netdev - [PATCH iproute2] man: tc-skbmod.8: Remove misinformation about the swap action

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Date:   Tue, 20 Jul 2021 11:04:16 -0700
From:   Peilin Ye <yepeilin.cs@...il.com>
To:     netdev@...r.kernel.org
Cc:     Stephen Hemminger <stephen@...workplumber.org>,
        Jamal Hadi Salim <jhs@...atatu.com>,
        Cong Wang <xiyou.wangcong@...il.com>,
        Jiri Pirko <jiri@...nulli.us>,
        Cong Wang <cong.wang@...edance.com>,
        Peilin Ye <peilin.ye@...edance.com>,
        Peilin Ye <yepeilin.cs@...il.com>
Subject: [PATCH iproute2] man: tc-skbmod.8: Remove misinformation about the swap action

From: Peilin Ye <peilin.ye@...edance.com>

Currently man 8 tc-skbmod says that "...the swap action will occur after
any smac/dmac substitutions are executed, if they are present."

This is false.  In fact, trying to "set" and "swap" in a single skbmod
command causes the "set" part to be completely ignored.  As an example:

	$ tc filter add dev eth0 parent 1: protocol ip prio 10 \
		matchall action skbmod \
        	set dmac AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA smac BB:BB:BB:BB:BB:BB \
        	swap mac

The above command simply does a "swap", without setting DMAC or SMAC to
AA's or BB's.  The root cause of this is in the kernel, see
net/sched/act_skbmod.c:tcf_skbmod_init():

	parm = nla_data(tb[TCA_SKBMOD_PARMS]);
	index = parm->index;
	if (parm->flags & SKBMOD_F_SWAPMAC)
		lflags = SKBMOD_F_SWAPMAC;
		^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Doing a "=" instead of "|=" clears all other "set" flags when doing a
"swap".  Discourage using "set" and "swap" in the same command by
documenting it as undefined behavior, and update the "SYNOPSIS" section
accordingly.

If one really needs to e.g. "set" DMAC to all AA"s then "swap" DMAC and
SMAC, one should do two separate commands and "pipe" them together.

Reviewed-by: Cong Wang <cong.wang@...edance.com>
Signed-off-by: Peilin Ye <peilin.ye@...edance.com>
---
 man/man8/tc-skbmod.8 | 24 +++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/man/man8/tc-skbmod.8 b/man/man8/tc-skbmod.8
index eb3c38fa6bf3..76512311b17d 100644
--- a/man/man8/tc-skbmod.8
+++ b/man/man8/tc-skbmod.8
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ skbmod - user-friendly packet editor action
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .in +8
 .ti -8
-.BR tc " ... " "action skbmod " "{ [ " "set "
-.IR SETTABLE " ] [ "
+.BR tc " ... " "action skbmod " "{ " "set "
+.IR SETTABLE " | "
 .BI swap " SWAPPABLE"
-.RI " ] [ " CONTROL " ] [ "
+.RI " } [ " CONTROL " ] [ "
 .BI index " INDEX "
-] }
+]
 
 .ti -8
 .IR SETTABLE " := "
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ skbmod - user-friendly packet editor action
 .IR SWAPPABLE " := "
 .B mac
 .ti -8
+
 .IR CONTROL " := {"
 .BR reclassify " | " pipe " | " drop " | " shot " | " continue " | " pass " }"
 .SH DESCRIPTION
@@ -48,10 +49,7 @@ Change the source mac to the specified address.
 Change the ethertype to the specified value.
 .TP
 .BI mac
-Used to swap mac addresses. The
-.B swap mac
-directive is performed
-after any outstanding D/SMAC changes.
+Used to swap mac addresses.
 .TP
 .I CONTROL
 The following keywords allow to control how the tree of qdisc, classes,
@@ -128,9 +126,13 @@ tc filter add dev eth3 parent 1: protocol ip prio 10 \\
 .EE
 .RE
 
-As mentioned above, the swap action will occur after any
-.B " smac/dmac "
-substitutions are executed, if they are present.
+However, trying to
+.B set
+and
+.B swap
+in a single
+.B skbmod
+command will cause undefined behavior.
 
 .SH SEE ALSO
 .BR tc (8),
-- 
2.20.1