* [PATCH bpf-next v4 1/2] bpftool: Accept symbolic map creation flags
2026-09-11 2:50 [PATCH bpf-next v4 0/2] bpftool: Support symbolic map creation flags Tianyi Chen
@ 2026-09-11 2:50 ` Tianyi Chen
2026-09-11 3:37 ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-09-11 2:50 ` [PATCH bpf-next v4 2/2] selftests/bpf: Cover symbolic bpftool " Tianyi Chen
1 sibling, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread
From: Tianyi Chen @ 2026-09-11 2:50 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: qmo, bpf; +Cc: andrii, eddyz87, ihor.solodrai, linux-kselftest
From: Tianyi Chen <hi@tychen.cc>
Accept comma-separated BPF_F_* names for map create flags, so callers
can use the UAPI names without looking up their numeric values. Keep
base-0 numeric input, including bits unknown to this bpftool.
Reject empty names, unknown names, mixed numeric and symbolic lists,
and values outside the unsigned 32-bit range. Limit symbolic names to
map creation flags and let the kernel validate map-specific combinations.
Document the syntax and complete names within comma-separated lists.
Avoid appending a space to completed list elements so another flag can
be added to the same argument.
Link: https://github.com/libbpf/bpftool/issues/57
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Tianyi Chen <hi@tychen.cc>
---
.../bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-feature.rst | 10 ++-
.../bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-map.rst | 14 ++-
tools/bpf/bpftool/bash-completion/bpftool | 22 ++++-
tools/bpf/bpftool/feature.c | 7 +-
tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h | 1 +
tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c | 85 ++++++++++++++++++-
6 files changed, 126 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-feature.rst b/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-feature.rst
index c7f837898bc7..597f2426d255 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-feature.rst
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-feature.rst
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ FEATURE COMMANDS
| **bpftool** **feature help**
|
| *COMPONENT* := { **kernel** | **dev** *NAME* }
-| *GROUP* := { **prog_types** | **map_types** | **attach_types** | **link_types** | **helpers** }
+| *GROUP* := { **prog_types** | **map_types** | **map_create_flags** | **attach_types** | **link_types** | **helpers** }
DESCRIPTION
===========
@@ -68,12 +68,14 @@ bpftool feature probe dev *NAME* [full] [macros [prefix *PREFIX*]]
bpftool feature list_builtins *GROUP*
List items known to bpftool. These can be BPF program types
- (**prog_types**), BPF map types (**map_types**), attach types
+ (**prog_types**), BPF map types (**map_types**), map creation flags
+ (**map_create_flags**), attach types
(**attach_types**), link types (**link_types**), or BPF helper functions
(**helpers**). The command does not probe the system, but simply lists the
elements that bpftool knows from compilation time, as provided from libbpf
- (for all object types) or from the BPF UAPI header (list of helpers). This
- can be used in scripts to iterate over BPF types or helpers.
+ (for all object types) or from the BPF UAPI header (helpers and map creation
+ flags). This can be used in scripts to iterate over BPF types, helpers, or
+ the symbolic flags accepted by **map create**.
bpftool feature help
Print short help message.
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-map.rst b/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-map.rst
index 5daf3de5c744..5a5c26f789cd 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-map.rst
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/Documentation/bpftool-map.rst
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ MAP COMMANDS
| *DATA* := { [**hex**] *BYTES* }
| *PROG* := { **id** *PROG_ID* | **pinned** *FILE* | **tag** *PROG_TAG* | **name** *PROG_NAME* }
| *VALUE* := { *DATA* | *MAP* | *PROG* }
+| *FLAGS* := { integer | **BPF_F_NAME[,BPF_F_NAME...]** }
| *UPDATE_FLAGS* := { **any** | **exist** | **noexist** }
| *TYPE* := { **hash** | **array** | **prog_array** | **perf_event_array** | **percpu_hash**
| | **percpu_array** | **stack_trace** | **cgroup_array** | **lru_hash**
@@ -76,9 +77,16 @@ bpftool map { show | list } [*MAP*]
bpftool map create *FILE* type *TYPE* key *KEY_SIZE* value *VALUE_SIZE* entries *MAX_ENTRIES* name *NAME* [flags *FLAGS*] [inner_map *MAP*] [offload_dev *NAME*]
Create a new map with given parameters and pin it to *bpffs* as *FILE*.
- *FLAGS* should be an integer which is the combination of desired flags,
- e.g. 1024 for **BPF_F_MMAPABLE** (see bpf.h UAPI header for existing
- flags).
