15. QEDE Poll Mode Driver

The QEDE poll mode driver library (librte_pmd_qede) implements support for QLogic FastLinQ QL4xxxx 25G/40G CNA family of adapters as well as their virtual functions (VF) in SR-IOV context. It is supported on several standard Linux distros like RHEL7.x, SLES12.x and Ubuntu. It is compile-tested under FreeBSD OS.

More information can be found at QLogic Corporation’s Website.

15.1. Supported Features

  • Unicast/Multicast filtering
  • Promiscuous mode
  • Allmulti mode
  • Port hardware statistics
  • Jumbo frames (using single buffer)
  • VLAN offload - Filtering and stripping
  • Stateless checksum offloads (IPv4/TCP/UDP)
  • Multiple Rx/Tx queues (queue-pairs)
  • RSS (with user configurable table/key)
  • TSS
  • Multiple MAC address
  • Default pause flow control
  • SR-IOV VF for 25G/40G modes

15.2. Non-supported Features

  • Scatter-Gather Rx/Tx frames
  • Unequal number of Rx/Tx queues
  • MTU change (dynamic)
  • SR-IOV PF
  • Tunneling offloads
  • Reload of the PMD after a non-graceful termination

15.3. Supported QLogic Adapters

  • QLogic FastLinQ QL4xxxx 25G/40G/100G CNAs.

15.4. Prerequisites

  • Requires firmware version 8.7.x. and management firmware version 8.7.x or higher. Firmware may be available inbox in certain newer Linux distros under the standard directory E.g. /lib/firmware/qed/qed_init_values_zipped-8.7.7.0.bin
  • If the required firmware files are not available then visit QLogic Driver Download Center.
  • This driver relies on external zlib library (-lz) for uncompressing the firmware file.

15.4.1. Performance note

  • For better performance, it is recommended to use 4K or higher RX/TX rings.

15.4.2. Config File Options

The following options can be modified in the .config file. Please note that enabling debugging options may affect system performance.

  • CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_QEDE_PMD (default y)

    Toggle compilation of QEDE PMD driver.

  • CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_QEDE_DEBUG_INFO (default n)

    Toggle display of generic debugging messages.

  • CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_QEDE_DEBUG_DRIVER (default n)

    Toggle display of ecore related messages.

  • CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_QEDE_DEBUG_TX (default n)

    Toggle display of transmit fast path run-time messages.

  • CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_QEDE_DEBUG_RX (default n)

    Toggle display of receive fast path run-time messages.

  • CONFIG_RTE_LIBRTE_QEDE_FW (default “”)

    Gives absolute path of firmware file. Eg: "/lib/firmware/qed/qed_init_values_zipped-8.7.7.0.bin" Empty string indicates driver will pick up the firmware file from the default location.

15.4.3. Driver Compilation

To compile QEDE PMD for Linux x86_64 gcc target, run the following make command:

cd <DPDK-source-directory>
make config T=x86_64-native-linuxapp-gcc install

To compile QEDE PMD for Linux x86_64 clang target, run the following make command:

cd <DPDK-source-directory>
make config T=x86_64-native-linuxapp-clang install

To compile QEDE PMD for FreeBSD x86_64 clang target, run the following gmake command:

cd <DPDK-source-directory>
gmake config T=x86_64-native-bsdapp-clang install

To compile QEDE PMD for FreeBSD x86_64 gcc target, run the following gmake command:

cd <DPDK-source-directory>
gmake config T=x86_64-native-bsdapp-gcc install -Wl,-rpath=\
                                     /usr/local/lib/gcc48 CC=gcc48

15.4.4. Sample Application Notes

This section demonstrates how to launch testpmd with QLogic 4xxxx devices managed by librte_pmd_qede in Linux operating system.

  1. Request huge pages:

    echo 1024 > /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-2048kB/nr_hugepages/ \
                                                              nr_hugepages
    
  2. Load igb_uio driver:

    insmod ./x86_64-native-linuxapp-gcc/kmod/igb_uio.ko
    
  3. Bind the QLogic 4xxxx adapters to igb_uio loaded in the previous step:

    ./tools/dpdk-devbind.py --bind igb_uio 0000:84:00.0 0000:84:00.1 \
                                            0000:84:00.2 0000:84:00.3
    
  4. Start testpmd with basic parameters: (Enable QEDE_DEBUG_INFO=y to view informational messages)

      testpmd -c 0xff1 -n 4 -- -i --nb-cores=8 --portmask=0xf --rxd=4096 \
      --txd=4096 --txfreet=4068 --enable-rx-cksum --rxq=4 --txq=4 \
      --rss-ip --rss-udp
    
      [...]
    
    EAL: PCI device 0000:84:00.0 on NUMA socket 1
    EAL:   probe driver: 1077:1634 rte_qede_pmd
    EAL:   Not managed by a supported kernel driver, skipped
    EAL: PCI device 0000:84:00.1 on NUMA socket 1
    EAL:   probe driver: 1077:1634 rte_qede_pmd
    EAL:   Not managed by a supported kernel driver, skipped
    EAL: PCI device 0000:88:00.0 on NUMA socket 1
    EAL:   probe driver: 1077:1656 rte_qede_pmd
    EAL:   PCI memory mapped at 0x7f738b200000
    EAL:   PCI memory mapped at 0x7f738b280000
    EAL:   PCI memory mapped at 0x7f738b300000
    PMD: Chip details : BB1
    PMD: Driver version : QEDE PMD 8.7.9.0_1.0.0
    PMD: Firmware version : 8.7.7.0
    PMD: Management firmware version : 8.7.8.0
    PMD: Firmware file : /lib/firmware/qed/qed_init_values_zipped-8.7.7.0.bin
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_common_dev_init:macaddr \
                                                        00:0e:1e:d2:09:9c
      [...]
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_tx_queue_setup:txq 0 num_desc 4096 \
                                                tx_free_thresh 4068 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_tx_queue_setup:txq 1 num_desc 4096 \
                                                tx_free_thresh 4068 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_tx_queue_setup:txq 2 num_desc 4096 \
                                                 tx_free_thresh 4068 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_tx_queue_setup:txq 3 num_desc 4096 \
                                                 tx_free_thresh 4068 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_rx_queue_setup:rxq 0 num_desc 4096 \
                                                rx_buf_size=2148 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_rx_queue_setup:rxq 1 num_desc 4096 \
                                                rx_buf_size=2148 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_rx_queue_setup:rxq 2 num_desc 4096 \
                                                rx_buf_size=2148 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_rx_queue_setup:rxq 3 num_desc 4096 \
                                                rx_buf_size=2148 socket 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_dev_start:port 0
    [QEDE PMD: (84:00.0:dpdk-port-0)]qede_dev_start:link status: down
      [...]
    Checking link statuses...
    Port 0 Link Up - speed 25000 Mbps - full-duplex
    Port 1 Link Up - speed 25000 Mbps - full-duplex
    Port 2 Link Up - speed 25000 Mbps - full-duplex
    Port 3 Link Up - speed 25000 Mbps - full-duplex
    Done
    testpmd>
    

15.4.5. SR-IOV: Prerequisites and Sample Application Notes

This section provides instructions to configure SR-IOV with Linux OS.

Note: librte_pmd_qede will be used to bind to SR-IOV VF device and Linux native kernel driver (QEDE) will function as SR-IOV PF driver.

  1. Verify SR-IOV and ARI capability is enabled on the adapter using lspci:

    lspci -s <slot> -vvv
    

    Example output:

    [...]
    Capabilities: [1b8 v1] Alternative Routing-ID Interpretation (ARI)
    [...]
    Capabilities: [1c0 v1] Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)
    [...]
    Kernel driver in use: igb_uio
    
  2. Load the kernel module:

    modprobe qede
    

    Example output:

    systemd-udevd[4848]: renamed network interface eth0 to ens5f0
    systemd-udevd[4848]: renamed network interface eth1 to ens5f1
    
  3. Bring up the PF ports:

    ifconfig ens5f0 up
    ifconfig ens5f1 up
    
  4. Create VF device(s):

    Echo the number of VFs to be created into "sriov_numvfs" sysfs entry of the parent PF.

    Example output:

    echo 2 > /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:81:00.0/sriov_numvfs
    
  5. Assign VF MAC address:

    Assign MAC address to the VF using iproute2 utility. The syntax is:

    ip link set <PF iface> vf <VF id> mac <macaddr>
    

    Example output:

    ip link set ens5f0 vf 0 mac 52:54:00:2f:9d:e8
    
  6. PCI Passthrough:

    The VF devices may be passed through to the guest VM using virt-manager or virsh. QEDE PMD should be used to bind the VF devices in the guest VM using the instructions outlined in the Application notes above.