3.8. Prerequisites

In order to integrate PROX tests into NSB, the following prerequisites are required.

3.9. Sample Prox Test Hardware Architecture

The following is a diagram of a sample NSB PROX Hardware Architecture for both NSB PROX on Bare metal and on Openstack.

In this example when running yardstick on baremetal, yardstick will run on the deployment node, the generator will run on the deployment node and the SUT(SUT) will run on the Controller Node.

Sample NSB PROX Hard Architecture

3.10. Prox Test Architecture

In order to create a new test, one must understand the architecture of the test.

A NSB Prox test architecture is composed of:

  • A traffic generator. This provides blocks of data on 1 or more ports to the SUT. The traffic generator also consumes the result packets from the system under test.

  • A SUT consumes the packets generated by the packet generator, and applies one or more tasks to the packets and return the modified packets to the traffic generator.

    This is an example of a sample NSB PROX test architecture.

NSB PROX test Architecture

This diagram is of a sample NSB PROX test application.

  • Traffic Generator

    • Generator Tasks - Composted of 1 or more tasks (It is possible to have multiple tasks sending packets to same port No. See Tasks Ai and Aii plus Di and Dii)

      • Task Ai - Generates Packets on Port 0 of Traffic Generator and send to Port 0 of SUT Port 0

      • Task Aii - Generates Packets on Port 0 of Traffic Generator and send to Port 0 of SUT Port 0

      • Task B - Generates Packets on Port 1 of Traffic Generator and send to Port 1 of SUT Port 1

      • Task C - Generates Packets on Port 2 of Traffic Generator and send to Port 2 of SUT Port 2

      • Task Di - Generates Packets on Port 3 of Traffic Generator and send to Port 3 of SUT Port 3

      • Task Dii - Generates Packets on Port 0 of Traffic Generator and send to Port 0 of SUT Port 0

    • Verifier Tasks - Composed of 1 or more tasks which receives packets from SUT

      • Task E - Receives packets on Port 0 of Traffic Generator sent from Port 0 of SUT Port 0

      • Task F - Receives packets on Port 1 of Traffic Generator sent from Port 1 of SUT Port 1

      • Task G - Receives packets on Port 2 of Traffic Generator sent from Port 2 of SUT Port 2

      • Task H - Receives packets on Port 3 of Traffic Generator sent from Port 3 of SUT Port 3

  • SUT

    • Receiver Tasks - Receives packets from generator - Composed on 1 or more tasks which consume the packs sent from Traffic Generator

      • Task A - Receives Packets on Port 0 of System-Under-Test from Traffic Generator Port 0, and forwards packets to Task E

      • Task B - Receives Packets on Port 1 of System-Under-Test from Traffic Generator Port 1, and forwards packets to Task E

      • Task C - Receives Packets on Port 2 of System-Under-Test from Traffic Generator Port 2, and forwards packets to Task E

      • Task D - Receives Packets on Port 3 of System-Under-Test from Traffic Generator Port 3, and forwards packets to Task E

    • Processing Tasks - Composed of multiple tasks in series which carry out some processing on received packets before forwarding to the task.

      • Task E - This receives packets from the Receiver Tasks, carries out some operation on the data and forwards to result packets to the next task in the sequence - Task F

      • Task F - This receives packets from the previous Task - Task E, carries out some operation on the data and forwards to result packets to the next task in the sequence - Task G

      • Task G - This receives packets from the previous Task - Task F and distributes the result packages to the Transmitter tasks

    • Transmitter Tasks - Composed on 1 or more tasks which send the processed packets back to the Traffic Generator

      • Task H - Receives Packets from Task G of System-Under-Test and sends packets to Traffic Generator Port 0

      • Task I - Receives Packets from Task G of System-Under-Test and sends packets to Traffic Generator Port 1

      • Task J - Receives Packets from Task G of System-Under-Test and sends packets to Traffic Generator Port 2

      • Task K - Receives Packets From Task G of System-Under-Test and sends packets to Traffic Generator Port 3

3.11. NSB Prox Test

A NSB Prox test is composed of the following components :-

  • Test Description File. Usually called tc_prox_<context>_<test>-<ports>.yaml where

    • <context> is either baremetal or heat_context

    • <test> is the a one or 2 word description of the test.

    • <ports> is the number of ports used

    Example tests tc_prox_baremetal_l2fwd-2.yaml or tc_prox_heat_context_vpe-4.yaml. This file describes the components of the test, in the case of openstack the network description and server descriptions, in the case of baremetal the hardware description location. It also contains the name of the Traffic Generator, the SUT config file and the traffic profile description, all described below. See Test Description File

  • Traffic Profile file. Example prox_binsearch.yaml. This describes the packet size, tolerated loss, initial line rate to start traffic at, test interval etc See Traffic Profile File

  • Traffic Generator Config file. Usually called gen_<test>-<ports>.cfg.

    This describes the activity of the traffic generator

    • What each core of the traffic generator does,

    • The packet of data sent by a core on a port of the traffic generator to the system under test

    • What core is used to wait on what port for data from the system under test.

    Example traffic generator config file gen_l2fwd-4.cfg See Traffic Generator Config file

  • SUT Config file. Usually called handle_<test>-<ports>.cfg.

    This describes the activity of the SUTs

    • What each core of the does,

    • What cores receives packets from what ports

    • What cores perform operations on the packets and pass the packets onto another core

    • What cores receives packets from what cores and transmit the packets on the ports to the Traffic Verifier tasks of the Traffic Generator.

    Example traffic generator config file handle_l2fwd-4.cfg See SUT Config File

  • NSB PROX Baremetal Configuration file. Usually called prox-baremetal-<ports>.yaml

    • <ports> is the number of ports used

    This is required for baremetal only. This describes hardware, NICs, IP addresses, Network drivers, usernames and passwords. See Baremetal Configuration File

  • Grafana Dashboard. Usually called Prox_<context>_<test>-<port>-<DateAndTime>.json where

    • <context> Is BM,``heat``,``ovs_dpdk`` or sriov

    • <test> Is the a one or 2 word description of the test.

    • <port> is the number of ports used express as 2Port or 4Port

    • <DateAndTime> is the Date and Time expressed as a string.

    Example grafana dashboard Prox_BM_L2FWD-4Port-1507804504588.json

Other files may be required. These are test specific files and will be covered later.

3.11.1. Test Description File

Here we will discuss the test description for baremetal, openstack and standalone.

3.11.2. Test Description File for Baremetal

This section will introduce the meaning of the Test case description file. We will use tc_prox_baremetal_l2fwd-2.yaml as an example to show you how to understand the test description file.

NSB PROX Test Description File

Now let’s examine the components of the file in detail

  1. traffic_profile - This specifies the traffic profile for the test. In this case prox_binsearch.yaml is used. See Traffic Profile File

  2. topology - This is either prox-tg-topology-1.yaml or

    prox-tg-topology-2.yaml or prox-tg-topology-4.yaml depending on number of ports required.

  3. nodes - This names the Traffic Generator and the System under Test. Does not need to change.

  4. interface_speed_gbps - This is an optional parameter. If not present the system defaults to 10Gbps. This defines the speed of the interfaces.

  5. collectd - (Optional) This specifies we want to collect NFVI statistics like CPU Utilization,

  6. prox_path - Location of the Prox executable on the traffic generator (Either baremetal or Openstack Virtual Machine)

  7. prox_config - This is the SUT Config File. In this case it is handle_l2fwd-2.cfg

    A number of additional parameters can be added. This example is for VPE:

    options:
  interface_speed_gbps: 10

  traffic_config:
    tolerated_loss: 0.01
    test_precision: 0.01
    packet_sizes: [64]
    duration: 30
    lower_bound: 0.0
    upper_bound: 100.0

  vnf__0:
    prox_path: /opt/nsb_bin/prox
    prox_config: ``configs/handle_vpe-4.cfg``
    prox_args:
      ``-t``: ````
    prox_files:
      ``configs/vpe_ipv4.lua`` : ````
      ``configs/vpe_dscp.lua`` : ````
      ``configs/vpe_cpe_table.lua`` : ````
      ``configs/vpe_user_table.lua`` : ````
      ``configs/vpe_rules.lua`` : ````
    prox_generate_parameter: True

 ``interface_speed_gbps`` - this specifies the speed of the interface
 in Gigabits Per Second. This is used to calculate pps(packets per second).
 If the interfaces are of different speeds, then this specifies the speed
 of the slowest interface. This parameter is optional. If omitted the
 interface speed defaults to 10Gbps.

 ``traffic_config`` - This allows the values here to override the values in
 in the traffic_profile file. e.g. "prox_binsearch.yaml". Values provided
 here override values provided in the "traffic_profile" section of the
 traffic_profile file. Some, all or none of the values can be provided here.

 The values describes the packet size, tolerated loss, initial line rate
 to start traffic at, test interval etc See `Traffic Profile File`_

 ``prox_files`` - this specified that a number of addition files
 need to be provided for the test to run correctly. This files
 could provide routing information,hashing information or a
 hashing algorithm and ip/mac information.

 ``prox_generate_parameter`` - this specifies that the NSB application
 is required to provide information to the nsb Prox in the form
 of a file called ``parameters.lua``, which contains information
 retrieved from either the hardware or the openstack configuration.

  8. prox_args - this specifies the command line arguments to start prox. See prox command line.

  9. prox_config - This specifies the Traffic Generator config file.

  10. runner - This is set to ProxDuration - This specifies that the test runs for a set duration. Other runner types are available but it is recommend to use ProxDuration. The following parameters are supported

    interval - (optional) - This specifies the sampling interval. Default is 1 sec

    sampled - (optional) - This specifies if sampling information is required. Default no

    duration - This is the length of the test in seconds. Default is 60 seconds.

    confirmation - This specifies the number of confirmation retests to be made before deciding to increase or decrease line speed. Default 0.

  11. context - This is context for a 2 port Baremetal configuration.

If a 4 port configuration was required then file prox-baremetal-4.yaml would be used. This is the NSB Prox baremetal configuration file.

3.11.3. Traffic Profile File

This describes the details of the traffic flow. In this case prox_binsearch.yaml is used.

NSB PROX Traffic Profile

  1. name - The name of the traffic profile. This name should match the name specified in the traffic_profile field in the Test Description File.

  2. traffic_type - This specifies the type of traffic pattern generated, This name matches class name of the traffic generator. See:

    network_services/traffic_profile/prox_binsearch.py class ProxBinSearchProfile(ProxProfile)

    In this case it lowers the traffic rate until the number of packets sent is equal to the number of packets received (plus a tolerated loss). Once it achieves this it increases the traffic rate in order to find the highest rate with no traffic loss.

    Custom traffic types can be created by creating a new traffic profile class.

  3. tolerated_loss - This specifies the percentage of packets that can be lost/dropped before we declare success or failure. Success is Transmitted-Packets from Traffic Generator is greater than or equal to packets received by Traffic Generator plus tolerated loss.

  4. test_precision - This specifies the precision of the test results. For some tests the success criteria may never be achieved because the test precision may be greater than the successful throughput. For finer results increase the precision by making this value smaller.

  5. packet_sizes - This specifies the range of packets size this test is run for.

  6. duration - This specifies the sample duration that the test uses to check for success or failure.

  7. lower_bound - This specifies the test initial lower bound sample rate. On success this value is increased.

  8. upper_bound - This specifies the test initial upper bound sample rate. On success this value is decreased.

Other traffic profiles exist eg prox_ACL.yaml which does not compare what is received with what is transmitted. It just sends packet at max rate.

It is possible to create custom traffic profiles with by creating new file in the same folder as prox_binsearch.yaml. See this prox_vpe.yaml as example:

schema: ``nsb:traffic_profile:0.1``

name:            prox_vpe
description:     Prox vPE traffic profile

traffic_profile:
  traffic_type: ProxBinSearchProfile
  tolerated_loss: 100.0 #0.001
  test_precision: 0.01
# The minimum size of the Ethernet frame for the vPE test is 68 bytes.
  packet_sizes: [68]
  duration: 5
  lower_bound: 0.0
  upper_bound: 100.0

3.11.4. Test Description File for Openstack

We will use tc_prox_heat_context_l2fwd-2.yaml as a example to show you how to understand the test description file.

NSB PROX Test Description File - Part 1 NSB PROX Test Description File - Part 2

Now lets examine the components of the file in detail

Sections 1 to 9 are exactly the same in Baremetal and in Heat. Section 10 is replaced with sections A to F. Section 10 was for a baremetal configuration file. This has no place in a heat configuration.

  1. image - yardstick-samplevnfs. This is the name of the image created during the installation of NSB. This is fixed.

  2. flavor - The flavor is created dynamically. However we could use an already existing flavor if required. In that case the flavor would be named:

    flavor: yardstick-flavor

  3. extra_specs - This allows us to specify the number of cores sockets and hyperthreading assigned to it. In this case we have 1 socket with 10 codes and no hyperthreading enabled.

  4. placement_groups - default. Do not change for NSB PROX.

  5. servers - tg_0 is the traffic generator and vnf_0 is the system under test.

  6. networks - is composed of a management network labeled mgmt and one uplink network labeled uplink_0 and one downlink network labeled downlink_0 for 2 ports. If this was a 4 port configuration there would be 2 extra downlink ports. See this example from a 4 port l2fwd test.:

    networks:
  mgmt:
    cidr: '10.0.1.0/24'
  uplink_0:
    cidr: '10.0.2.0/24'
    gateway_ip: 'null'
    port_security_enabled: False
    enable_dhcp: 'false'
  downlink_0:
    cidr: '10.0.3.0/24'
    gateway_ip: 'null'
    port_security_enabled: False
    enable_dhcp: 'false'
  uplink_1:
    cidr: '10.0.4.0/24'
    gateway_ip: 'null'
    port_security_enabled: False
    enable_dhcp: 'false'
  downlink_1:
    cidr: '10.0.5.0/24'
    gateway_ip: 'null'
    port_security_enabled: False
    enable_dhcp: 'false'

3.11.5. Test Description File for Standalone

We will use tc_prox_ovs-dpdk_l2fwd-2.yaml as a example to show you how to understand the test description file.

NSB PROX Test Standalone Description File - Part 1 NSB PROX Test Standalone Description File - Part 2

Now lets examine the components of the file in detail

Sections 1 to 9 are exactly the same in Baremetal and in Heat. Section 10 is replaced with sections A to F. Section 10 was for a baremetal configuration file. This has no place in a heat configuration.

  1. file - Pod file for Baremetal Traffic Generator configuration: IP Address, User/Password & Interfaces

  2. type - This defines the type of standalone configuration. Possible values are StandaloneOvsDpdk or StandaloneSriov

  3. file - Pod file for Standalone host configuration: IP Address, User/Password & Interfaces

  4. vm_deploy - Deploy a new VM or use an existing VM

  5. ovs_properties - OVS Version, DPDK Version and configuration to use.

  6. flavor- NSB image generated when installing NSB using ansible-playbook:

    ram- Configurable RAM for SUT VM
extra_specs
  hw:cpu_sockets - Configurable number of Sockets for SUT VM
  hw:cpu_cores - Configurable number of Cores for SUT VM
  hw:cpu_threads- Configurable number of Threads for SUT VM

  7. mgmt - Management port of the SUT VM. Preconfig needed on TG & SUT host machines. is the system under test.

  8. xe0 - Upline Network port

  9. xe1 - Downline Network port

  10. uplink_0 - Uplink Phy port of the NIC on the host. This will be used to create the Virtual Functions.

  11. downlink_0 - Downlink Phy port of the NIC on the host. This will be used to create the Virtual Functions.

3.11.6. Traffic Generator Config file

This section will describe the traffic generator config file. This is the same for both baremetal and heat. See this example of gen_l2fwd_multiflow-2.cfg to explain the options.

NSB PROX Gen Config File

The configuration file is divided into multiple sections, each of which is used to define some parameters and options.:

[eal options]
[variables]
[port 0]
[port 1]
[port .]
[port Z]
[defaults]
[global]
[core 0]
[core 1]
[core 2]
[core .]
[core Z]

See prox options for details

Now let’s examine the components of the file in detail

  1. [eal options] - This specified the EAL (Environmental Abstraction Layer) options. These are default values and are not changed. See dpdk wiki page.

  2. [variables] - This section contains variables, as the name suggests. Variables for Core numbers, mac addresses, ip addresses etc. They are assigned as a key = value where the key is used in place of the value.

    Caution

    A special case for valuables with a value beginning with @@. These values are dynamically updated by the NSB application at run time. Values like MAC address, IP Address etc.

  3. [port 0] - This section describes the DPDK Port. The number following the keyword port usually refers to the DPDK Port Id. usually starting from 0. Because you can have multiple ports this entry usually repeated. Eg. For a 2 port setup [port0] and [port 1] and for a 4 port setup [port 0], [port 1], [port 2] and [port 3]:

    [port 0]
name=p0
mac=hardware
rx desc=2048
tx desc=2048
promiscuous=yes

    1. In this example name = p0 assigned the name p0 to the port. Any name can be assigned to a port.

    2. mac=hardware sets the MAC address assigned by the hardware to data from this port.

    3. rx desc=2048 sets the number of available descriptors to allocate for receive packets. This can be changed and can effect performance.

    4. tx desc=2048 sets the number of available descriptors to allocate for transmit packets. This can be changed and can effect performance.

    5. promiscuous=yes this enables promiscuous mode for this port.

  4. [defaults] - Here default operations and settings can be over written. In this example mempool size=4K the number of mbufs per task is altered. Altering this value could effect performance. See prox options for details.

  5. [global] - Here application wide setting are supported. Things like application name, start time, duration and memory configurations can be set here. In this example.:

      [global]
  start time=5
  name=Basic Gen

a. ``start time=5`` Time is seconds after which average
   stats will be started.
b. ``name=Basic Gen`` Name of the configuration.

  6. [core 0] - This core is designated the master core. Every Prox application must have a master core. The master mode must be assigned to exactly one task, running alone on one core.:

    [core 0]
mode=master

  7. [core 1] - This describes the activity on core 1. Cores can be configured by means of a set of [core #] sections, where # represents either:

    1. an absolute core number: e.g. on a 10-core, dual socket system with hyper-threading, cores are numbered from 0 to 39.

    2. PROX allows a core to be identified by a core number, the letter ‘s’, and a socket number.

      It is possible to write a baremetal and an openstack test which use the same traffic generator config file and SUT config file. In this case it is advisable not to use physical core numbering.

      However it is also possible to write NSB Prox tests that have been optimized for a particular hardware configuration. In this case it is advisable to use the core numbering. It is up to the user to make sure that cores from the right sockets are used (i.e. from the socket on which the NIC is attached to), to ensure good performance (EPA).

    Each core can be assigned with a set of tasks, each running one of the implemented packet processing modes.:

    [core 1]
name=p0
task=0
mode=gen
tx port=p0
bps=1250000000
; Ethernet + IP + UDP
pkt inline=${sut_mac0} 70 00 00 00 00 01 08 00 45 00 00 1c 00 01 00 00 40 11 f7 7d 98 10 64 01 98 10 64 02 13 88 13 88 00 08 55 7b
; src_ip: 152.16.100.0/8
random=0000XXX1
rand_offset=29
; dst_ip: 152.16.100.0/8
random=0000XXX0
rand_offset=33
random=0001001110001XXX0001001110001XXX
rand_offset=34

    1. name=p0 - Name assigned to the core.

    2. task=0 - Each core can run a set of tasks. Starting with 0. Task 1 can be defined later in this core or can be defined in another [core 1] section with task=1 later in configuration file. Sometimes running multiple task related to the same packet on the same physical core improves performance, however sometimes it is optimal to move task to a separate core. This is best decided by checking performance.

    3. mode=gen - Specifies the action carried out by this task on this core. Supported modes are: classify, drop, gen, lat, genl4, nop, l2fwd, gredecap, greencap, lbpos, lbnetwork, lbqinq, lb5tuple, ipv6_decap, ipv6_encap, qinqdecapv4, qinqencapv4, qos, routing, impair, mirror, unmpls, tagmpls, nat, decapnsh, encapnsh, police, acl Which are :-

      • Classify

      • Drop

      • Basic Forwarding (no touch)

      • L2 Forwarding (change MAC)

      • GRE encap/decap

      • Load balance based on packet fields

      • Symmetric load balancing

      • QinQ encap/decap IPv4/IPv6

      • ARP

      • QoS

      • Routing

      • Unmpls

      • Nsh encap/decap

      • Policing

      • ACL

      In the traffic generator we expect a core to generate packets (gen) and to receive packets & calculate latency (lat) This core does gen . ie it is a traffic generator.

      To understand what each of the modes support please see prox documentation.

    4. tx port=p0 - This specifies that the packets generated are transmitted to port p0

    5. bps=1250000000 - This indicates Bytes Per Second to generate packets.

    6. ; Ethernet + IP + UDP - This is a comment. Items starting with ; are ignored.

    7. pkt inline=${sut_mac0} 70 00 00 00 ... - Defines the packet format as a sequence of bytes (each expressed in hexadecimal notation). This defines the packet that is generated. This packets begins with the hexadecimal sequence assigned to sut_mac and the remainder of the bytes in the string. This packet could now be sent or modified by random=.. described below before being sent to target.

    8. ; src_ip: 152.16.100.0/8 - Comment

    9. random=0000XXX1 - This describes a field of the packet containing random data. This string can be 8,16,24 or 32 character long and represents 1,2,3 or 4 bytes of data. In this case it describes a byte of data. Each character in string can be 0,1 or X. 0 or 1 are fixed bit values in the data packet and X is a random bit. So random=0000XXX1 generates 00000001(1), 00000011(3), 00000101(5), 00000111(7), 00001001(9), 00001011(11), 00001101(13) and 00001111(15) combinations.

    10. rand_offset=29 - Defines where to place the previously defined random field.

    11. ; dst_ip: 152.16.100.0/8 - Comment

    12. random=0000XXX0 - This is another random field which generates a byte of 00000000(0), 00000010(2), 00000100(4), 00000110(6), 00001000(8), 00001010(10), 00001100(12) and 00001110(14) combinations.

    13. rand_offset=33 - Defines where to place the previously defined random field.

    14. random=0001001110001XXX0001001110001XXX - This is another random field which generates 4 bytes.

    15. rand_offset=34 - Defines where to place the previously defined 4 byte random field.

    Core 2 executes same scenario as Core 1. The only difference in this case is that the packets are generated for Port 1.

  8. [core 3] - This defines the activities on core 3. The purpose of core 3 and core 4 is to receive packets sent by the SUT.:

    [core 3]
name=rec 0
task=0
mode=lat
rx port=p0
lat pos=42

    1. name=rec 0 - Name assigned to the core.

    2. task=0 - Each core can run a set of tasks. Starting with 0. Task 1 can be defined later in this core or can be defined in another [core 1] section with task=1 later in configuration file. Sometimes running multiple task related to the same packet on the same physical core improves performance, however sometimes it is optimal to move task to a separate core. This is best decided by checking performance.

    3. mode=lat - Specifies the action carried out by this task on this core. Supported modes are: acl, classify, drop, gredecap, greencap, ipv6_decap, ipv6_encap, l2fwd, lbnetwork, lbpos, lbqinq, nop, police, qinqdecapv4, qinqencapv4, qos, routing, impair, lb5tuple, mirror, unmpls, tagmpls, nat, decapnsh, encapnsh, gen, genl4 and lat. This task(0) per core(3) receives packets on port.

    4. rx port=p0 - The port to receive packets on Port 0. Core 4 will receive packets on Port 1.

    5. lat pos=42 - Describes where to put a 4-byte timestamp in the packet. Note that the packet length should be longer than lat pos + 4 bytes to avoid truncation of the timestamp. It defines where the timestamp is to be read from. Note that the SUT workload might cause the position of the timestamp to change (i.e. due to encapsulation).

3.11.7. SUT Config File

This section will describes the SUT(VNF) config file. This is the same for both baremetal and heat. See this example of handle_l2fwd_multiflow-2.cfg to explain the options.

NSB PROX Handle Config File

See prox options for details

Now let’s examine the components of the file in detail

  1. [eal options] - same as the Generator config file. This specified the EAL (Environmental Abstraction Layer) options. These are default values and are not changed. See dpdk wiki page.

  2. [port 0] - This section describes the DPDK Port. The number following the keyword port usually refers to the DPDK Port Id. usually starting from 0. Because you can have multiple ports this entry usually repeated. E.g. For a 2 port setup [port0] and [port 1] and for a 4 port setup [port 0], [port 1], [port 2] and [port 3]:

    [port 0]
name=if0
mac=hardware
rx desc=2048
tx desc=2048
promiscuous=yes

    1. In this example name =if0 assigned the name if0 to the port. Any name can be assigned to a port.

    2. mac=hardware sets the MAC address assigned by the hardware to data from this port.

    3. rx desc=2048 sets the number of available descriptors to allocate for receive packets. This can be changed and can effect performance.

    4. tx desc=2048 sets the number of available descriptors to allocate for transmit packets. This can be changed and can effect performance.

    5. promiscuous=yes this enables promiscuous mode for this port.

  3. [defaults] - Here default operations and settings can be over written.:

    [defaults]
mempool size=8K
memcache size=512

    1. In this example mempool size=8K the number of mbufs per task is altered. Altering this value could effect performance. See prox options for details.

    2. memcache size=512 - number of mbufs cached per core, default is 256 this is the cache_size. Altering this value could affect performance.

  4. [global] - Here application wide setting are supported. Things like application name, start time, duration and memory configurations can be set here. In this example.:

      [global]
  start time=5
  name=Basic Gen

a. ``start time=5`` Time is seconds after which average stats will be
   started.
b. ``name=Handle L2FWD Multiflow (2x)`` Name of the configuration.

  5. [core 0] - This core is designated the master core. Every Prox application must have a master core. The master mode must be assigned to exactly one task, running alone on one core.:

    [core 0]
mode=master

  6. [core 1] - This describes the activity on core 1. Cores can be configured by means of a set of [core #] sections, where # represents either:

    1. an absolute core number: e.g. on a 10-core, dual socket system with hyper-threading, cores are numbered from 0 to 39.

    2. PROX allows a core to be identified by a core number, the letter ‘s’, and a socket number. However NSB PROX is hardware agnostic (physical and virtual configurations are the same) it is advisable no to use physical core numbering.

    Each core can be assigned with a set of tasks, each running one of the implemented packet processing modes.:

    [core 1]
name=none
task=0
mode=l2fwd
dst mac=@@tester_mac1
rx port=if0
tx port=if1

    1. name=none - No name assigned to the core.

    2. task=0 - Each core can run a set of tasks. Starting with 0. Task 1 can be defined later in this core or can be defined in another [core 1] section with task=1 later in configuration file. Sometimes running multiple task related to the same packet on the same physical core improves performance, however sometimes it is optimal to move task to a separate core. This is best decided by checking performance.

    3. mode=l2fwd - Specifies the action carried out by this task on this core. Supported modes are: acl, classify, drop, gredecap, greencap, ipv6_decap, ipv6_encap, l2fwd, lbnetwork, lbpos, lbqinq, nop, police, qinqdecapv4, qinqencapv4, qos, routing, impair, lb5tuple, mirror, unmpls, tagmpls, nat, decapnsh, encapnsh, gen, genl4 and lat. This code does l2fwd. i.e. it does the L2FWD.

    4. dst mac=@@tester_mac1 - The destination mac address of the packet will be set to the MAC address of Port 1 of destination device. (The Traffic Generator/Verifier)

    5. rx port=if0 - This specifies that the packets are received from Port 0 called if0

    6. tx port=if1 - This specifies that the packets are transmitted to Port 1 called if1

    In this example we receive a packet on core on a port, carry out operation on the packet on the core and transmit it on on another port still using the same task on the same core.

    On some implementation you may wish to use multiple tasks, like this.:

    [core 1]
name=rx_task
task=0
mode=l2fwd
dst mac=@@tester_p0
rx port=if0
tx cores=1t1
drop=no

name=l2fwd_if0
task=1
mode=nop
rx ring=yes
tx port=if0
drop=no

    In this example you can see Core 1/Task 0 called rx_task receives the packet from if0 and perform the l2fwd. However instead of sending the packet to a port it sends it to a core see tx cores=1t1. In this case it sends it to Core 1/Task 1.

    Core 1/Task 1 called l2fwd_if0, receives the packet, not from a port but from the ring. See rx ring=yes. It does not perform any operation on the packet See mode=none and sends the packets to if0 see tx port=if0.

    It is also possible to implement more complex operations by chaining multiple operations in sequence and using rings to pass packets from one core to another.

    In this example, we show a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) with Quality of Service (QoS). Communication from task to task is via rings.

    NSB PROX Config File for BNG_QOS

3.11.8. Baremetal Configuration File

This is required for baremetal testing. It describes the IP address of the various ports, the Network devices drivers and MAC addresses and the network configuration.

In this example we will describe a 2 port configuration. This file is the same for all 2 port NSB Prox tests on the same platforms/configuration.

NSB PROX Yardstick Config

Now let’s describe the sections of the file.

  1. TrafficGen - This section describes the Traffic Generator node of the test configuration. The name of the node trafficgen_1 must match the node name in the Test Description File for Baremetal mentioned earlier. The password attribute of the test needs to be configured. All other parameters can remain as default settings.

  2. interfaces - This defines the DPDK interfaces on the Traffic Generator.

  3. xe0 is DPDK Port 0. lspci and ./dpdk-devbind.py -s can be used to provide the interface information. netmask and local_ip should not be changed

  4. xe1 is DPDK Port 1. If more than 2 ports are required then xe1 section needs to be repeated and modified accordingly.

  5. vnf - This section describes the SUT of the test configuration. The name of the node vnf must match the node name in the Test Description File for Baremetal mentioned earlier. The password attribute of the test needs to be configured. All other parameters can remain as default settings

  6. interfaces - This defines the DPDK interfaces on the SUT

  7. xe0 - Same as 3 but for the SUT.

  8. xe1 - Same as 4 but for the SUT also.

  9. routing_table - All parameters should remain unchanged.

  10. nd_route_tbl - All parameters should remain unchanged.

3.11.9. Grafana Dashboard

The grafana dashboard visually displays the results of the tests. The steps required to produce a grafana dashboard are described here.

  1. Configure yardstick to use influxDB to store test results. See file /etc/yardstick/yardstick.conf.

    NSB PROX Yardstick Config

    1. Specify the dispatcher to use influxDB to store results.

    2. “target = .. ” - Specify location of influxDB to store results. “db_name = yardstick” - name of database. Do not change “username = root” - username to use to store result. (Many tests are run as root) “password = … ” - Please set to root user password

  2. Deploy InfludDB & Grafana. See how to Deploy InfluxDB & Grafana. See grafana deployment.

  3. Generate the test data. Run the tests as follows .:

    yardstick --debug task start tc_prox_<context>_<test>-ports.yaml

    eg.:

    yardstick --debug task start tc_prox_heat_context_l2fwd-4.yaml

  4. Now build the dashboard for the test you just ran. The easiest way to do this is to copy an existing dashboard and rename the test and the field names. The procedure to do so is described here. See opnfv grafana dashboard.

3.12. How to run NSB Prox Test on an baremetal environment

In order to run the NSB PROX test.

  1. Install NSB on Traffic Generator node and Prox in SUT. See NSB Installation

  2. To enter container:

    docker exec -it yardstick /bin/bash

  3. Install baremetal configuration file (POD files)

    1. Go to location of PROX tests in container

      cd /home/opnfv/repos/yardstick/samples/vnf_samples/nsut/prox

    2. Install prox-baremetal-2.yam and prox-baremetal-4.yaml for that topology into this directory as per Baremetal Configuration File

    3. Install and configure yardstick.conf

      cd /etc/yardstick/

      Modify /etc/yardstick/yardstick.conf as per yardstick-config-label

  4. Execute the test. Eg.:

    yardstick --debug task start ./tc_prox_baremetal_l2fwd-4.yaml

3.13. How to run NSB Prox Test on an Openstack environment

In order to run the NSB PROX test.

  1. Install NSB on Openstack deployment node. See NSB Installation

  2. To enter container:

    docker exec -it yardstick /bin/bash

  3. Install configuration file

    1. Goto location of PROX tests in container

      cd /home/opnfv/repos/yardstick/samples/vnf_samples/nsut/prox

    2. Install and configure yardstick.conf

      cd /etc/yardstick/

      Modify /etc/yardstick/yardstick.conf as per yardstick-config-label

  4. Execute the test. Eg.:

    yardstick --debug task start ./tc_prox_heat_context_l2fwd-4.yaml

3.14. Frequently Asked Questions

Here is a list of frequently asked questions.

3.14.1. NSB Prox does not work on Baremetal, How do I resolve this?

If PROX NSB does not work on baremetal, problem is either in network configuration or test file.

  1. Verify network configuration. Execute existing baremetal test.:

    yardstick --debug task start ./tc_prox_baremetal_l2fwd-4.yaml

    If test does not work then error in network configuration.

    1. Check DPDK on Traffic Generator and SUT via:-

      /root/dpdk-17./usertools/dpdk-devbind.py

    2. Verify MAC addresses match prox-baremetal-<ports>.yaml via ifconfig and dpdk-devbind

    3. Check your eth port is what you expect. You would not be the first person to think that the port your cable is plugged into is ethX when in fact it is ethY. Use ethtool to visually confirm that the eth is where you expect.:

      ethtool -p ethX

      A led should start blinking on port. (On both System-Under-Test and Traffic Generator)

    4. Check cable.

      Install Linux kernel network driver and ensure your ports are bound to the driver via dpdk-devbind. Bring up port on both SUT and Traffic Generator and check connection.

      1. On SUT and on Traffic Generator:

        ifconfig ethX/enoX up

      2. Check link

        ethtool ethX/enoX

        See Link detected if yes …. Cable is good. If no you have an issue with your cable/port.

  2. If existing baremetal works then issue is with your test. Check the traffic generator gen_<test>-<ports>.cfg to ensure it is producing a valid packet.

3.14.2. How do I debug NSB Prox on Baremetal?

  1. Execute the test as follows:

    yardstick --debug task start ./tc_prox_baremetal_l2fwd-4.yaml

  2. Login to Traffic Generator as root.:

    cd
/opt/nsb_bin/prox -f /tmp/gen_<test>-<ports>.cfg

  3. Login to SUT as root.:

    cd
/opt/nsb_bin/prox -f /tmp/handle_<test>-<ports>.cfg

  4. Now let’s examine the Generator Output. In this case the output of gen_l2fwd-4.cfg.

    NSB PROX Traffic Generator GUI

    Now let’s examine the output

    1. Indicates the amount of data successfully transmitted on Port 0

    2. Indicates the amount of data successfully received on port 1

    3. Indicates the amount of data successfully handled for port 1

    It appears what is transmitted is received.

    Caution

    The number of packets MAY not exactly match because the ports are read in sequence.

    Caution

    What is transmitted on PORT X may not always be received on same port. Please check the Test scenario.

  5. Now lets examine the SUT Output

    NSB PROX SUT GUI

    Now lets examine the output

    1. What is received on 0 is transmitted on 1, received on 1 transmitted on 0, received on 2 transmitted on 3 and received on 3 transmitted on 2.

    2. No packets are Failed.

    3. No packets are discarded.

We can also dump the packets being received or transmitted via the following commands.

dump                   Arguments: <core id> <task id> <nb packets>
                       Create a hex dump of <nb_packets> from <task_id> on <core_id> showing how
                       packets have changed between RX and TX.
dump_rx                Arguments: <core id> <task id> <nb packets>
                       Create a hex dump of <nb_packets> from <task_id> on <core_id> at RX
dump_tx                Arguments: <core id> <task id> <nb packets>
                       Create a hex dump of <nb_packets> from <task_id> on <core_id> at TX

eg.:

dump_tx 1 0 1

3.14.3. NSB Prox works on Baremetal but not in Openstack. How do I resolve this?

NSB Prox on Baremetal is a lot more forgiving than NSB Prox on Openstack. A badly formed packed may still work with PROX on Baremetal. However on Openstack the packet must be correct and all fields of the header correct. E.g. A packet with an invalid Protocol ID would still work in Baremetal but this packet would be rejected by openstack.

  1. Check the validity of the packet.

  2. Use a known good packet in your test

  3. If using Random fields in the traffic generator, disable them and retry.

3.14.4. How do I debug NSB Prox on Openstack?

  1. Execute the test as follows:

    yardstick --debug task start --keep-deploy ./tc_prox_heat_context_l2fwd-4.yaml

  2. Access docker image if required via:

    docker exec -it yardstick /bin/bash

  3. Install openstack credentials.

    Depending on your openstack deployment, the location of these credentials may vary. On this platform I do this via:

    scp root@10.237.222.55:/etc/kolla/admin-openrc.sh .
source ./admin-openrc.sh

  4. List Stack details

    1. Get the name of the Stack.

      NSB PROX openstack stack list

    2. Get the Floating IP of the Traffic Generator & SUT

      This generates a lot of information. Please note the floating IP of the VNF and the Traffic Generator.

      NSB PROX openstack stack show (Top)

      From here you can see the floating IP Address of the SUT / VNF

      NSB PROX openstack stack show (Top)

      From here you can see the floating IP Address of the Traffic Generator

    3. Get ssh identity file

      In the docker container locate the identity file.:

      cd /home/opnfv/repos/yardstick/yardstick/resources/files
ls -lt

  5. Login to SUT as Ubuntu.:

    ssh -i ./yardstick_key-01029d1d ubuntu@172.16.2.158

    Change to root:

     sudo su

Now continue as baremetal.

  6. Login to SUT as Ubuntu.:

    ssh -i ./yardstick_key-01029d1d ubuntu@172.16.2.156

    Change to root:

     sudo su

Now continue as baremetal.

3.14.5. How do I resolve “Quota exceeded for resources”

This usually occurs due to 2 reasons when executing an openstack test.

  1. One or more stacks already exists and are consuming all resources. To resolve

    openstack stack list

    Response:

    +--------------------------------------+--------------------+-----------------+----------------------+--------------+
| ID                                   | Stack Name         | Stack Status    | Creation Time        | Updated Time |
+--------------------------------------+--------------------+-----------------+----------------------+--------------+
| acb559d7-f575-4266-a2d4-67290b556f15 | yardstick-e05ba5a4 | CREATE_COMPLETE | 2017-12-06T15:00:05Z | None         |
| 7edf21ce-8824-4c86-8edb-f7e23801a01b | yardstick-08bda9e3 | CREATE_COMPLETE | 2017-12-06T14:56:43Z | None         |
+--------------------------------------+--------------------+-----------------+----------------------+--------------+

    In this case 2 stacks already exist.

    To remove stack:

    openstack stack delete yardstick-08bda9e3
Are you sure you want to delete this stack(s) [y/N]? y

  2. The openstack configuration quotas are too small.

    The solution is to increase the quota. Use below to query existing quotas:

    openstack quota show

    And to set quota:

    openstack quota set <resource>

3.14.6. Openstack CLI fails or hangs. How do I resolve this?

If it fails due to

Missing value auth-url required for auth plugin password

Check your shell environment for Openstack variables. One of them should contain the authentication URL

OS_AUTH_URL=``https://192.168.72.41:5000/v3``

Or similar. Ensure that openstack configurations are exported.

cat  /etc/kolla/admin-openrc.sh

Result

export OS_PROJECT_DOMAIN_NAME=default
export OS_USER_DOMAIN_NAME=default
export OS_PROJECT_NAME=admin
export OS_TENANT_NAME=admin
export OS_USERNAME=admin
export OS_PASSWORD=BwwSEZqmUJA676klr9wa052PFjNkz99tOccS9sTc
export OS_AUTH_URL=http://193.168.72.41:35357/v3
export OS_INTERFACE=internal
export OS_IDENTITY_API_VERSION=3
export EXTERNAL_NETWORK=yardstick-public

and visible.

If the Openstack CLI appears to hang, then verify the proxys and no_proxy are set correctly. They should be similar to

FTP_PROXY="http://<your_proxy>:<port>/"
HTTPS_PROXY="http://<your_proxy>:<port>/"
HTTP_PROXY="http://<your_proxy>:<port>/"
NO_PROXY="localhost,127.0.0.1,10.237.222.55,10.237.223.80,10.237.222.134,.ir.intel.com"
ftp_proxy="http://<your_proxy>:<port>/"
http_proxy="http://<your_proxy>:<port>/"
https_proxy="http://<your_proxy>:<port>/"
no_proxy="localhost,127.0.0.1,10.237.222.55,10.237.223.80,10.237.222.134,.ir.intel.com"

Where

  1. 10.237.222.55 = IP Address of deployment node

  2. 10.237.223.80 = IP Address of Controller node

  3. 10.237.222.134 = IP Address of Compute Node

3.14.7. How to Understand the Grafana output?

NSB PROX Grafana_1 NSB PROX Grafana_2 NSB PROX Grafana_3 NSB PROX Grafana_4 NSB PROX Grafana_5 NSB PROX Grafana_6

  1. Test Parameters - Test interval, Duration, Tolerated Loss and Test Precision

  2. No. of packets send and received during test

  3. Generator Stats - Average Throughput per step (Step Duration is specified by “Duration” field in A above)

  4. Packet size

  5. No. of packets sent by the generator per second per interface in millions of packets per second.

  6. No. of packets recieved by the generator per second per interface in millions of packets per second.

  7. No. of packets received by the SUT from the generator in millions of packets per second.

  8. No. of packets sent by the the SUT to the generator in millions of packets per second.

  9. No. of packets sent by the Generator to the SUT per step per interface in millions of packets per second.

  10. No. of packets received by the Generator from the SUT per step per interface in millions of packets per second.

  11. No. of packets sent and received by the generator and lost by the SUT that meet the success criteria

  12. The change in the Percentage of Line Rate used over a test, The MAX and the MIN should converge to within the interval specified as the test-precision.

  13. Packet size supported during test. If N/A appears in any field the result has not been decided.

  14. The Theretical Maximum no. of packets per second that can be sent for this packet size.

  15. No. of packets sent by the generator in MPPS

  16. No. of packets received by the generator in MPPS

  17. No. of packets sent by SUT.

  18. No. of packets received by the SUT

  19. Total no. of dropped packets – Packets sent but not received back by the generator, these may be dropped by the SUT or the generator.

  20. The tolerated no. of dropped packets.

  21. Test throughput in Gbps

  22. Latencey per Port

    • Va - Port XE0

    • Vb - Port XE1

    • Vc - Port XE0

    • Vd - Port XE0

  23. CPU Utilization

    • Wa - CPU Utilization of the Generator

    • Wb - CPU Utilization of the SUT