1 =================================
2 HOWTO interact with BPF subsystem
3 =================================
5 This document provides information for the BPF subsystem about various
6 workflows related to reporting bugs, submitting patches, and queueing
7 patches for stable kernels.
9 For general information about submitting patches, please refer to
10 Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst. This document only describes
11 additional specifics related to BPF.
20 Q: How do I report bugs for BPF kernel code?
21 --------------------------------------------
22 A: Since all BPF kernel development as well as bpftool and iproute2 BPF
23 loader development happens through the bpf kernel mailing list,
24 please report any found issues around BPF to the following mailing
29 This may also include issues related to XDP, BPF tracing, etc.
31 Given netdev has a high volume of traffic, please also add the BPF
32 maintainers to Cc (from kernel ``MAINTAINERS`` file):
34 * Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
35 * Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>
37 In case a buggy commit has already been identified, make sure to keep
38 the actual commit authors in Cc as well for the report. They can
39 typically be identified through the kernel's git tree.
41 **Please do NOT report BPF issues to bugzilla.kernel.org since it
42 is a guarantee that the reported issue will be overlooked.**
47 Q: How do I run BPF CI on my changes before sending them out for review?
48 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
49 A: BPF CI is GitHub based and hosted at https://github.com/kernel-patches/bpf.
50 While GitHub also provides a CLI that can be used to accomplish the same
51 results, here we focus on the UI based workflow.
53 The following steps lay out how to start a CI run for your patches:
55 - Create a fork of the aforementioned repository in your own account (one time
58 - Clone the fork locally, check out a new branch tracking either the bpf-next
59 or bpf branch, and apply your to-be-tested patches on top of it
61 - Push the local branch to your fork and create a pull request against
62 kernel-patches/bpf's bpf-next_base or bpf_base branch, respectively
64 Shortly after the pull request has been created, the CI workflow will run. Note
65 that capacity is shared with patches submitted upstream being checked and so
66 depending on utilization the run can take a while to finish.
68 Note furthermore that both base branches (bpf-next_base and bpf_base) will be
69 updated as patches are pushed to the respective upstream branches they track. As
70 such, your patch set will automatically (be attempted to) be rebased as well.
71 This behavior can result in a CI run being aborted and restarted with the new
74 Q: To which mailing list do I need to submit my BPF patches?
75 ------------------------------------------------------------
76 A: Please submit your BPF patches to the bpf kernel mailing list:
80 In case your patch has changes in various different subsystems (e.g.
81 networking, tracing, security, etc), make sure to Cc the related kernel mailing
82 lists and maintainers from there as well, so they are able to review
83 the changes and provide their Acked-by's to the patches.
85 Q: Where can I find patches currently under discussion for BPF subsystem?
86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
87 A: All patches that are Cc'ed to netdev are queued for review under netdev
90 https://patchwork.kernel.org/project/netdevbpf/list/
92 Those patches which target BPF, are assigned to a 'bpf' delegate for
93 further processing from BPF maintainers. The current queue with
94 patches under review can be found at:
96 https://patchwork.kernel.org/project/netdevbpf/list/?delegate=121173
98 Once the patches have been reviewed by the BPF community as a whole
99 and approved by the BPF maintainers, their status in patchwork will be
100 changed to 'Accepted' and the submitter will be notified by mail. This
101 means that the patches look good from a BPF perspective and have been
102 applied to one of the two BPF kernel trees.
104 In case feedback from the community requires a respin of the patches,
105 their status in patchwork will be set to 'Changes Requested', and purged
106 from the current review queue. Likewise for cases where patches would
107 get rejected or are not applicable to the BPF trees (but assigned to
110 Q: How do the changes make their way into Linux?
111 ------------------------------------------------
112 A: There are two BPF kernel trees (git repositories). Once patches have
113 been accepted by the BPF maintainers, they will be applied to one
114 of the two BPF trees:
116 * https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/bpf/bpf.git/
117 * https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/bpf/bpf-next.git/
119 The bpf tree itself is for fixes only, whereas bpf-next for features,
120 cleanups or other kind of improvements ("next-like" content). This is
121 analogous to net and net-next trees for networking. Both bpf and
122 bpf-next will only have a master branch in order to simplify against
123 which branch patches should get rebased to.
