Three fixes from live-calibrating the kernel impairment filters on an
isolated instance (Docker-to-Docker veth link, per-sequence evidence):
- update_filters skipped an unchanged filters dict as a no-op, so a
one-shot window_drop outage that had already passed could never be
re-armed: re-applying the same values produced no datapath command at
all. A PUT still carrying window_drop now reconciles, restarting the
schedule from the apply as documented. Measured: identical re-apply
moves the outage window from seq 50-70 to 70-91 (arm at +8s of the
new apply).
- gemodel parameter semantics were documented backwards in the
validation rules, available_filters, the MCP/copilot descriptions and
the feature docs. Measured against the kernel (per-direction counters,
offered = sent + dropped): p is the good-to-bad transition chance, r
the bad-to-good transition, 1-h the loss chance in the bad state (the
good state loses nothing) - mean one-way loss p/(p+r)*(1-h), e.g.
[10,30,100] -> 24.8%/25.7% measured vs 25% predicted, [5,45,100] ->
10.8% both ways vs 10%.
- kernel_datapath was silently stripped from every REST/MCP link payload
by the response model (LinkBase carried no such field), so clients
could not tell a kernel link from a relay one.
Also verified on the same setup: the 3-argument window_drop form works
exactly as specified ([3000,5000,100] -> a single seq 31-55 outage,
[20000,6000,100] -> seq 115-144), and both generations of the command
builder emit the parameters unpadded.
Adds an API test for the field and controller tests for the no-op skip
and the window_drop re-arm exemption.
Consume uBridge's ebpf_modes contract (feature/tc-window 40c36ae): a
stateful mode is usable iff ebpf=1 and its token is listed; builds
predating the field keep their shipped modes (nth/quota/flow), so the
pre-correction window semantics can never be installed silently.
- gns3server/utils/tc_capabilities.py: shared reply parser, mode
policy and filter-type mappings (compute and controller gate on the
same rules)
- gns3server/compute/ubridge/tc_probe.py: standalone probe spawning a
throwaway uBridge as the server's own user, cached by binary
identity (path/mtime/size - the version string cannot distinguish
rebuilds); failures cache as unknown
- GET /v3/compute/capabilities gains ubridge_tc {netem, ebpf,
ebpf_modes, cbpf}; the controller forwards it (Compute.capabilities)
and available_filters hides kernel-datapath filter types an endpoint
compute cannot run (both ends apply their own filters, so one
incapable compute hides the type); computes without a report keep
the full list and apply-time 409 stays the guard
- docker: _ubridge_apply_ebpf_drops gates per mode token; the cleanup
path only sends "off" for modes the build declares
- split DockerVM's kernel-datapath machinery (veth lifecycle, carrier,
marker primitives, tc filter translation, kernel NIO teardown) into
compute/docker/docker_kernel_datapath.py (DockerKernelDatapathMixin)
The bridge teardown only hung off the link-removal path, but deleting a
node or closing a project never issues a per-link delete — the veths
disappeared with their containers and left the bridge behind as an empty
orphan (reproduced: create a kernel link, DELETE the project, the
gns3{link_id} bridge survives). `_remove_kernel_veths` now deletes the
node's kernel-NIO bridges alongside the veth host ends: both endpoints do
it, the peer's still-enslaved port answers EBUSY (suppressed, last one
wins) exactly like link deletion, a relay NIO's uBridge bridge is left
alone (it dies with the process), and a node restart rebuilds the bridge
from the NIO in _connect_nio.
Found while cleaning up the window_drop e2e: seven such bridges had
accumulated on this host. Re-verified live: the bridge is gone after the
project delete, and the window_drop e2e (which includes a node restart
with the kernel link attached) still passes 15/15.
uBridge's window mode gained the semantics the B.2 spec asked for —
`tc window_drop <if> <start> <outage> <pct> [<period> [<jitter>]]`: a
single outage that traffic passes before *and* after, recurring flaps
with period >= outage, and a per-cycle jitter — so the kernel-only
`window_drop` filter type is now exposed:
- validation mirrors the tc grammar (3-5 params, ranges, period >=
outage, jitter cap) and adds window_drop to KERNEL_ONLY_FILTERS;
filter_inactive_filters keeps start=0 — unlike every other filter a
zero first parameter means "the outage starts now", not "disabled".
- `_ubridge_apply_ebpf_drops` sends `tc window_drop` (positional
pass-through) and turns the mode off explicitly when absent, under the
same ebpf=1 gate.
- FILTERS entry (Start/Outage/Chance/Period/Jitter) + available_filters.
The schedule is relative to the apply: reconcile re-sets the classifier
on every apply, so any filter change, node restart or link reset restarts
the window.
Verified on a two-container kernel link, 15/15: a single outage
[1000, 1500, 100] arrives per-seq as [0..4, 13..19] (passing before the
window, dropped inside, passing after); recurring 1000/2000 ms = 52 %
round trip (duty cycle); period == outage = permanent outage; period <
outage = 409 before uBridge; jittered flap keeps the ~50 % duty cycle;
30 % chance on a permanent window = 53 % round trip against the
per-direction theory 1-0.7^2 = 51 %; coexist with netem; node restart
restores; available_filters kernel vs relay (409 + hidden); teardown
clean. P6b re-run as a regression on the same uBridge build: 13/13.
Worth recording for the next rebuild: the first delivered window program
loaded as root but reported ebpf=0 through gns3-server — the verifier's
non-root path loses the loop counter's bound, treats the catch-up loop as
unbounded and rejects the *whole* program (E2BIG, 8193 pending states),
which also took frequency_drop and quota down, with ebpf=0 as the only
symptom. Smaller trip caps did not help; the loop had to go (uBridge
572ca0c), on top of a Makefile header-dependency fix (53e34bb) that had
been shipping a stale program object.
Consume the eBPF impairment classifier delivered in uBridge
feature/tc-precision: frequency_drop becomes the exact every-Nth mode
(tc nth_drop; -1 = drop everything maps to every 1st) and the new
kernel-only quota type is the byte-cap mode (tc quota_drop, 100 = hard
cutoff). KERNEL_UNSUPPORTED_FILTERS is gone entirely — kernel/relay
eligibility is now purely topological. Both modes gate on ebpf=1 from
the per-process tc capabilities probe (error names the setcap fix); the
cleanup path (modes off) only talks to the eBPF commands when the probe
reported them. Reconcile is a plain re-set: the netem reset-before-set
already detaches the program and clears uBridge's per-interface
registry, so a mode set after it is a fresh load+attach.
Documented semantic difference: the relay counts both directions
through one bridge counter, the kernel counts per direction — N=3
round-trip loss is 1-(2/3)^2 = 55.6% on kernel vs ~1/N on relay
(measured 57%). window_drop is NOT exposed: the delivered
implementation advances the window with no gap, making 'outside the
window packets pass' unreachable (needs outage/period fields —
recorded in the spec); flow_drop awaits a parameter-shape decision.
Also fixes a pre-existing restart bug the e2e exposed: _bridges (relay
bridge names) was never cleared on stop, so restarting a node with a
relay link skipped 'bridge create' and failed on add_nio_udp.
e2e (isolated instance): 13/13 — pref-1 tc_impair classifier on both
veths, 57% round-trip for N=3, -1 = exact 100%, quota hard cutoff,
delay coexistence, clean teardown, suspend/resume, node restart,
relay-leg frequency_drop regression through an Ethernet switch. Full
suite: 1925 passed.
Surface the netem extensions delivered in uBridge feature/tc-netem-ext
as GNS3 filter types: rate (tc-style bandwidth string), reorder (needs
delay), gemodel (Gilbert-Elliot bursty loss, exclusive with
packet_loss), duplicate, seed and limit, plus the delay jitter
distribution and the loss/dup correlation parameters. All are
kernel-datapath only — the relay's packet-filter registry has no
equivalent, so available_filters hides them on relay links, setting one
on a created relay link returns 409, and the project-load path drops
them with a warning (update_filters runs before the datapath is
decided, so it cannot reject there). Validation mirrors the tc grammar:
reorder requires delay, gemodel and packet_loss are mutually exclusive,
a distribution requires jitter > 0, rate is integer+unit capped at
100gbit.
The translation in DockerVM._netem_command_parts emits the frozen
grammar order and gates extension keywords on the 'tc capabilities'
netem token list (probed once per uBridge process; a plain
delay/loss/corrupt/dup filter never probes, keeping old uBridge builds
untouched; the correl suffix has no token and gates on 'rate' as the
extension-build marker).
Reconcile became reset-before-set: the kernel's netem change merges
optional attributes (rate, correlation, reorder, corrupt, gemodel,
distribution, seed keep their previous value when the new message omits
them), so removing a parameter needs an explicit 'tc reset' — the
bpf_drop filters are re-added right after in the same flow, so the
clsact churn is invisible. The capability check runs before the reset
so a failed update leaves the previous qdisc in place.
e2e (isolated instance, kernel link): 24/24 — rate 512kbit adds exactly
2x the per-packet serialization to the RTT (45.5 ms for 1400-byte
pings), paretonormal jitter + rate-cleared leak check, reorder gap 5,
gemodel 50% bursty loss, duplicate, loss 30% correl 50%, seed 42 +
limit 5000 visible in the qdisc dump, suspend/resume and node restart
keep the filters, relay link rejects rate with 409, teardown leaves no
netem. Full unit suite: 1916 passed.
The GNS3 bpf filter (one expression per line, any line matching drops the
packet) now runs on the kernel datapath: uBridge's tc bpf_drop compiles
each line with libpcap (same compiler as the relay filter) into classic
BPF, attaches it to the veth host end's clsact egress as a cls_bpf
classifier with a gact TC_ACT_SHOT action, and the kernel migrates the
cBPF to eBPF internally -- no CAP_BPF needed.
- reconcile is flush + one add per line at priorities 10, 11, ... (OR
semantics, same as the relay's per-line filters); tc reset (link
delete / clear) is the full restore in uBridge and clears them
- capability-gated: the compute probes "tc capabilities" once per uBridge
process (cached, invalidated on stop); without cbpf=1 the filter apply
fails with an actionable upgrade error, and old uBridge builds without
the tc module are never touched when no bpf filter is present
- a line that compiled for the controller's tcpdump but not for the
compute's uBridge libpcap is skipped with a warning, mirroring the
relay path
- KERNEL_UNSUPPORTED_FILTERS shrinks to frequency_drop (its eBPF stateful
classifier is still pending, spec part B)
e2e (22/22): bpf "icmp" = 100% loss; size-discriminating expression
("greater 150") passes 98-byte and drops 300-byte pings (real byte-level
match); two-line OR; coexistence with netem (delay 50 -> small pings
100.2 ms while big dropped); clear removes clsact; suspend/resume keeps
the drops; link delete + recreate leaves no residual filters.
Impairment filters with a netem equivalent (delay, packet_loss, corrupt)
now run on the kernel datapath as one tc netem qdisc per veth host end,
pushed through uBridge's netlink tc module (tc netem set / tc reset).
This removes the relay delay filter's nanosleep bottleneck (upstream
Both link endpoints carry the filters: each end's qdisc egress covers
the traffic entering that container, so every direction is impaired
exactly once -- the same net effect as the relay, where both directions
cross the single filtered bridge.
- controller: eligibility keys on relay-only types (frequency_drop, bpf)
instead of any filter; kernel links push the real filters (the
synthetic suspend frequency_drop no longer flips a suspended link to
relay on reopen/reset); update_filters 409s only relay-only types;
available_filters hides them on kernel links
- compute: create_nio whitelists netem-capable filter types; the NIO
update path keeps its own guard (PUT mutates the NIO in place);
_ubridge_apply_netem translates the filter dict into one atomic
netem-set (full re-apply IS the reconcile); node restart restores the
qdisc, link deletion detaches it (the veth survives the link)
- e2e (27/27): delay 100 -> 200.2 ms RTT, atomic replace 50 -> 100.2 ms,
clear -> baseline, packet_loss 30 -> 48 % round-trip (expected 51 %),
suspend/resume and node restart keep the qdisc, link delete leaves no
residual impairment
Cover the four-stage stack (kernel datapath, AF_PACKET capture, markers,
veth-everywhere): adapter interface types per node class, datapath
selection, veth lifecycle, link operations, suspend/capture/markers
semantics, uBridge command surface and the tc netem filters roadmap.
Cross-link from the traffic-insight marker doc for the kernel variant.
