[dpdk-dev] [PATCH 3/3] doc: update mlx4 documentation

Moti Haimovsky motih at mellanox.com
Thu Nov 9 18:30:56 CET 2017
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This updates mlx4 documentation and DPDK release notes
to reflect the PMD support for rdma-core from linux-rdma.

- PMD is now freed from Mellanox OFED and now only depends on the
  public rdma-core package (v15 and above) instead.
  (see https://github.com/linux-rdma/rdma-core/releases)
  This PMD should run under Linux v4.14 and above.
- In case any of the above requirements can't be satisfied,
  Mellanox OFED v4.2 and above also provide an updated rdma-core
  as well back-ported kernel modules for most Linux distributions
  and previous Linux versions.
  (see http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=26).

Signed-off-by: Moti Haimovsky <motih at mellanox.com>
---
 doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst               | 89 +++++++++++++++++++---------------
 doc/guides/rel_notes/release_17_11.rst | 26 ++++++++++
 2 files changed, 76 insertions(+), 39 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst b/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst
index 7c43177..22341b9 100644
--- a/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/mlx4.rst
@@ -74,13 +74,6 @@ long as they share the same MAC address.
 
 Compiling librte_pmd_mlx4 causes DPDK to be linked against libibverbs.
 
-Features
---------
-
-- Multi arch support: x86_64 and POWER8.
-- Link state information is provided.
-- RX interrupts.
-
 Configuration
 -------------
 
@@ -160,7 +153,7 @@ This driver relies on external libraries and kernel drivers for resources
 allocations and initialization. The following dependencies are not part of
 DPDK and must be installed separately:
 
-- **libibverbs**
+- **libibverbs** (provided by rdma-core package)
 
   User space verbs framework used by librte_pmd_mlx4. This library provides
   a generic interface between the kernel and low-level user space drivers
@@ -170,7 +163,7 @@ DPDK and must be installed separately:
   resources allocations) to be managed by the kernel and fast operations to
   never leave user space.
 
-- **libmlx4**
+- **libmlx4** (provided by rdma-core package)
 
   Low-level user space driver library for Mellanox ConnectX-3 devices,
   it is automatically loaded by libibverbs.
@@ -178,7 +171,7 @@ DPDK and must be installed separately:
   This library basically implements send/receive calls to the hardware
   queues.
 
-- **Kernel modules** (mlnx-ofed-kernel)
+- **Kernel modules**
 
   They provide the kernel-side verbs API and low level device drivers that
   manage actual hardware initialization and resources sharing with user
@@ -204,24 +197,27 @@ DPDK and must be installed separately:
    Both libraries are BSD and GPL licensed. Linux kernel modules are GPL
    licensed.
 
-Currently supported by DPDK:
+Depending on system constraints and user preferences either RDMA core library
+with a recent enough Linux kernel release (recommended) or Mellanox OFED,
+which provides compatibility with older releases.
+
+Current RDMA core package and Linux kernel (recommended)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Minimal Linux kernel version: 4.14.
+- Minimal RDMA core version: v15 (see `RDMA core installation documentation`_).
 
-- Mellanox OFED **4.1**.
-- Firmware version **2.36.5000** and above.
+.. _`RDMA core installation documentation`: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linux-rdma/rdma-core/master/README.md
 
-Getting Mellanox OFED
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+.. _Mellanox_OFED_as_a_fallback:
 
-While these libraries and kernel modules are available on OpenFabrics
-Alliance's `website <https://www.openfabrics.org/>`_ and provided by package
-managers on most distributions, this PMD requires Ethernet extensions that
-may not be supported at the moment (this is a work in progress).
+Mellanox OFED as a fallback
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-`Mellanox OFED
-<http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=26&mtag=linux_sw_drivers>`_
-includes the necessary support and should be used in the meantime. For DPDK,
-only libibverbs, libmlx4, mlnx-ofed-kernel packages and firmware updates are
-required from that distribution.
+- `Mellanox OFED`_ version: **4.2**.
+- firmware version: **2.42.5000** and above.
+
+.. _`Mellanox OFED`: http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=26&mtag=linux_sw_drivers
 
 .. note::
 
@@ -229,15 +225,10 @@ required from that distribution.
    this DPDK release was developed and tested against is strongly
    recommended. Please check the `prerequisites`_.
 
-Supported NICs
---------------
+Installing Mellanox OFED
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-* Mellanox(R) ConnectX(R)-3 Pro 40G MCX354A-FCC_Ax (2*40G)
-
-Quick Start Guide
------------------
-
-1. Download latest Mellanox OFED. For more info check the  `prerequisites`_.
+1. Download latest Mellanox OFED.
 
 2. Install the required libraries and kernel modules either by installing
    only the required set, or by installing the entire Mellanox OFED:
@@ -246,19 +237,19 @@ Quick Start Guide
 
    .. code-block:: console
 
-        ./mlnxofedinstall
+        ./mlnxofedinstall --dpdk --upstream-libs
 
    For SR-IOV hypervisors use:
 
    .. code-block:: console
 
-        ./mlnxofedinstall --enable-sriov -hypervisor
+        ./mlnxofedinstall --dpdk --upstream-libs --enable-sriov --hypervisor
 
    For SR-IOV virtual machine use:
 
    .. code-block:: console
 
-        ./mlnxofedinstall --guest
+        ./mlnxofedinstall --dpdk --upstream-libs --guest
 
 3. Verify the firmware is the correct one:
 
@@ -272,7 +263,19 @@ Quick Start Guide
 
         connectx_port_config
 
-   Or in the manual way:
+5. Continue with :ref:`section 2 of the Quick Start Guide <QSG_2>`.
+
+Supported NICs
+--------------
+
+* Mellanox(R) ConnectX(R)-3 Pro 40G MCX354A-FCC_Ax (2*40G)
+
+.. _qsg:
+
+Quick Start Guide
+-----------------
+
+1. Set all ports links to Ethernet
 
    .. code-block:: console
 
@@ -280,7 +283,15 @@ Quick Start Guide
         echo eth > "/sys/bus/pci/devices/$PCI/mlx4_port0"
         echo eth > "/sys/bus/pci/devices/$PCI/mlx4_port1"
 
-5. In case of bare metal or hypervisor, configure optimized steering mode
+   .. note::
+
+        If using Mellanox OFED one can permanently set the port link
+        to Ethernet using connectx_port_config tool provided by it.
+        :ref:`Mellanox_OFED_as_a_fallback`:
+
+.. _QSG_2:
+
+2. In case of bare metal or hypervisor, configure optimized steering mode
    by adding the following line to ``/etc/modprobe.d/mlx4_core.conf``:
 
    .. code-block:: console
@@ -292,7 +303,7 @@ Quick Start Guide
         If VLAN filtering is used, set log_num_mgm_entry_size=-1.
         Performance degradation can occur on this case.
 
-6. Restart the driver:
+3. Restart the driver:
 
    .. code-block:: console
 
@@ -304,7 +315,7 @@ Quick Start Guide
 
         service openibd restart
 
-7. Compile DPDK and you are ready to go. See instructions on
+4. Compile DPDK and you are ready to go. See instructions on
    :ref:`Development Kit Build System <Development_Kit_Build_System>`
 
 Performance tuning
diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_17_11.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_17_11.rst
index e6e4407..c7d8826 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_17_11.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_17_11.rst
@@ -59,6 +59,32 @@ New Features
   "Network Interface Controller Drivers" document for more details on this new
   driver.
 
+* **Updated mlx4 driver.**
+
+  Updated the mlx4 driver including the following changes:
+
+   * Isolated mode (rte_flow) can now be enabled anytime, not only during
+     initial device configuration.
+   * Flow rules now support up to 4096 priority levels usable at will by
+     applications.
+   * Enhanced error message to help debugging invalid/unsupported flow rules.
+   * Flow rules matching all multicast and promiscuous traffic are now allowed.
+   * No more software restrictions on flow rules with the RSS action, their
+     configuration is much more flexible.
+   * Significantly reduced memory footprint for Rx and Tx queue objects.
+   * While supported, UDP RSS is temporarily disabled due to a remaining issue
+     with its support in the Linux kernel.
+   * The new RSS implementation does not automatically spread traffic according
+     to the inner packet of VXLAN frames anymore, only the outer one (like
+     other PMDs).
+   * Partial (Tx only) support for secondary processes was broken and had to be
+     removed.
+   * Refactored driver to get rid of dependency on the components provided by
+     Mellanox OFED and instead rely on the current and public rdma-core
+     package and Linux version from now on.
+   * Removed compile-time limitation on number of device instances the PMD
+     can support.
+
 * **Updated mlx5 driver.**
 
   Updated the mlx5 driver including the following changes:
-- 
1.8.3.1
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