125 Accumulated BPF patches in the bpf tree will regularly get pulled
126 into the net kernel tree. Likewise, accumulated BPF patches accepted
127 into the bpf-next tree will make their way into net-next tree. net and
128 net-next are both run by David S. Miller. From there, they will go
129 into the kernel mainline tree run by Linus Torvalds. To read up on the
130 process of net and net-next being merged into the mainline tree, see
131 the documentation on netdev subsystem at
132 Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst.
136 Occasionally, to prevent merge conflicts, we might send pull requests
137 to other trees (e.g. tracing) with a small subset of the patches, but
138 net and net-next are always the main trees targeted for integration.
140 The pull requests will contain a high-level summary of the accumulated
141 patches and can be searched on netdev kernel mailing list through the
142 following subject lines (``yyyy-mm-dd`` is the date of the pull
145 pull-request: bpf yyyy-mm-dd
146 pull-request: bpf-next yyyy-mm-dd
148 Q: How do I indicate which tree (bpf vs. bpf-next) my patch should be applied to?
149 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
151 A: The process is the very same as described in the netdev subsystem
152 documentation at Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst,
153 so please read up on it. The subject line must indicate whether the
154 patch is a fix or rather "next-like" content in order to let the
155 maintainers know whether it is targeted at bpf or bpf-next.
157 For fixes eventually landing in bpf -> net tree, the subject must
160 git format-patch --subject-prefix='PATCH bpf' start..finish
162 For features/improvements/etc that should eventually land in
163 bpf-next -> net-next, the subject must look like::
165 git format-patch --subject-prefix='PATCH bpf-next' start..finish
167 If unsure whether the patch or patch series should go into bpf
168 or net directly, or bpf-next or net-next directly, it is not a
169 problem either if the subject line says net or net-next as target.
170 It is eventually up to the maintainers to do the delegation of
173 If it is clear that patches should go into bpf or bpf-next tree,
174 please make sure to rebase the patches against those trees in
175 order to reduce potential conflicts.
177 In case the patch or patch series has to be reworked and sent out
178 again in a second or later revision, it is also required to add a
179 version number (``v2``, ``v3``, ...) into the subject prefix::
181 git format-patch --subject-prefix='PATCH bpf-next v2' start..finish
183 When changes have been requested to the patch series, always send the
184 whole patch series again with the feedback incorporated (never send
185 individual diffs on top of the old series).
187 Q: What does it mean when a patch gets applied to bpf or bpf-next tree?
188 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
189 A: It means that the patch looks good for mainline inclusion from
192 Be aware that this is not a final verdict that the patch will
193 automatically get accepted into net or net-next trees eventually:
195 On the bpf kernel mailing list reviews can come in at any point
196 in time. If discussions around a patch conclude that they cannot
197 get included as-is, we will either apply a follow-up fix or drop
198 them from the trees entirely. Therefore, we also reserve to rebase
199 the trees when deemed necessary. After all, the purpose of the tree
202 i) accumulate and stage BPF patches for integration into trees
203 like net and net-next, and
205 ii) run extensive BPF test suite and
206 workloads on the patches before they make their way any further.
208 Once the BPF pull request was accepted by David S. Miller, then
209 the patches end up in net or net-next tree, respectively, and
210 make their way from there further into mainline. Again, see the
211 documentation for netdev subsystem at
212 Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst for additional information
213 e.g. on how often they are merged to mainline.
215 Q: How long do I need to wait for feedback on my BPF patches?
216 -------------------------------------------------------------
217 A: We try to keep the latency low. The usual time to feedback will
218 be around 2 or 3 business days. It may vary depending on the
219 complexity of changes and current patch load.
221 Q: How often do you send pull requests to major kernel trees like net or net-next?
222 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
224 A: Pull requests will be sent out rather often in order to not
225 accumulate too many patches in bpf or bpf-next.
227 As a rule of thumb, expect pull requests for each tree regularly
228 at the end of the week. In some cases pull requests could additionally
229 come also in the middle of the week depending on the current patch
232 Q: Are patches applied to bpf-next when the merge window is open?
233 -----------------------------------------------------------------
234 A: For the time when the merge window is open, bpf-next will not be
235 processed. This is roughly analogous to net-next patch processing,
236 so feel free to read up on the netdev docs at
237 Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst about further details.
239 During those two weeks of merge window, we might ask you to resend
240 your patch series once bpf-next is open again. Once Linus released
241 a ``v*-rc1`` after the merge window, we continue processing of bpf-next.
243 For non-subscribers to kernel mailing lists, there is also a status
244 page run by David S. Miller on net-next that provides guidance:
246 http://vger.kernel.org/~davem/net-next.html
248 Q: Verifier changes and test cases
249 ----------------------------------
250 Q: I made a BPF verifier change, do I need to add test cases for
251 BPF kernel selftests_?
253 A: If the patch has changes to the behavior of the verifier, then yes,
254 it is absolutely necessary to add test cases to the BPF kernel
255 selftests_ suite. If they are not present and we think they are
256 needed, then we might ask for them before accepting any changes.
258 In particular, test_verifier.c is tracking a high number of BPF test
259 cases, including a lot of corner cases that LLVM BPF back end may
260 generate out of the restricted C code. Thus, adding test cases is
261 absolutely crucial to make sure future changes do not accidentally
262 affect prior use-cases. Thus, treat those test cases as: verifier
263 behavior that is not tracked in test_verifier.c could potentially
264 be subject to change.
266 Q: samples/bpf preference vs selftests?
267 ---------------------------------------
268 Q: When should I add code to ``samples/bpf/`` and when to BPF kernel
271 A: In general, we prefer additions to BPF kernel selftests_ rather than
272 ``samples/bpf/``. The rationale is very simple: kernel selftests are
273 regularly run by various bots to test for kernel regressions.
275 The more test cases we add to BPF selftests, the better the coverage
276 and the less likely it is that those could accidentally break. It is
277 not that BPF kernel selftests cannot demo how a specific feature can
280 That said, ``samples/bpf/`` may be a good place for people to get started,
281 so it might be advisable that simple demos of features could go into
282 ``samples/bpf/``, but advanced functional and corner-case testing rather
283 into kernel selftests.
285 If your sample looks like a test case, then go for BPF kernel selftests
288 Q: When should I add code to the bpftool?
289 -----------------------------------------
290 A: The main purpose of bpftool (under tools/bpf/bpftool/) is to provide
291 a central user space tool for debugging and introspection of BPF programs
292 and maps that are active in the kernel. If UAPI changes related to BPF
293 enable for dumping additional information of programs or maps, then
294 bpftool should be extended as well to support dumping them.
296 Q: When should I add code to iproute2's BPF loader?
297 ---------------------------------------------------
298 A: For UAPI changes related to the XDP or tc layer (e.g. ``cls_bpf``),
299 the convention is that those control-path related changes are added to
300 iproute2's BPF loader as well from user space side. This is not only
301 useful to have UAPI changes properly designed to be usable, but also
302 to make those changes available to a wider user base of major
303 downstream distributions.
305 Q: Do you accept patches as well for iproute2's BPF loader?
306 -----------------------------------------------------------
307 A: Patches for the iproute2's BPF loader have to be sent to:
309 netdev@vger.kernel.org
311 While those patches are not processed by the BPF kernel maintainers,
312 please keep them in Cc as well, so they can be reviewed.
314 The official git repository for iproute2 is run by Stephen Hemminger
317 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/shemminger/iproute2.git/
319 The patches need to have a subject prefix of '``[PATCH iproute2
320 master]``' or '``[PATCH iproute2 net-next]``'. '``master``' or
321 '``net-next``' describes the target branch where the patch should be
322 applied to. Meaning, if kernel changes went into the net-next kernel
323 tree, then the related iproute2 changes need to go into the iproute2
324 net-next branch, otherwise they can be targeted at master branch. The
325 iproute2 net-next branch will get merged into the master branch after
326 the current iproute2 version from master has been released.
328 Like BPF, the patches end up in patchwork under the netdev project and
329 are delegated to 'shemminger' for further processing:
331 http://patchwork.ozlabs.org/project/netdev/list/?delegate=389
333 Q: What is the minimum requirement before I submit my BPF patches?
334 ------------------------------------------------------------------
335 A: When submitting patches, always take the time and properly test your
336 patches *prior* to submission. Never rush them! If maintainers find
337 that your patches have not been properly tested, it is a good way to
338 get them grumpy. Testing patch submissions is a hard requirement!
340 Note, fixes that go to bpf tree *must* have a ``Fixes:`` tag included.
341 The same applies to fixes that target bpf-next, where the affected
342 commit is in net-next (or in some cases bpf-next). The ``Fixes:`` tag is
343 crucial in order to identify follow-up commits and tremendously helps
344 for people having to do backporting, so it is a must have!
346 We also don't accept patches with an empty commit message. Take your
347 time and properly write up a high quality commit message, it is
350 Think about it this way: other developers looking at your code a month
351 from now need to understand *why* a certain change has been done that
352 way, and whether there have been flaws in the analysis or assumptions
353 that the original author did. Thus providing a proper rationale and
354 describing the use-case for the changes is a must.
356 Patch submissions with >1 patch must have a cover letter which includes
357 a high level description of the series. This high level summary will
358 then be placed into the merge commit by the BPF maintainers such that
359 it is also accessible from the git log for future reference.
361 Q: Features changing BPF JIT and/or LLVM
362 ----------------------------------------
363 Q: What do I need to consider when adding a new instruction or feature
364 that would require BPF JIT and/or LLVM integration as well?
366 A: We try hard to keep all BPF JITs up to date such that the same user
367 experience can be guaranteed when running BPF programs on different
368 architectures without having the program punt to the less efficient
369 interpreter in case the in-kernel BPF JIT is enabled.
371 If you are unable to implement or test the required JIT changes for
372 certain architectures, please work together with the related BPF JIT
373 developers in order to get the feature implemented in a timely manner.
374 Please refer to the git log (``arch/*/net/``) to locate the necessary
375 people for helping out.
377 Also always make sure to add BPF test cases (e.g. test_bpf.c and
378 test_verifier.c) for new instructions, so that they can receive
379 broad test coverage and help run-time testing the various BPF JITs.
381 In case of new BPF instructions, once the changes have been accepted
382 into the Linux kernel, please implement support into LLVM's BPF back
383 end. See LLVM_ section below for further information.
385 Q: What "BPF_INTERNAL" symbol namespace is for?
386 -----------------------------------------------
387 A: Symbols exported as BPF_INTERNAL can only be used by BPF infrastructure
388 like preload kernel modules with light skeleton. Most symbols outside
389 of BPF_INTERNAL are not expected to be used by code outside of BPF either.
390 Symbols may lack the designation because they predate the namespaces,
391 or due to an oversight.
396 Q: I need a specific BPF commit in stable kernels. What should I do?
397 --------------------------------------------------------------------
398 A: In case you need a specific fix in stable kernels, first check whether
399 the commit has already been applied in the related ``linux-*.y`` branches:
401 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/
403 If not the case, then drop an email to the BPF maintainers with the
404 netdev kernel mailing list in Cc and ask for the fix to be queued up:
406 netdev@vger.kernel.org
408 The process in general is the same as on netdev itself, see also the
409 the documentation on networking subsystem at
410 Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst.
412 Q: Do you also backport to kernels not currently maintained as stable?
413 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
414 A: No. If you need a specific BPF commit in kernels that are currently not
415 maintained by the stable maintainers, then you are on your own.
417 The current stable and longterm stable kernels are all listed here:
419 https://www.kernel.org/
421 Q: The BPF patch I am about to submit needs to go to stable as well
422 -------------------------------------------------------------------
425 A: The same rules apply as with netdev patch submissions in general, see
426 the netdev docs at Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst.
428 Never add "``Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org``" to the patch description, but
429 ask the BPF maintainers to queue the patches instead. This can be done
430 with a note, for example, under the ``---`` part of the patch which does
431 not go into the git log. Alternatively, this can be done as a simple
432 request by mail instead.
434 Q: Queue stable patches
435 -----------------------
436 Q: Where do I find currently queued BPF patches that will be submitted
439 A: Once patches that fix critical bugs got applied into the bpf tree, they
440 are queued up for stable submission under:
442 http://patchwork.ozlabs.org/bundle/bpf/stable/?state=*
444 They will be on hold there at minimum until the related commit made its
445 way into the mainline kernel tree.
447 After having been under broader exposure, the queued patches will be
448 submitted by the BPF maintainers to the stable maintainers.
453 Q: How to run BPF selftests
454 ---------------------------
455 A: After you have booted into the newly compiled kernel, navigate to
456 the BPF selftests_ suite in order to test BPF functionality (current
457 working directory points to the root of the cloned git tree)::
459 $ cd tools/testing/selftests/bpf/
462 To run the verifier tests::
464 $ sudo ./test_verifier
466 The verifier tests print out all the current checks being
467 performed. The summary at the end of running all tests will dump
468 information of test successes and failures::
470 Summary: 418 PASSED, 0 FAILED
472 In order to run through all BPF selftests, the following command is
475 $ sudo make run_tests
477 See :doc:`kernel selftest documentation </dev-tools/kselftest>`
480 To maximize the number of tests passing, the .config of the kernel
481 under test should match the config file fragment in
482 tools/testing/selftests/bpf as closely as possible.
484 Finally to ensure support for latest BPF Type Format features -
485 discussed in Documentation/bpf/btf.rst - pahole version 1.16
486 is required for kernels built with CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF=y.
487 pahole is delivered in the dwarves package or can be built
490 https://github.com/acmel/dwarves
492 pahole starts to use libbpf definitions and APIs since v1.13 after the
493 commit 21507cd3e97b ("pahole: add libbpf as submodule under lib/bpf").
494 It works well with the git repository because the libbpf submodule will
495 use "git submodule update --init --recursive" to update.
497 Unfortunately, the default github release source code does not contain
498 libbpf submodule source code and this will cause build issues, the tarball
499 from https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/devel/pahole/pahole.git/ is same with
500 github, you can get the source tarball with corresponding libbpf submodule
503 https://fedorapeople.org/~acme/dwarves
505 Some distros have pahole version 1.16 packaged already, e.g.
508 Q: Which BPF kernel selftests version should I run my kernel against?
509 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
510 A: If you run a kernel ``xyz``, then always run the BPF kernel selftests
511 from that kernel ``xyz`` as well. Do not expect that the BPF selftest
512 from the latest mainline tree will pass all the time.
514 In particular, test_bpf.c and test_verifier.c have a large number of
515 test cases and are constantly updated with new BPF test sequences, or
516 existing ones are adapted to verifier changes e.g. due to verifier
517 becoming smarter and being able to better track certain things.
522 Q: Where do I find LLVM with BPF support?
523 -----------------------------------------
524 A: The BPF back end for LLVM is upstream in LLVM since version 3.7.1.
526 All major distributions these days ship LLVM with BPF back end enabled,
527 so for the majority of use-cases it is not required to compile LLVM by
528 hand anymore, just install the distribution provided package.
530 LLVM's static compiler lists the supported targets through
531 ``llc --version``, make sure BPF targets are listed. Example::
534 LLVM (http://llvm.org/):
537 Default target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
541 aarch64 - AArch64 (little endian)
542 bpf - BPF (host endian)
543 bpfeb - BPF (big endian)
544 bpfel - BPF (little endian)
545 x86 - 32-bit X86: Pentium-Pro and above
546 x86-64 - 64-bit X86: EM64T and AMD64
548 For developers in order to utilize the latest features added to LLVM's
549 BPF back end, it is advisable to run the latest LLVM releases. Support
550 for new BPF kernel features such as additions to the BPF instruction
551 set are often developed together.
553 All LLVM releases can be found at: http://releases.llvm.org/
555 Q: Got it, so how do I build LLVM manually anyway?
556 --------------------------------------------------
557 A: We recommend that developers who want the fastest incremental builds
558 use the Ninja build system, you can find it in your system's package
559 manager, usually the package is ninja or ninja-build.
561 You need ninja, cmake and gcc-c++ as build requisites for LLVM. Once you
562 have that set up, proceed with building the latest LLVM and clang version
563 from the git repositories::
565 $ git clone https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project.git
566 $ mkdir -p llvm-project/llvm/build
567 $ cd llvm-project/llvm/build
568 $ cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD="BPF;X86" \
569 -DLLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS="clang" \
570 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
571 -DLLVM_BUILD_RUNTIME=OFF
574 The built binaries can then be found in the build/bin/ directory, where
575 you can point the PATH variable to.
577 Set ``-DLLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD`` equal to the target you wish to build, you
578 will find a full list of targets within the llvm-project/llvm/lib/Target
581 Q: Reporting LLVM BPF issues
582 ----------------------------
583 Q: Should I notify BPF kernel maintainers about issues in LLVM's BPF code
584 generation back end or about LLVM generated code that the verifier
589 LLVM's BPF back end is a key piece of the whole BPF
590 infrastructure and it ties deeply into verification of programs from the
591 kernel side. Therefore, any issues on either side need to be investigated
592 and fixed whenever necessary.
594 Therefore, please make sure to bring them up at netdev kernel mailing
595 list and Cc BPF maintainers for LLVM and kernel bits:
597 * Yonghong Song <yhs@fb.com>
598 * Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
599 * Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>
601 LLVM also has an issue tracker where BPF related bugs can be found:
603 https://bugs.llvm.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=bpf
605 However, it is better to reach out through mailing lists with having
608 Q: New BPF instruction for kernel and LLVM
609 ------------------------------------------
610 Q: I have added a new BPF instruction to the kernel, how can I integrate
613 A: LLVM has a ``-mcpu`` selector for the BPF back end in order to allow
614 the selection of BPF instruction set extensions. By default the
615 ``generic`` processor target is used, which is the base instruction set
618 LLVM has an option to select ``-mcpu=probe`` where it will probe the host
619 kernel for supported BPF instruction set extensions and selects the
620 optimal set automatically.
622 For cross-compilation, a specific version can be select manually as well ::
624 $ llc -march bpf -mcpu=help
625 Available CPUs for this target:
627 generic - Select the generic processor.
628 probe - Select the probe processor.
629 v1 - Select the v1 processor.
630 v2 - Select the v2 processor.
633 Newly added BPF instructions to the Linux kernel need to follow the same
634 scheme, bump the instruction set version and implement probing for the
635 extensions such that ``-mcpu=probe`` users can benefit from the
636 optimization transparently when upgrading their kernels.
638 If you are unable to implement support for the newly added BPF instruction
639 please reach out to BPF developers for help.
641 By the way, the BPF kernel selftests run with ``-mcpu=probe`` for better
644 Q: clang flag for target bpf?
645 -----------------------------
646 Q: In some cases clang flag ``--target=bpf`` is used but in other cases the
647 default clang target, which matches the underlying architecture, is used.
648 What is the difference and when I should use which?
650 A: Although LLVM IR generation and optimization try to stay architecture
651 independent, ``--target=<arch>`` still has some impact on generated code:
653 - BPF program may recursively include header file(s) with file scope
654 inline assembly codes. The default target can handle this well,
655 while ``bpf`` target may fail if bpf backend assembler does not
656 understand these assembly codes, which is true in most cases.
658 - When compiled without ``-g``, additional elf sections, e.g.,
659 .eh_frame and .rela.eh_frame, may be present in the object file
660 with default target, but not with ``bpf`` target.
662 - The default target may turn a C switch statement into a switch table
663 lookup and jump operation. Since the switch table is placed
664 in the global readonly section, the bpf program will fail to load.
665 The bpf target does not support switch table optimization.
666 The clang option ``-fno-jump-tables`` can be used to disable
667 switch table generation.
669 - For clang ``--target=bpf``, it is guaranteed that pointer or long /
670 unsigned long types will always have a width of 64 bit, no matter
671 whether underlying clang binary or default target (or kernel) is
672 32 bit. However, when native clang target is used, then it will
673 compile these types based on the underlying architecture's conventions,
674 meaning in case of 32 bit architecture, pointer or long / unsigned
675 long types e.g. in BPF context structure will have width of 32 bit
676 while the BPF LLVM back end still operates in 64 bit. The native
677 target is mostly needed in tracing for the case of walking ``pt_regs``
678 or other kernel structures where CPU's register width matters.
679 Otherwise, ``clang --target=bpf`` is generally recommended.
681 You should use default target when:
683 - Your program includes a header file, e.g., ptrace.h, which eventually
684 pulls in some header files containing file scope host assembly codes.
686 - You can add ``-fno-jump-tables`` to work around the switch table issue.
688 Otherwise, you can use ``bpf`` target. Additionally, you *must* use bpf target
691 - Your program uses data structures with pointer or long / unsigned long
692 types that interface with BPF helpers or context data structures. Access
693 into these structures is verified by the BPF verifier and may result
694 in verification failures if the native architecture is not aligned with
695 the BPF architecture, e.g. 64-bit. An example of this is
696 BPF_PROG_TYPE_SK_MSG require ``--target=bpf``
701 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/