Pktgen - Traffic Generator powered by DPDK

Pktgen is a traffic generator powered by DPDK at wire rate traffic with 64 byte frames.

(Pktgen) Sounds like 'Packet-Gen'

**Copyright &copy; \<2010-2024\>, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.**

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SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause

Pktgen: Created 2010-2024 by Keith Wiles @ Intel.com

Please Note:

Pktgen-DPDK main repo is located @ https://github.com/pktgen/Pktgen-DPDK Documentation can be found @ https://pktgen.github.io/Pktgen-DPDK/

When submitting bug fixes or enhancements please fork Pktgen and submit a pull-request as I do not accept patches sent to DPDK mailing list. If you have any questions or issues please create an issue on Github.

Using the tools/run.py script to setup and run pktgen with different configurations. The configuration files are located in the cfg directory with filenames ending in .cfg.

To use a configuration file;

$ ./tools/run.py -s default  # to setup the ports and attach them to DPDK (only needed once per boot)

$ ./tools/run.py default     # Run the default configuration

The configuration files are python scripts or a set of variables that run.py uses to initialize and run pktgen. Here is an example of the default.cfg file:

    description = 'A Pktgen default simple configuration'

    # Setup configuration
    setup = {
        'exec': (
        'sudo', '-E'
        ),

        'devices': (
            '81:00.0', '81:00.1', '81:00.2', '81:00.3',
            '83:00.0', '83:00.1', '83:00.2', '83:00.3'
            ),
        # UIO module type, igb_uio, vfio-pci or uio_pci_generic
        'uio': 'vfio-pci'
        }

    # Run command and options
    run = {
        'exec': (
        'sudo', '-E'
        ),

        # Application name and use app_path to help locate the app
        'app_name': 'pktgen',

        # using (sdk) or (target) for specific variables
        # add (app_name) of the application
        # Each path is tested for the application
        'app_path': (
        './app/%(target)s/%(app_name)s',
        '%(sdk)s/%(target)s/app/%(app_name)s',
        ),

        'cores': '14,15-22',
        'nrank': '4',
        'proc': 'auto',
        'log': '7',
        'prefix': 'pg',

        'blocklist': (
        #'81:00.0', '81:00.1', '81:00.2', '81:00.3',
        #'83:00.0', '83:00.1', '83:00.2', '83:00.3',
        '81:00.2', '81:00.3',
        '83:00.2', '83:00.3'
        ),

        'opts': (
        '-T',
        '-P',
        ),
        'map': (
        '[15:16].0',
        '[17:18].1',
        '[19:20].2',
        '[21:22].3'
        ),

        'theme': 'themes/black-yellow.theme'
    }

Two Pktgen instances running on the same machine with connected via a loopback ports

Look at the two new files pktgen-1.cfg and pktgen-2.cfg in the cfg directory for some help on the configuration to run two Pktgen instances at the same time on the same machine.

Socket Support for Pktgen.

Pktgen has a TCP socket connection to allow you to control Pktgen from a remote program or console. The TCP connection is using port 0x5606 or 22022 and presents a Lua command shell interface. If you telnet to the machine running Pktgen on port 22022 you will get a lua command shell like interface. This interface does not have a command line prompt, but you can issue Lua code or load script files from the local disk of the machine. You can also send programs to the remote Pktgen machine to load scripts from a remote location.

One method to connect to Pktgen is using telnet, but another method would be to use 'socat' program on a Linux machine. The socat program is very powerful application and can do a lot of things. I used socat to debug Pktgen using the following command, which gives me a readline interface to Pktgen's socket interface. Remember to use the '-G' option or -g host:port pktgen option, then make sure you use the same address in the socat line.

$ socat -d -d READLINE TCP4:localhost:22022

'You will see socat create the connection and then wait for Lua command scripts for you' To exit this command type Control-D to exit and close the connection.

You can also just send Pktgen a script file and display the output.

$ socat - TCP4:localhost:22022 < test/hello-world.lua

Lua Version: Lua 5.3
Pktgen Version : 3.6.1
Pktgen Copyright : Copyright(c) `<2010-2024>`, Intel Corporation
Pktgen Authors : Keith Wiles @ Intel Corporation

Hello World!!!!

Here is the program I sent Pktgen:

$ cat test/hello-world.lua
package.path = package.path ..";?.lua;test/?.lua;app/?.lua;"

printf("Lua Vesrion: %s\n", pktgen.info.Lua_Version);
printf("Pktgen Version : %s\n", pktgen.info.Pktgen_Version);
printf("Pktgen Copyright : %s\n", pktgen.info.Pktgen_Copyright);
printf("Pktgen Authors : %s\n", pktgen.info.Pktgen_Authors);

printf("\nHello World!!!!\n");

Here is a command from my Mac Book pro laptop, which loads a file from the local disk where Pktgen is running and then we execute the file with 'f()'.

$ socat READLINE TCP4:172.25.40.163:22022
f,e = loadfile("test/hello-world.lua")
f()
Lua Version: Lua 5.3
Pktgen Version : 3.6.1
Pktgen Copyright : Copyright(c) `<2010-2024>`, Intel Corporation
Pktgen Authors : Keith Wiles @ Intel Corporation

Hello World!!!!
<Control-D>

You can also just send it commands via echo.

$ echo "f,e = loadfile('test/hello-world.lua'); f();"| socat - TCP4:172.25.40.163:22022
Lua Version: Lua 5.3
Pktgen Version : 3.6.1
Pktgen Copyright : Copyright(c) `<2010-2024>`, Intel Corporation
Pktgen Authors : Keith Wiles @ Intel Corporation

Hello World!!!!

Keith Wiles @ Intel Corporation