Re: [patch net-next 0/9] Introduce devlink interface and first drivers to use it

Jiri Pirko
2016-02-23T16:23:13Z

Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 05:19:37PM CET, gospo@cumulusnetworks.com wrote:
>On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 05:01:31PM +0100, Jiri Pirko wrote:
>> Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 04:55:28PM CET, gospo@cumulusnetworks.com wrote:
>> >On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 03:45:51PM +0100, Jiri Pirko wrote:
>> >> Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 03:34:19PM CET, gospo@cumulusnetworks.com wrote:
>> >>
>> >> <snip>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >> myhost:~$ dl port show
>> >> >> >> devlink0/1: type eth netdev ens4
>> >> >> > ^^^^^^^^^^^
>> >> >> >> devlink0/2: type ib ibdev mlx4_0
>> >> >> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> >> >> >I think my only other question about this implementation is whether or
>> >> >> >not one would really want to have the true netdev/ibdev names mapped
>> >> >> >here.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >Would be as reasonable to simply specify the type (and there may be more
>> >> >> >types within ethernet that could be useful in multi-chip configurations)
>> >> >> >and then let normal infrastructure that exists today figure out how to
>> >> >> >map the names for the netdevs to the devices?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> What normal infrastructure you have in mind? There is no info about
>> >> >> devlink port mapping to netdev/ibdev anywhere. Only here. I might be
>> >> >> missing something but I fail to see what's wrong with it.
>> >> >
>> >> >I was simply wondering out loud if we _really_ wanted to name netdevs
>> >> >this way. I was suggesting that output could be like this:
>> >> >
>> >> >myhost:~$ dl port show
>> >> >devlink0/1: type eth
>> >> >devlink0/2: type ib
>> >> >
>> >> >mnd that udev/systemd/biosdevname/etc would take care of naming the
>> >> >device whataever it wanted. This appears to be essentially the same
>> >> >concern Hannes has.
>> >>
>> >> Wait. The only thing which will be renamed by udev is "devlink0". The
>> >> suffixes "/1" and "/2" are direct indexes as used inside the driver.
>> >>
>> >> And you need some link to netdev in case netdev exists - therefore
>> >> "netdev ens4" attribute is there. There's no other way to get the
>> >> mapping of "devlink0/1" to "ens4" anywhere else.
>> >
>> >So I think I had invisioned a slightly different workflow than what you
>> >just described.
>> >
>> >- Load PCI driver
>> >- Setup devlink attributes for your hardware
>> >- Create netdevs in network driver based on those attributes
>> >
>> >You don't need a netdev to reference any of the devlink specific
>> >parameters do you?
>>
>> No, I have a devlink handle and a devlink port index. That is enough.
>
>That's what I read as well and why I wondered why you said this:
>
>> >> And you need some link to netdev in case netdev exists - therefore
>> >> "netdev ens4" attribute is there. There's no other way to get the
>> >> mapping of "devlink0/1" to "ens4" anywhere else.
>
>It just doesn't seem like referencing the netdev when performing set
>operations was needed.
>
>I see no issue having it appear a dump action after the fact, but
>it seems like devlink[unit number]/[port number] would be enough to
>reference the proper hardware mapping.

I said nothing about needing netdev for set operation Andy. It is there
in a get list as an attribute for your convenience so you know what
netdev that specific port relates to. That's it.