+ *FLAGS* accepts an unsigned 32-bit integer combining the desired flags
+ (decimal, hexadecimal with a **0x** prefix, or octal with a **0** prefix),
+ or a comma-separated list of full, case-sensitive map creation flag names
+ from the bpf.h UAPI header. For example, **1024**, **0x400**, and
+ **BPF_F_MMAPABLE** are equivalent. Multiple names are combined with
+ bitwise OR, for example **BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC,BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG**.
+ Repeated names are allowed. Empty list elements, abbreviated names, and
+ lists mixing numbers with names are not accepted. Use **0** for no flags.
+ Numeric values can include bits unknown to bpftool. The kernel checks
+ whether the flags are valid for the requested map type.
To create maps of type array-of-maps or hash-of-maps, the **inner_map**
keyword must be used to pass an inner map. The kernel needs it to collect
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/bash-completion/bpftool b/tools/bpf/bpftool/bash-completion/bpftool
index 75cbcb512eba..ea3f521b6f08 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/bash-completion/bpftool
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/bash-completion/bpftool
@@ -718,6 +718,10 @@ _bpftool()
esac
;;
create)
+ # Keep a flags list together if readline splits at commas.
+ if [[ $COMP_WORDBREAKS == *,* && ( $cur == , || $prev == , ) ]]; then
+ _get_comp_words_by_ref -n , cur prev
+ fi
case $prev in
$command)
_filedir
@@ -729,7 +733,21 @@ _bpftool()
COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W "$BPFTOOL_MAP_CREATE_TYPES" -- "$cur" ) )
return 0
;;
- key|value|flags|entries)
+ flags)
+ compopt -o nospace
+ local flags="$(bpftool feature list_builtins map_create_flags 2>/dev/null)"
+ local prefix= flag
+ # If comma is not a word break, Readline replaces the whole
+ # word, so preserve the flags before the last comma.
+ if [[ $cur == *,* && $COMP_WORDBREAKS != *,* ]]; then
+ prefix="${cur%,*},"
+ fi
+ for flag in $(compgen -W "$flags" -- "${cur##*,}"); do
+ COMPREPLY+=( "${prefix}${flag}" )
+ done
+ return 0
+ ;;
+ key|value|entries)
return 0
;;
inner_map)
@@ -1192,7 +1210,7 @@ _bpftool()
;;
list_builtins)
[[ $prev != "$command" ]] && return 0
- COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W 'prog_types map_types \
+ COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W 'prog_types map_types map_create_flags \
attach_types link_types helpers' -- "$cur" ) )
;;
*)
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/feature.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/feature.c
index 0f6070a0c8e7..b5419d5a661a 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/feature.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/feature.c
@@ -1220,6 +1220,8 @@ static int do_list_builtins(int argc, char **argv)
get_name = (const char *(*)(unsigned int))libbpf_bpf_prog_type_str;
} else if (is_prefix(*argv, "map_types")) {
get_name = (const char *(*)(unsigned int))libbpf_bpf_map_type_str;
+ } else if (is_prefix(*argv, "map_create_flags")) {
+ get_name = map_create_flag_name;
} else if (is_prefix(*argv, "attach_types")) {
get_name = (const char *(*)(unsigned int))libbpf_bpf_attach_type_str;
} else if (is_prefix(*argv, "link_types")) {
@@ -1227,7 +1229,7 @@ static int do_list_builtins(int argc, char **argv)
} else if (is_prefix(*argv, "helpers")) {
get_name = get_helper_name;
} else {
- p_err("expected 'prog_types', 'map_types', 'attach_types', 'link_types' or 'helpers', got: %s", *argv);
+ p_err("expected 'prog_types', 'map_types', 'map_create_flags', 'attach_types', 'link_types' or 'helpers', got: %s", *argv);
return -1;
}
@@ -1265,7 +1267,8 @@ static int do_help(int argc, char **argv)
" %1$s %2$s help\n"
"\n"
" COMPONENT := { kernel | dev NAME }\n"
- " GROUP := { prog_types | map_types | attach_types | link_types | helpers }\n"
+ " GROUP := { prog_types | map_types | map_create_flags |\n"
+ " attach_types | link_types | helpers }\n"
" " HELP_SPEC_OPTIONS " }\n"
"",
bin_name, argv[-2]);
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h
index 9315a1db1f7c..3e2856c9f595 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/main.h
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ int do_token(int argc, char **argv) __weak;
int parse_u32_arg(int *argc, char ***argv, __u32 *val, const char *what);
int prog_parse_fd(int *argc, char ***argv);
int prog_parse_fds(int *argc, char ***argv, int **fds);
+const char *map_create_flag_name(unsigned int id);
int map_parse_fd(int *argc, char ***argv, __u32 open_flags);
int map_parse_fds(int *argc, char ***argv, int **fds, __u32 open_flags);
