Re: [virtio-dev] Re: [virtio-comment] Re: [virtio-dev] Re: [Proposal] Relationship between XDP and rx-csum in virtio-nety

Heng Qi
2023-05-24T07:24:16Z

On Wed, May 24, 2023 at 01:52:30PM +0800, Jason Wang wrote:
> On Wed, May 24, 2023 at 1:07 PM Heng Qi <hengqi@linux.alibaba.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, May 24, 2023 at 12:09:22PM +0800, Jason Wang wrote:
> > > On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 9:51 PM Heng Qi <hengqi@linux.alibaba.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 09:30:28AM -0400, Michael S. Tsirkin wrote:
> > > > > On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 05:18:20PM +0800, Heng Qi wrote:
> > > > > > On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 03:15:37AM -0400, Michael S. Tsirkin wrote:
> > > > > > > On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:41:18AM +0800, Heng Qi wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Mon, May 22, 2023 at 03:10:05PM -0400, Michael S. Tsirkin wrote:
> > > > > > > > > On Mon, May 22, 2023 at 08:12:00PM +0800, Heng Qi wrote:
> > > > > > > > > > 1) Add a feature bit to the virtio specification to tell the sender that a fully
> > > > > > > > > > csumed packet must be sent.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Who is the sender in this picture? The driver?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The device or the driver.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > When the device is hw, the sender is more likely to be a device.
> > > > > > > > When the device is sw, the sender can be a device or a driver.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > But in general, this feature is inclined to constrain the behavior of the device and
> > > > > > > > the driver from the receiving side.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Based on above I am guessing you are talking about driver getting
> > > > > > > packets from device, I wish you used terms from virtio spec.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Yes, I'm going to use the terminology of the virtio spec.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > For example:
> > > > > > > > VIRTIO_NET_F_UNNECESSARY_CSUM : The driver tells the device that you must send me a fully csumed packet.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Then the specific implementation can be
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > (1) the sender sends a fully csumed packet;
> > > > > > > > (2) the receiver receives a CHECKSUM_PARTIAL packet, and the device helps calculate the fully csum
> > > > > > > > (because the two parties in the communication are located on the same host, the packet is trusted.).
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > In summary, if VIRTIO_NET_F_UNNECESSARY_CSUM is negotiated, the driver will no longer receive any packets marked CHECKSUM_PARTIAL.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Thanks.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > This is what clearing VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM does.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Yes, but with VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM cleared, although the device can
> > > > > > receive a fully checksummed packet, we can no longer enjoy
> > > > > > the device's ability to validate the packet checksum. That is, the value
> > > > > > of \field{flags} in the virtio_net_hdr structure is set to 0, which means
> > > > > > that the packet received by the driver will not be marked as
> > > > > > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_DATA_VALID.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > So, we need a feature bit (let's say VIRTIO_NET_F_UNNECESSARY_CSUM).
> > > > > > If VIRTIO_NET_F_UNNECESSARY_CSUM is negotiated, the device must give the
> > > > > > driver a fully checksummed packet, and the packet is validated by the
> > > > > > device with \field{flags} set to VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_DATA_VALID.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I feel you are trying to say that clearing VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM
> > > > > > > disables all offloads but you want to keep some of them?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > No, what I mean is that a feature VIRTIO_NET_F_UNNECESSARY_CSUM is needed
> > > > > > in addition to VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM, if both features are negotiated,
> > > > > > then the driver may always receive packets marked as
> > > > > > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_DATA_VALID, which means that we can now load XDP at the
> > > > > > same time.
> > > > >
> > > > > Makes no sense to me. VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM set already allows
> > > > > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_DATA_VALID:
> > > >
> > > > We need to focus on what happens when the XDP program is loaded:
> > > >
> > > > The current virtio-net needs to turn off the VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM
> > > > feature when loading XDP. The main reason for doing this is because
> > > > VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM allows to receive packets marked as
> > > > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM. Such packets are not compatible with
> > > > XDP programs, because we cannot guarantee that the csum_{start, offset}
> > > > fields are correct after XDP modifies the packets.
> > >
> > > We can try to fix or workaround this. A rough idea is for example by
> > > using a flow dissector?
> >
> > How can we fix this with a flow dissector? Could you please explain in
> > detail?
>
> I mean you can use a flow dissector to probe the csum_start and csum_offset.
>

I think this is a good workaround.

