3. RX/TX Checksum Offload Tests¶
The support of RX/TX L3/L4 Checksum offload features by Poll Mode Drivers consists in:
On the RX side:
- Verify IPv4 checksum by hardware for received packets.
- Verify UDP/TCP/SCTP checksum by hardware for received packets.
On the TX side:
- IPv4 checksum insertion by hardware in transmitted packets.
- IPv4/UDP checksum insertion by hardware in transmitted packets.
- IPv4/TCP checksum insertion by hardware in transmitted packets.
- IPv4/SCTP checksum insertion by hardware in transmitted packets (sctp length in 4 bytes).
- IPv6/UDP checksum insertion by hardware in transmitted packets.
- IPv6/TCP checksum insertion by hardware in transmitted packets.
- IPv6/SCTP checksum insertion by hardware in transmitted packets (sctp length in 4 bytes).
RX side, the L3/L4 checksum offload by hardware can be enabled with the
following command of the testpmd application:
enable-rx-cksum
TX side, the insertion of a L3/L4 checksum by hardware can be enabled with the
following command of the testpmd application and running in a dedicated
tx checksum mode:
set fwd csum
tx_checksum set mask port_id
The transmission of packet is done with the start command of the testpmd
application that will receive packets and then transmit the packet out on all
configured ports. mask is used to indicated what hardware checksum
offload is required on the port_id. Please check the NIC datasheet for the
corresponding Hardware limits:
bit 0 - insert ip checksum offload if set
bit 1 - insert udp checksum offload if set
bit 2 - insert tcp checksum offload if set
bit 3 - insert sctp checksum offload if set
3.1. Prerequisites¶
If using vfio the kernel must be >= 3.6+ and VT-d must be enabled in bios.When using vfio, use the following commands to load the vfio driver and bind it to the device under test:
modprobe vfio
modprobe vfio-pci
usertools/dpdk-devbind.py --bind=vfio-pci device_bus_id
Assuming that ports 0 and 2 are connected to a traffic generator,
launch the testpmd with the following arguments:
./build/app/testpmd -cffffff -n 1 -- -i --burst=1 --txpt=32 \
--txht=8 --txwt=0 --txfreet=0 --rxfreet=64 --mbcache=250 --portmask=0x5
enable-rx-cksum
Set the verbose level to 1 to display information for each received packet:
testpmd> set verbose 1
3.2. Test Case: Validate checksum on the receive packet¶
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Start the packet forwarding:
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Configure the traffic generator to send the multiple packets with the following combination: good/bad ip checksum + good/bad udp/tcp checksum.
Except that SCTP header + payload length must be a multiple of 4 bytes. IPv4 + UDP/TCP packet length can range from the minimum length to 1518 bytes.
Then verify that how many packets found with Bad-ipcsum or Bad-l4csum:
testpmd> stop
---------------------- Forward statistics for port 0 ----------------------
RX-packets: 0 RX-dropped: 0 RX-total: 0
Bad-ipcsum: 0 Bad-l4csum: 0
TX-packets: 0 TX-dropped: 0 TX-total: 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3. Test Case: Insert IPv4/IPv6 UDP/TCP/SCTP checksum on the transmit packet¶
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Enable the IPv4/UDP/TCP/SCTP checksum offload on port 0:
testpmd> tx_checksum set 0xf 0
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Configure the traffic generator to send the multiple packets for the following combination: IPv4/UDP, IPv4/TCP, IPv4/SCTP, IPv6/UDP, IPv6/TCP.
Except that SCTP header + payload length must be a multiple of 4 bytes. IPv4 + UDP/TCP packet length can range from the minimum length to 1518 bytes.
Then verify that the same number of packet are correctly received on the traffic generator side. And IPv4 checksum, TCP checksum, UDP checksum, SCTP CRC32c need be validated as pass by the IXIA.
The IPv4 source address will not be changed by testpmd.
3.4. Test Case: Do not insert IPv4/IPv6 UDP/TCP checksum on the transmit packet¶
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Disable the IPv4/UDP/TCP/SCTP checksum offload on port 0:
testpmd> tx_checksum set 0x0 0
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Configure the traffic generator to send the multiple packets for the following combination: IPv4/UDP, IPv4/TCP, IPv6/UDP, IPv6/TCP.