int map_parse_fd_and_info(int *argc, char ***argv, struct bpf_map_info *info,
diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c
index 684a8fb72414..4445014247d6 100644
--- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c
+++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/map.c
@@ -1250,6 +1250,81 @@ static int do_pin(int argc, char **argv)
return err;
}
+static const struct {
+ const char *name;
+ __u32 value;
+} map_create_flags[] = {
+#define MAP_CREATE_FLAG(flag) { #flag, flag }
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_NO_COMMON_LRU),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_NUMA_NODE),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_RDONLY),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_WRONLY),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_STACK_BUILD_ID),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_ZERO_SEED),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_WRONLY_PROG),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_CLONE),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_MMAPABLE),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_PRESERVE_ELEMS),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_INNER_MAP),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_LINK),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_VTYPE_BTF_OBJ_FD),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_TOKEN_FD),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_SEGV_ON_FAULT),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_NO_USER_CONV),
+ MAP_CREATE_FLAG(BPF_F_RB_OVERWRITE),
+#undef MAP_CREATE_FLAG
+};
+
+const char *map_create_flag_name(unsigned int id)
+{
+ if (id >= ARRAY_SIZE(map_create_flags))
+ return NULL;
+
+ return map_create_flags[id].name;
+}
+
+static int parse_map_create_flags(const char *arg, __u32 *flags)
+{
+ const char *name = arg, *comma;
+ long long value;
+ __u32 parsed = 0;
+ size_t len, i;
+ char *end;
+
+ /* Keep base-0 numeric input, including bits unknown to this bpftool. */
+ if (strncmp(arg, "BPF_F_", 6)) {
+ errno = 0;
+ value = strtoll(arg, &end, 0);
+ if (errno || end == arg || *end || value < 0 || value > UINT32_MAX)
+ goto invalid;
+ *flags = value;
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+ do {
+ comma = strchr(name, ',');
+ len = comma ? (size_t)(comma - name) : strlen(name);
+ for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(map_create_flags); i++) {
+ if (strlen(map_create_flags[i].name) == len &&
+ !strncmp(name, map_create_flags[i].name, len))
+ break;
+ }
+ if (i == ARRAY_SIZE(map_create_flags))
+ goto invalid;
+ parsed |= map_create_flags[i].value;
+ if (comma)
+ name = comma + 1;
+ } while (comma);
+
+ *flags = parsed;
+ return 0;
+invalid:
+ p_err("can't parse %s as map creation flags", arg);
+ return -1;
+}
+
static int do_create(int argc, char **argv)
{
LIBBPF_OPTS(bpf_map_create_opts, attr);
@@ -1301,9 +1376,14 @@ static int do_create(int argc, char **argv)
"max entries"))
goto exit;
} else if (is_prefix(*argv, "flags")) {
- if (parse_u32_arg(&argc, &argv, &attr.map_flags,
- "flags"))
+ NEXT_ARG();
+ if (attr.map_flags) {
+ p_err("flags already specified");
goto exit;
+ }
+ if (parse_map_create_flags(*argv, &attr.map_flags))
+ goto exit;
+ NEXT_ARG();
} else if (is_prefix(*argv, "dev")) {
p_info("Warning: 'bpftool map create [...] dev <ifname>' syntax is deprecated.\n"
"Going further, please use 'offload_dev <ifname>' to request hardware offload for the map.");
@@ -1474,6 +1554,7 @@ static int do_help(int argc, char **argv)
" DATA := { [hex] BYTES }\n"
" " HELP_SPEC_PROGRAM "\n"
" VALUE := { DATA | MAP | PROG }\n"
+ " FLAGS := { integer | BPF_F_NAME[,BPF_F_NAME...] }\n"
" UPDATE_FLAGS := { any | exist | noexist }\n"
" TYPE := { hash | array | prog_array | perf_event_array | percpu_hash |\n"
" percpu_array | stack_trace | cgroup_array | lru_hash |\n"
--
2.55.0
^ permalink raw reply related [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread* [PATCH bpf-next v4 2/2] selftests/bpf: Cover symbolic bpftool map creation flags
2026-09-11 2:50 [PATCH bpf-next v4 0/2] bpftool: Support symbolic map creation flags Tianyi Chen
2026-09-11 2:50 ` [PATCH bpf-next v4 1/2] bpftool: Accept " Tianyi Chen
@ 2026-09-11 2:50 ` Tianyi Chen
1 sibling, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Tianyi Chen @ 2026-09-11 2:50 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: qmo, bpf; +Cc: andrii, eddyz87, ihor.solodrai, linux-kselftest
From: Tianyi Chen <hi@tychen.cc>
Check numeric and symbolic map creation flags, including combined and
repeated names, against map information read independently with libbpf.