We save virtio-net-hdr first, and after running XDP, if the flag of
saved virtio-net-hdr contains VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM, we'll probe
the csum_{start, offset}.

> >
> > > Anyhow the GSO of virtio-net was marked as
> > > dodgy which means the csum_start/offset needs to be validated again in
> > > the xmit path. Or we can monitor if the packet is modified or not, if
> > > not, we don't need to zero vnet header?
> >
> > Yes, this is a way, and we've thought about this solution.
> > A relatively simple solution is to add a new flag to the XDP program
> > (through XDP core layer), which indicates that the XDP program is a
> > read-only XDP program (ie, does not modify the packet).
>
> XDP used to have something like this. Maybe we can re add them.

Has XDP core removed the similar flag?
I'm missing something from the past, can you give me a link to it please?

>
> > Then to load
> > such an XDP program we no longer need to filter out the
> > VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM feature.
> >
> > But why we didn't propose this solution in the 'Proposal', because it
> > seems that only virtio-net has encountered related problems. Virtual
> > network cards like veth, even if they receive partial csumed packets
> > (corresponding to virtio-net's packets marked as
> > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM), they still open NETIF_F_RXCSUM
> > (corresponding to virtio-net's VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM). So there is
> > another trade-off: the current virtnet_xdp_set() no longer
> > filters out VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM.
> >
> > The reasons I think are the following:
> > 1. Referring to veth’s way, the XDP program is more of a
> > monitoring/firewall, and may not modify data packets.
>
> Probably not, XDP could be used for building tunnels.
>

Yes, opening VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM directly for XDP programs, is a
tradeoff and may cause packet loss, but we can also benefit from rx hw
csum offloading.

> >
> > 2. We can still use XDP for packets marked as
> > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_DATA_VALID.
>
> Not sure I get this but who is going to adjust csum_start/offset?
>

The information for csum_start/offset may be overwritten or may no
longer be correct. For example, XDP stores some new data in the packet headroom
and overwrites csum_{start, offset}; or pushes new data in front of the original header.

Thanks.

> >
> > 3. Packets converted from xdp_{buff, frame} may not be ip_forwarded
> > (because ip_forward sysctl is disabled by default)
>
> That's suboptimal.
>
> Thanks
>
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > >
> > > > So in order for the driver to continue to enjoy the device's ability to
> > > > validate packets while XDP is loaded, we need a new feature to tell the
> > > > device not to deliver packets marked as VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM (in
> > > > other words, the device can only deliver packets marked as
> > > > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_DATA_VALID).
> > > >
> > > > Thanks.
> > > >
> > > > > \item If the VIRTIO_NET_F_GUEST_CSUM feature was negotiated, the
> > > > > VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM bit in \field{flags} can be
> > > > > set: if so, the packet checksum at offset \field{csum_offset}
> > > > > from \field{csum_start} and any preceding checksums
> > > > > have been validated. The checksum on the packet is incomplete and
> > > > > if bit VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_RSC_INFO is not set in \field{flags},
> > > > > then \field{csum_start} and \field{csum_offset} indicate how to calculate it
> > > > > (see Packet Transmission point 1).
> > > > >
> > > > > Did you maybe mean if either feature is negotiated?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > > Again please use virtio terminology not Linux. to help you out,
> > > > > > > in current linux, VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM and VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_DATA_VALID
> > > > > > > will set CHECKSUM_PARTIAL and CHECKSUM_UNNECESSARY respectively.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Sure. Will do as you suggested.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > --
> > > > > > > MST
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
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