VALECTL(8)              FreeBSD System Manager's Manual             VALECTL(8)

NAME
     valectl - manage VALE switches provided by netmap

SYNOPSIS
     valectl  [-g valeSSS:PPP] [-a valeSSS:interface] [-h valeSSS:interface]
              [-d valeSSS:interface] [-n interface] [-r interface]
              [-l valeSSS:PPP] [-l] [-p valeSSS:PPP] [-P valeSSS:PPP]
              [-C spec] [-m memid]

DESCRIPTION
     valectl manages and inspects vale(4) switches, for instance attaching and
     detaching interfaces, creating and deleting persistent VALE ports, or
     listing the existing switches and their ports.  In the following, valeSSS
     is the name of a VALE switch, while valeSSS:PPP is the name of a VALE
     port of valeSSS.

     When issued without options it lists all the existing switch ports
     together with their internal bridge number and port number.

     -g valeSSS:PPP
             Print the number of receive rings of valeSSS:PPP.

     -a valeSSS:interface
             Attach interface (which must be an existing network interface) to
             valeSSS and detach it from the host stack.

     -h valeSSS:interface
             Attach interface (which must be an existing network interface) to
             valeSSS while keeping it attached to the host stack.  More
             precisely, packets coming from the host stack and directed to the
             interface will go through the switch, where they can still reach
             the interface if the switch rules allow it.  Conversely, packets
             coming from the interface will go through the switch and, if
             appropriate, will reach the host stack.

     -d valeSSS:interface
             Detach interface from valeSSS.

     -n interface
             Create a new persistent VALE port with name interface.  The name
             must be different from any other network interface already
             present in the system.

     -r interface
             Destroy the persistent VALE port with name inteface.

     -l valeSSS:PPP
             Show the internal bridge number and port number of the given
             switch port.

     -p valeSSS:PPP
             Enable polling mode for valeSSS:PPP.  In polling mode, a
             dedicated kernel thread is spawned to handle packets received
             from valeSSS:PPP and push them into the switch.  The kernel
             thread busy waits on the switch port rather than relying on
             interrupts or notifications.  Polling mode can only be used on
             physical NICs attached to a VALE switch.

     -P valeSSS:PPP
             Disable polling mode for valeSSS:PPP.

     -C x | x,y | x,y,z | x,y,z,w
             When used in conjunction with -n it supplies the number of tx and
             rx rings and slots.  The full format with four numbers gives, in
             order, number of tx slots, number of rx slots, number of tx rings
             and number of rx rings.  The form with three numbers uses z for
             both the number of tx and the number of rx rings.  The forms with
             less than two numbers use the default values for the number of
             rings.  The form with two numbers supplies the numbers of tx and
             rx slots.  The form with only one number uses x for both the
             number of tx and the number of rx slots.

             When used in conjunction with -p only the first three forms are
             used.  The first number may be either 0 or 1.  If 0, then all
             interface rings will be polled by a single thread, running on the
             core id given by the second number (the third number, if present,
             must be 1).  If the first number is 1, then the ring identified
             by the second number will be polled by the core with the same id.
             If a third number is given, then this is repeated for as many
             consecutive rings and cores.

     -m memid
             Used in conjunction with -n supplies the netmap memory region
             identifier to use together with the newly created persistent VALE
             port.  These ports use a private memory region by default.  Using
             this option you can let them share memory with other ports.  Pass
             1 as memid to use the global memory region already shared by all
             harware netmap ports.

SEE ALSO
     netmap(4), vale(4)

AUTHORS
     valectl was written by Michio Honda at NetApp.

FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6         March 31, 2020         FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6