-
Andrii Nakryiko authored
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: Andrii Nakryiko <andriin@fb.com> Signed-off-by: Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20200529075424.3139988-3-andriin@fb.comSigned-off-by: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
bf99c936