesz=1M hugepagesz=2M hugepages=1024

   This will reserve 2GBytes of memory using 2Mbytes huge pages.

   Finally, for a NUMA system the allocation needs to be made on the correct
   NUMA node. In a DPDK app there is a master core which will (usually) perform
   memory allocation. It is important that some of the hugepages are reserved
   on the NUMA memory node where the network device is attached. This is because
   of a restriction in DPDK by which TX and RX descriptors rings must be created
   on the master code.

   Per-node allocation of hugepages may be inspected and controlled using sysfs.
   For example:

   .. code-block:: console

      cat /sys/devices/system/node/node0/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages

   For a NUMA system there will be a specific hugepage directory per node
   allowing control of hugepage reservation. A common problem may occur when
   hugepages reservation is performed after the system has been working for
   some time. Configuration using the global sysfs hugepage interface will
   succeed but the per-node allocations may be unsatisfactory.

   The number of hugepages that need to be reserved depends on how the app uses
   TX and RX descriptors, and packets mbufs.

#. **Enable SR-IOV on the NFP-6xxx device:** The current NFP PMD works with
   Virtual Functions (VFs) on a NFP device. Make sure that one of the Physical
   Function (PF) drivers from the above Github repository is installed and
   loaded.

   Virtual Functions need to be enabled before they can be used with the PMD.
   Before enabling the VFs it is useful to obtain information about the
   current NFP PCI device detected by the system:

   .. code-block:: console

      lspci -d19ee:

   Now, for example, configure two virtual functions on a NFP-6xxx device
   whose PCI system identity is "0000:03:00.0":

   .. code-block:: console

      echo 2 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:03:00.0/sriov_numvfs

   The result of this command may be shown using lspci again:

   .. code-block:: console

      lspci -d19ee: -k

   Two new PCI devices should appear in the output of the above command. The
   -k option shows the device driver, if any, that devices are bound to.
   Depending on the modules loaded at this point the new PCI devices may be
   bound to nfp_netvf driver.

#. **To install the uio kernel module (manually):** All major Linux
   distributions have support for this kernel module so it is straightforward
   to install it:

   .. code-block:: console

      modprobe uio

   The module should now be listed by the lsmod command.

#. **To install the nfp_uio kernel module (manually):** This module supports
   NFP-6xxx devices through the UIO interface.

   This module is part of Netronome´s BSP and it should be available when the
   BSP is installed.

   .. code-block:: console

      modprobe nfp_uio.ko

   The module should now be listed by the lsmod command.

   Depending on which NFP modules are loaded, nfp_uio may be automatically
   bound to the NFP PCI devices by the system. Otherwise the binding needs
   to be done explicitly. This is the case when nfp_netvf, the Linux kernel
   driver for NFP VFs, was loaded when VFs were created. As described later
   in this document this configuration may also be performed using scripts
   provided by the Netronome´s BSP.

   First the device needs to be unbound, for example from the nfp_netvf
   driver:

   .. code-block:: console

      echo 0000:03:08.0 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:03:08.0/driver/unbind

      lspci -d19ee: -k

   The output of lspci should now show that 0000:03:08.0 is not bound to
   any driver.

   The next step is to add the NFP PCI ID to the NFP UIO driver:

   .. code-block:: console

      echo 19ee 6003 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/nfp_uio/new_id

   And then to bind the device to the nfp_uio driver:

   .. code-block:: console

      echo 0000:03:08.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/nfp_uio/bind

      lspci -d19ee: -k

   lspci should show that device bound to nfp_uio driver.

#. **Using tools from Netronome´s BSP to install and bind modules:** DPDK provides
   scripts which are useful for installing the UIO modules and for binding the
   right device to those modules avoiding doing so manually. However, these scripts
   have not support for Netronome´s UIO driver. Along with drivers, the BSP installs
   those DPDK scripts slightly modified with support for Netronome´s UIO driver.

   Those specific scripts can be found in Netronome´s BSP installation directory.
   Refer to BSP documentation for more information.

   * **setup.sh**
   * **dpdk_nic_bind.py**

   Configuration may be performed by running setup.sh which invokes
   dpdk_nic_bind.py as needed. Executing setup.sh will display a menu of
   configuration options.