Exercise malformed names and lists, update-only flags, empty input and
numeric range errors. Verify rejected input leaves no pinned map.
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Tianyi Chen <hi@tychen.cc>
---
.../bpf/prog_tests/bpftool_map_flags.c | 100 ++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 100 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/bpftool_map_flags.c
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/bpftool_map_flags.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/bpftool_map_flags.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d617b43273a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/bpftool_map_flags.c
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <bpf/bpf.h>
+#include <bpftool_helpers.h>
+#include <test_progs.h>
+
+static const struct map_flags_test {
+ const char *name;
+ const char *flags;
+ __u32 expected_flags;
+ const char *error;
+} tests[] = {
+ { "zero", "0", 0 },
+ { "decimal", "129", BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC | BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG },
+ { "hexadecimal", "0x81", BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC | BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG },
+ { "octal", "0201", BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC | BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG },
+ { "positive_sign", "+1", BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC },
+ { "single_name", "BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC", BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC },
+ { "combined_names", "BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC,BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG",
+ BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC | BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG },
+ { "repeated_name", "BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC,BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC", BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC },
+ { "unknown_name", "BPF_F_NOT_A_MAP_FLAG", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "other_command_flag", "BPF_F_PATH_FD", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "update_flag", "BPF_F_LOCK", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "abbreviated_name", "BPF_F_NO_PRE", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "lowercase_name", "bpf_f_no_prealloc", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "empty", "", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "whitespace", " ", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "empty_list", ",", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "leading_comma", ",BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "trailing_comma", "BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC,", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "empty_element", "BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC,,BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "number_then_name", "1,BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "name_then_number", "BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC,128", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "numeric_list", "1,128", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "whitespace_in_list", "BPF_F_NO_PREALLOC, BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "overflow_u32", "4294967296", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "overflow_hex", "0x100000000", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "overflow_u64", "18446744073709551616", 0, "can't parse" },
+ { "negative", "-1", 0, "can't parse" },
+ /* Numeric bits unknown to bpftool must still reach the kernel. */
+ { "all_bits", "0xffffffff", 0, "map create failed" },
+ /* The kernel validates combinations of known map creation flags. */
+ { "invalid_combination", "BPF_F_RDONLY,BPF_F_WRONLY", 0, "map create failed" },
+};
+
+static void test_map_flags(const struct map_flags_test *test, const char *path)
+{
+ char cmd[MAX_BPFTOOL_CMD_LEN], output[1024] = {};
+ struct bpf_map_info info = {};
+ __u32 info_len = sizeof(info);
+ int fd, err;
+
+ /* Let the flags parser handle negative numbers instead of getopt(). */
+ err = snprintf(cmd, sizeof(cmd),
+ "-- map create %s type hash key 4 value 4 entries 1 name flags_test flags '%s' 2>&1",
+ path, test->flags);
+ if (!ASSERT_GT(err, 0, "format_command") ||
+ !ASSERT_LT(err, sizeof(cmd), "command_length"))
+ return;
+
+ err = get_bpftool_command_output(cmd, output, sizeof(output));
+ if (test->error) {
+ ASSERT_NEQ(err, 0, "reject_flags");
+ ASSERT_HAS_SUBSTR(output, test->error, "error_message");
+ err = access(path, F_OK);
+ ASSERT_EQ(err, -1, "no_pin");
+ ASSERT_EQ(errno, ENOENT, "pin_absent");
+ goto cleanup;
+ }
+ if (!ASSERT_OK(err, "create_map"))
+ goto cleanup;
+
+ fd = bpf_obj_get(path);
+ if (!ASSERT_OK_FD(fd, "open_map"))
+ goto cleanup;
+ if (ASSERT_OK(bpf_map_get_info_by_fd(fd, &info, &info_len), "map_info"))
+ ASSERT_EQ(info.map_flags, test->expected_flags, "map_flags");
+ close(fd);
+cleanup:
+ unlink(path);
+}
+
+void test_bpftool_map_flags(void)
+{
+ char dir[] = "/sys/fs/bpf/bpftool_flags_XXXXXX";
+ char path[sizeof(dir) + sizeof("/map")];
+ int i;
+
+ if (!ASSERT_OK_PTR(mkdtemp(dir), "create_pin_dir"))
+ return;
+ snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%s/map", dir);
+ for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(tests); i++) {
+ if (test__start_subtest(tests[i].name))
+ test_map_flags(&tests[i], path);
+ }
+ ASSERT_OK(rmdir(dir), "remove_pin_dir");
+}
--
2.55.0
^ permalink raw reply related [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread