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Commit bf99c936 authored by Andrii Nakryiko's avatar Andrii Nakryiko Committed by Alexei Starovoitov
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libbpf: Add BPF ring buffer support



Declaring and instantiating BPF ring buffer doesn't require any changes to
libbpf, as it's just another type of maps. So using existing BTF-defined maps
syntax with __uint(type, BPF_MAP_TYPE_RINGBUF) and __uint(max_elements,
<size-of-ring-buf>) is all that's necessary to create and use BPF ring buffer.

This patch adds BPF ring buffer consumer to libbpf. It is very similar to
perf_buffer implementation in terms of API, but also attempts to fix some
minor problems and inconveniences with existing perf_buffer API.

ring_buffer support both single ring buffer use case (with just using
ring_buffer__new()), as well as allows to add more ring buffers, each with its
own callback and context. This allows to efficiently poll and consume
multiple, potentially completely independent, ring buffers, using single
epoll instance.

The latter is actually a problem in practice for applications
that are using multiple sets of perf buffers. They have to create multiple
instances for struct perf_buffer and poll them independently or in a loop,
each approach having its own problems (e.g., inability to use a common poll
timeout). struct ring_buffer eliminates this problem by aggregating many
independent ring buffer instances under the single "ring buffer manager".

Second, perf_buffer's callback can't return error, so applications that need
to stop polling due to error in data or data signalling the end, have to use
extra mechanisms to signal that polling has to stop. ring_buffer's callback
can return error, which will be passed through back to user code and can be
acted upon appropariately.

Two APIs allow to consume ring buffer data:
  - ring_buffer__poll(), which will wait for data availability notification
    and will consume data only from reported ring buffer(s); this API allows
    to efficiently use resources by reading data only when it becomes
    available;
  - ring_buffer__consume(), will attempt to read new records regardless of
    data availablity notification sub-system. This API is useful for cases
    when lowest latency is required, in expense of burning CPU resources.

Signed-off-by: default avatarAndrii Nakryiko <andriin@fb.com>
Signed-off-by: default avatarDaniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20200529075424.3139988-3-andriin@fb.com


Signed-off-by: default avatarAlexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
parent 457f4436
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