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David Wei b789acc069 netkit: Implement rtnl_link_ops->alloc and ndo_queue_create
Implement rtnl_link_ops->alloc that allows the number of rx queues to be
set when netkit is created. By default, netkit has only a single rxq (and
single txq). The number of queues is deliberately not allowed to be changed
via ethtool -L and is fixed for the lifetime of a netkit instance.

For netkit device creation, numrxqueues with larger than one rxq can be
specified. These rxqs are leasable to real rxqs in physical netdevs:

  ip link add type netkit peer numrxqueues 64      # for device pair
  ip link add numrxqueues 64 type netkit single    # for single device

The limit of numrxqueues for netkit is currently set to 1024, which allows
leasing multiple real rxqs from physical netdevs.

The implementation of ndo_queue_create() adds a new rxq during the queue
lease operation. We allow to create queues either in single device mode
or for the case of dual device mode for the netkit peer device which gets
placed into the target network namespace. For dual device mode the lease
against the primary device does not make sense for the targeted use cases,
and therefore gets rejected.

We also need to add a lockdep class for netkit, such that lockdep does
not trip over us, similarly done as in commit 0bef512012 ("net: add
netdev_lockdep_set_classes() to virtual drivers").

This is also the last missing bit to netkit for supporting io_uring with
zero-copy mode [0]. Up until this point it was not possible to consume the
latter out of containers or Kubernetes Pods where applications are in their
own network namespace.

io_uring example with eth0 being a physical device with 16 queues where
netkit is bound to the last queue, iou-zcrx.c is binary from selftests;
ethtool configuration (tcp-data-split, hds_thresh, RSS, flow steering)
is done on the physical device by the control plane; here, flow steering
to that queue is based on the service VIP:port of the server utilizing
io_uring:

  # ethtool -X eth0 start 0 equal 15
  # ethtool -X eth0 start 15 equal 1 context new
  # ethtool --config-ntuple eth0 flow-type tcp4 dst-ip 1.2.3.4 dst-port 5000 action 15
  # ip netns add foo
  # ip link add type netkit peer numrxqueues 2
  # ynl --family netdev --output-json --do queue-create \
        --json "{"ifindex": $(ifindex nk0), "type": "rx", \
                 "lease": { "ifindex": $(ifindex eth0), \
                            "queue": { "type": "rx", "id": 15 } } }"
  {'id': 1}
  # ip link set nk0 netns foo
  # ip link set nk1 up
  # ip netns exec foo ip link set lo up
  # ip netns exec foo ip link set nk0 up
  # ip netns exec foo ip addr add 1.2.3.4/32 dev nk0
  [ ... setup routing etc to get external traffic into the netns ... ]
  # ip netns exec foo ./iou-zcrx -s -p 5000 -i nk0 -q 1

Remote io_uring client:

  # ./iou-zcrx -c -h 1.2.3.4 -p 5000 -l 12840 -z 65536

We have tested the above against a Broadcom BCM957504 (bnxt_en) 100G NIC,
supporting TCP header/data split.

Similarly, this also works for devmem which we tested using ncdevmem:

  # ip netns exec foo ./ncdevmem -s 1.2.3.4 -l -p 5000 -f nk0 -t 1 -q 1

And on the remote client:

  # ./ncdevmem -s 1.2.3.4 -p 5000 -f eth0

For Cilium, the plan is to open up support for the various memory providers
for regular Kubernetes Pods when Cilium is configured with netkit datapath
mode.

Signed-off-by: David Wei <dw@davidwei.uk>
Co-developed-by: Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>
Reviewed-by: Nikolay Aleksandrov <razor@blackwall.org>
Link: https://kernel-recipes.org/en/2024/schedule/efficient-zero-copy-networking-using-io_uring [0]
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260402231031.447597-12-daniel@iogearbox.net
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
History 2026-04-09 18:21:47 -07:00
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Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst