2 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
4 # Copyright (C) 2018 Netronome Systems, Inc.
6 # In case user attempts to run with Python 2.
7 from __future__ import print_function
13 class NoHelperFound(BaseException):
16 class ParsingError(BaseException):
17 def __init__(self, line='<line not provided>', reader=None):
19 BaseException.__init__(self,
20 'Error at file offset %d, parsing line: %s' %
21 (reader.tell(), line))
23 BaseException.__init__(self, 'Error parsing line: %s' % line)
27 An object representing the description of an eBPF helper function.
28 @proto: function prototype of the helper function
29 @desc: textual description of the helper function
30 @ret: description of the return value of the helper function
32 def __init__(self, proto='', desc='', ret=''):
37 def proto_break_down(self):
39 Break down helper function protocol into smaller chunks: return type,
40 name, distincts arguments.
42 arg_re = re.compile('((const )?(struct )?(\w+|...))( (\**)(\w+))?$')
44 proto_re = re.compile('(.+) (\**)(\w+)\(((([^,]+)(, )?){1,5})\)$')
46 capture = proto_re.match(self.proto)
47 res['ret_type'] = capture.group(1)
48 res['ret_star'] = capture.group(2)
49 res['name'] = capture.group(3)
52 args = capture.group(4).split(', ')
54 capture = arg_re.match(a)
56 'type' : capture.group(1),
57 'star' : capture.group(6),
58 'name' : capture.group(7)
63 class HeaderParser(object):
65 An object used to parse a file in order to extract the documentation of a
66 list of eBPF helper functions. All the helpers that can be retrieved are
67 stored as Helper object, in the self.helpers() array.
68 @filename: name of file to parse, usually include/uapi/linux/bpf.h in the
71 def __init__(self, filename):
72 self.reader = open(filename, 'r')
76 def parse_helper(self):
77 proto = self.parse_proto()
78 desc = self.parse_desc()
79 ret = self.parse_ret()
80 return Helper(proto=proto, desc=desc, ret=ret)
82 def parse_proto(self):
83 # Argument can be of shape:
87 # - Same as above, with "const" and/or "struct" in front of type
88 # - "..." (undefined number of arguments, for bpf_trace_printk())
89 # There is at least one term ("void"), and at most five arguments.
90 p = re.compile(' \* ?((.+) \**\w+\((((const )?(struct )?(\w+|\.\.\.)( \**\w+)?)(, )?){1,5}\))$')
91 capture = p.match(self.line)
94 self.line = self.reader.readline()
95 return capture.group(1)
98 p = re.compile(' \* ?(?:\t| {5,8})Description$')
99 capture = p.match(self.line)
101 # Helper can have empty description and we might be parsing another
102 # attribute: return but do not consume.
104 # Description can be several lines, some of them possibly empty, and it
105 # stops when another subsection title is met.
108 self.line = self.reader.readline()
109 if self.line == ' *\n':
112 p = re.compile(' \* ?(?:\t| {5,8})(?:\t| {8})(.*)')
113 capture = p.match(self.line)
115 desc += capture.group(1) + '\n'
121 p = re.compile(' \* ?(?:\t| {5,8})Return$')
122 capture = p.match(self.line)
124 # Helper can have empty retval and we might be parsing another
125 # attribute: return but do not consume.
127 # Return value description can be several lines, some of them possibly
128 # empty, and it stops when another subsection title is met.
131 self.line = self.reader.readline()
132 if self.line == ' *\n':
135 p = re.compile(' \* ?(?:\t| {5,8})(?:\t| {8})(.*)')
136 capture = p.match(self.line)
138 ret += capture.group(1) + '\n'
144 # Advance to start of helper function descriptions.
145 offset = self.reader.read().find('* Start of BPF helper function descriptions:')
147 raise Exception('Could not find start of eBPF helper descriptions list')
148 self.reader.seek(offset)
149 self.reader.readline()
150 self.reader.readline()
151 self.line = self.reader.readline()
155 helper = self.parse_helper()
156 self.helpers.append(helper)
157 except NoHelperFound:
161 print('Parsed description of %d helper function(s)' % len(self.helpers),
164 ###############################################################################
166 class Printer(object):
168 A generic class for printers. Printers should be created with an array of
169 Helper objects, and implement a way to print them in the desired fashion.
170 @helpers: array of Helper objects to print to standard output
172 def __init__(self, helpers):
173 self.helpers = helpers
175 def print_header(self):
178 def print_footer(self):
181 def print_one(self, helper):
186 for helper in self.helpers:
187 self.print_one(helper)
190 class PrinterRST(Printer):
192 A printer for dumping collected information about helpers as a ReStructured
193 Text page compatible with the rst2man program, which can be used to
194 generate a manual page for the helpers.
195 @helpers: array of Helper objects to print to standard output
197 def print_header(self):
199 .. Copyright (C) All BPF authors and contributors from 2014 to present.
200 .. See git log include/uapi/linux/bpf.h in kernel tree for details.
202 .. %%%LICENSE_START(VERBATIM)
203 .. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
204 .. manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
205 .. preserved on all copies.
207 .. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
208 .. manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
209 .. entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
210 .. permission notice identical to this one.
212 .. Since the Linux kernel and libraries are constantly changing, this
213 .. manual page may be incorrect or out-of-date. The author(s) assume no
214 .. responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from
215 .. the use of the information contained herein. The author(s) may not
216 .. have taken the same level of care in the production of this manual,
217 .. which is licensed free of charge, as they might when working
220 .. Formatted or processed versions of this manual, if unaccompanied by
221 .. the source, must acknowledge the copyright and authors of this work.
224 .. Please do not edit this file. It was generated from the documentation
225 .. located in file include/uapi/linux/bpf.h of the Linux kernel sources
226 .. (helpers description), and from scripts/bpf_helpers_doc.py in the same
227 .. repository (header and footer).
232 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
233 list of eBPF helper functions
234 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
241 The extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) subsystem consists in programs
242 written in a pseudo-assembly language, then attached to one of the several
243 kernel hooks and run in reaction of specific events. This framework differs
244 from the older, "classic" BPF (or "cBPF") in several aspects, one of them being
245 the ability to call special functions (or "helpers") from within a program.
246 These functions are restricted to a white-list of helpers defined in the
249 These helpers are used by eBPF programs to interact with the system, or with
250 the context in which they work. For instance, they can be used to print
251 debugging messages, to get the time since the system was booted, to interact
252 with eBPF maps, or to manipulate network packets. Since there are several eBPF
253 program types, and that they do not run in the same context, each program type
254 can only call a subset of those helpers.
256 Due to eBPF conventions, a helper can not have more than five arguments.
258 Internally, eBPF programs call directly into the compiled helper functions
259 without requiring any foreign-function interface. As a result, calling helpers
260 introduces no overhead, thus offering excellent performance.
262 This document is an attempt to list and document the helpers available to eBPF
263 developers. They are sorted by chronological order (the oldest helpers in the
271 def print_footer(self):
276 Example usage for most of the eBPF helpers listed in this manual page are
277 available within the Linux kernel sources, at the following locations:
280 * *tools/testing/selftests/bpf/*
285 eBPF programs can have an associated license, passed along with the bytecode
286 instructions to the kernel when the programs are loaded. The format for that
287 string is identical to the one in use for kernel modules (Dual licenses, such
288 as "Dual BSD/GPL", may be used). Some helper functions are only accessible to
289 programs that are compatible with the GNU Privacy License (GPL).
291 In order to use such helpers, the eBPF program must be loaded with the correct
292 license string passed (via **attr**) to the **bpf**\ () system call, and this
293 generally translates into the C source code of the program containing a line
294 similar to the following:
298 char ____license[] __attribute__((section("license"), used)) = "GPL";
303 This manual page is an effort to document the existing eBPF helper functions.
304 But as of this writing, the BPF sub-system is under heavy development. New eBPF
305 program or map types are added, along with new helper functions. Some helpers
306 are occasionally made available for additional program types. So in spite of
307 the efforts of the community, this page might not be up-to-date. If you want to
308 check by yourself what helper functions exist in your kernel, or what types of
309 programs they can support, here are some files among the kernel tree that you
310 may be interested in:
312 * *include/uapi/linux/bpf.h* is the main BPF header. It contains the full list
313 of all helper functions, as well as many other BPF definitions including most
314 of the flags, structs or constants used by the helpers.
315 * *net/core/filter.c* contains the definition of most network-related helper
316 functions, and the list of program types from which they can be used.
317 * *kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c* is the equivalent for most tracing program-related
319 * *kernel/bpf/verifier.c* contains the functions used to check that valid types
320 of eBPF maps are used with a given helper function.
321 * *kernel/bpf/* directory contains other files in which additional helpers are
322 defined (for cgroups, sockmaps, etc.).
324 Compatibility between helper functions and program types can generally be found
325 in the files where helper functions are defined. Look for the **struct
326 bpf_func_proto** objects and for functions returning them: these functions
327 contain a list of helpers that a given program type can call. Note that the
328 **default:** label of the **switch ... case** used to filter helpers can call
329 other functions, themselves allowing access to additional helpers. The
330 requirement for GPL license is also in those **struct bpf_func_proto**.
332 Compatibility between helper functions and map types can be found in the
333 **check_map_func_compatibility**\ () function in file *kernel/bpf/verifier.c*.
335 Helper functions that invalidate the checks on **data** and **data_end**
336 pointers for network processing are listed in function
337 **bpf_helper_changes_pkt_data**\ () in file *net/core/filter.c*.
345 **perf_event_open**\ (2),
351 def print_proto(self, helper):
353 Format function protocol with bold and italics markers. This makes RST
354 file less readable, but gives nice results in the manual page.
356 proto = helper.proto_break_down()
358 print('**%s %s%s(' % (proto['ret_type'],
359 proto['ret_star'].replace('*', '\\*'),
364 for a in proto['args']:
365 one_arg = '{}{}'.format(comma, a['type'])
368 one_arg += ' {}**\ '.format(a['star'].replace('*', '\\*'))
371 one_arg += '*{}*\\ **'.format(a['name'])
373 print(one_arg, end='')
377 def print_one(self, helper):
378 self.print_proto(helper)
381 print('\tDescription')
382 # Do not strip all newline characters: formatted code at the end of
383 # a section must be followed by a blank line.
384 for line in re.sub('\n$', '', helper.desc, count=1).split('\n'):
385 print('{}{}'.format('\t\t' if line else '', line))
389 for line in helper.ret.rstrip().split('\n'):
390 print('{}{}'.format('\t\t' if line else '', line))
394 ###############################################################################
396 # If script is launched from scripts/ from kernel tree and can access
397 # ../include/uapi/linux/bpf.h, use it as a default name for the file to parse,
398 # otherwise the --filename argument will be required from the command line.
399 script = os.path.abspath(sys.argv[0])
400 linuxRoot = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(script))
401 bpfh = os.path.join(linuxRoot, 'include/uapi/linux/bpf.h')
403 argParser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="""
404 Parse eBPF header file and generate documentation for eBPF helper functions.
405 The RST-formatted output produced can be turned into a manual page with the
408 if (os.path.isfile(bpfh)):
409 argParser.add_argument('--filename', help='path to include/uapi/linux/bpf.h',
412 argParser.add_argument('--filename', help='path to include/uapi/linux/bpf.h')
413 args = argParser.parse_args()
416 headerParser = HeaderParser(args.filename)
419 # Print formatted output to standard output.
420 printer = PrinterRST(headerParser.helpers)