IPv4 + UDP/TCP packet length can range from the minimum length to 1518 bytes.
Then verify that the same number of packet are correctly received on the traffic generator side. And IPv4 checksum, TCP checksum, UDP checksum need be validated as pass by the IXIA.
The first byte of source IPv4 address will be increment by testpmd. The checksum is indeed recalculated by software algorithms.
3.5. Test Case: Validate RX checksum valid flags on the receive packet¶
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Start the packet forwarding:
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Configure the traffic generator to send the multiple packets with the following combination: good/bad ip checksum + good/bad udp/tcp checksum.
Check the Rx checksum flags consistent with expected flags.
3.6. Test Case: Hardware Checksum Check L4 RX¶
This test involves testing many different scenarios with a L4 checksum. A variety of tunneling protocols, L3 protocols and L4 protocols are combined to test as many scenarios as possible. Currently, UDP, TCP and SCTP are used as L4 protocols, with IP and IPv6 being used at level 3. The tested tunneling protocols are VXLAN and GRE.
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Start the packet forwarding:
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Send a packet with a good checksum:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df8780, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Send a packet with a bad checksum:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df7e40, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_BAD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_BAD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Verify flags are as expected.
3.7. Test Case: Hardware Checksum Check L3 RX¶
This test involves testing L3 checksum hardware offload. Due to the relative dominance of IPv4 and IPv6 as L3 protocols, and IPv6’s lack of a checksum, only IPv4’s checksum is tested.
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Start the packet forwarding:
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Send a packet with a good checksum:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df8780, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Send a packet with a bad checksum:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df7e40, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_BAD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_BAD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Verify flags are as expected.
3.8. Test Case: Hardware Checksum Check L4 TX¶
This test involves testing many different scenarios with a L4 checksum. A variety of tunneling protocols, L3 protocols and L4 protocols are combined to test as many scenarios as possible. Currently, UDP, TCP and SCTP are used as L4 protocols, with IP and IPv6 being used at level 3. The tested tunneling protocols are VXLAN and GRE. This test is used to determine whether the hardware offloading of checksums works properly.
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Start the packet forwarding:
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Start a packet capture on the tester in the background:
# tcpdump -i <iface> -s 65535 -w /tmp/tester/test_hardware_checksum_check_l4_tx_capture.pcap &
Send a packet with a good checksum:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df8780, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Send a packet with a bad checksum:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df7e40, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_BAD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Inspect the pcap file from the packet capture and verify the checksums.
3.9. Test Case: Hardware Checksum Check L3 TX¶
This test involves testing L3 checksum hardware offload. Due to the relative dominance of IPv4 and IPv6 as L3 protocols, and IPv6’s lack of a checksum, only IPv4’s checksum is tested.
Setup the csum forwarding mode:
testpmd> set fwd csum
Set csum packet forwarding mode
Start the packet forwarding:
testpmd> start
csum packet forwarding - CRC stripping disabled - packets/burst=32
nb forwarding cores=1 - nb forwarding ports=10
RX queues=1 - RX desc=128 - RX free threshold=64
RX threshold registers: pthresh=8 hthresh=8 wthresh=4
TX queues=1 - TX desc=512 - TX free threshold=0
TX threshold registers: pthresh=32 hthresh=8 wthresh=8
Start a packet capture on the tester in the background:
# tcpdump -i <iface> -s 65535 -w /tmp/tester/test_hardware_checksum_check_l3_tx_capture.pcap &
Send a packet with a good checksum with a 1 in it’s payload:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df8780, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Send a packet with a bad checksum with a 0 in it’s payload:
port=0, mbuf=0x2269df7e40, pkt_len=96, nb_segs=1:
rx: l2_len=18 ethertype=800 l3_len=20 l4_proto=17 l4_len=8 flags=PKT_RX_L4_CKSUM_GOOD PKT_RX_IP_CKSUM_BAD PKT_RX_OUTER_L4_CKSUM_UNKNOWN
tx: flags=PKT_TX_L4_NO_CKSUM PKT_TX_IPV4
Inspect the pcap file from the packet capture and verify the checksums.