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+.. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
+.. (c) Cisco Systems, Inc
+
+==============
+Advanced Usage
+==============
+
+This section covers a few examples on how to run NFVbench with multiple different settings.
+Below are shown the most common and useful use-cases and explained some fields from a default config file.
+
+How to change any NFVbench run configuration (CLI)
+--------------------------------------------------
+NFVbench always starts with a default configuration which can further be partially refined (overridden) by the user from the CLI or from REST requests.
+
+At first have a look at the default config:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench --show-default-config
+
+It is sometimes useful derive your own configuration from a copy of the default config:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench --show-default-config > nfvbench.cfg
+
+At this point you can edit the copy by:
+
+- removing any parameter that is not to be changed (since NFVbench will always load the default configuration, default values are not needed)
+- edit the parameters that are to be changed changed
+
+A run with the new confguration can then simply be requested using the -c option and by using the actual path of the configuration file
+as seen from inside the container (in this example, we assume the current directory is mapped to /tmp/nfvbench in the container):
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c /tmp/nfvbench/nfvbench.cfg
+
+The same -c option also accepts any valid yaml or json string to override certain parameters without having to create a configuration file.
+
+NFVbench also provides many configuration options as optional arguments. For example the number of flows can be specified using the --flow-count option.
+
+For example, flow count can be specified in any of 3 ways:
+
+- by providing a confguration file that has the flow_count value to use (-c myconfig.yaml and myconfig.yaml contains 'flow_count: 100k')
+- by passing that yaml paremeter inline (-c "flow_count: 100k") or (-c "{flow_count: 100k}")
+- by using the flow count optional argument (--flow-count 100k)
+
+Showing the running configuration
+---------------------------------
+
+Because configuration parameters can be overriden, it is sometimes useful to show the final configuration (after all oevrrides are done) by using the --show-config option.
+This final configuration is also called the "running" configuration.
+
+For example, this will only display the running configuration (without actually running anything):
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c "{flow_count: 100k, debug: true}" --show-config
+
+
+Connectivity and Configuration Check
+------------------------------------
+
+NFVbench allows to test connectivity to devices used with selected flow test, for example PVP.
+It runs the whole test, but without actually sending any traffic or influencing interface counters.
+It is also a good way to check if everything is configured properly in the config file and what versions of components are used.
+
+
+To verify everything works without sending any traffic, use the --no-traffic option:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench --no-traffic
+
+Used parameters:
+
+* ``--no-traffic`` or ``-0`` : sending traffic from traffic generator is skipped
+
+
+
+Fixed Rate Run
+--------------
+
+Fixed rate run is the most basic type of NFVbench usage. It is usually used to verify that some amount of packets can pass network components in selected flow.
+
+The first example shows how to run PVP flow (default flow) with multiple different settings:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c nfvbench.cfg --no-reset --no-cleanup --rate 100000pps --duration 30 --interval 15 --json results.json
+
+Used parameters:
+
+* ``-c nfvbench.cfg`` : path to the config file
+* ``--no-cleanup`` : resources (networks, VMs, attached ports) are not deleted after test is finished
+* ``--rate 100000pps`` : defines rate of packets sent by traffic generator
+* ``--duration 30`` : specifies how long should traffic be running in seconds
+* ``--interval 15`` : stats are checked and shown periodically (in seconds) in this interval when traffic is flowing
+* ``--json results.json`` : collected data are stored in this file after run is finished
+
+.. note:: It is your responsibility to clean up resources if needed when ``--no-cleanup`` parameter is used.
+
+The ``--json`` parameter makes it easy to store NFVbench results. To display collected results in a table form, do:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench --show-summary results.json # or shortcut -ss results.json
+
+
+Second example aims to show how to specify which supported flow to run:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c nfvbench.cfg --rate 1Mbps --inter-node --service-chain PVVP
+
+Used parameters:
+
+* ``-c nfvbench.cfg`` : path to the config file
+* ``--rate 1Mbps`` : defines rate of packets sent by traffic generator
+* ``--inter-node`` : VMs are created on different compute nodes, works only with PVVP flow
+* ``--service-chain PVVP`` or ``-sc PVVP`` : specifies type of flow to use, default is PVP
+
+.. note:: When parameter ``--inter-node`` is not used or there aren't enough compute nodes, VMs are on the same compute node.
+
+
+Rate Units
+^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Parameter ``--rate`` accepts different types of values:
+
+* packets per second (pps, kpps, mpps), e.g. ``1000pps`` or ``10kpps``
+* load percentage (%), e.g. ``50%``
+* bits per second (bps, kbps, Mbps, Gbps), e.g. ``1Gbps``, ``1000bps``
+* NDR/PDR (ndr, pdr, ndr_pdr), e.g. ``ndr_pdr``
+
+The last mentioned value, NDR/PDR, is default one and its usage is covered more below.
+
+
+NDR and PDR
+-----------
+
+NDR and PDR test is used to determine performance of your setup, maximum packets throughput.
+
+* NDR (No Drop Rate): how many packets can be sent so (almost) none of them are dropped
+* PDR (Partial Drop Rate): how many packets can be sent so drop rate is below given limit
+
+Config file contains section where settings for NDR/PDR can be set.
+Increasing number of attempts helps to minimize a chance of traffic hiccups influencing result.
+Other way of increasing precision is to specify longer duration for traffic to run.
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ # NDR/PDR configuration
+ measurement:
+ # Drop rates represent the ratio of dropped packet to the total number of packets sent.
+ # Values provided here are percentages. A value of 0.01 means that at most 0.01% of all
+ # packets sent are dropped (or 1 packet every 10,000 packets sent)
+
+ # No Drop Rate; Default to 0.001%
+ NDR: 0.001
+ # Partial Drop Rate; NDR should always be less than PDR
+ PDR: 0.1
+ # The accuracy of NDR and PDR load percentiles; The actual load percentile that match NDR
+ # or PDR should be within `load_epsilon` difference than the one calculated.
+ load_epsilon: 0.1
+
+Because NDR/PDR is the default ``--rate`` value, it's possible to run NFVbench simply like this:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c nfvbench.cfg
+
+Other custom run:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c nfvbench.cfg --duration 120 --json results.json
+
+Used parameters:
+
+* ``-c nfvbench.cfg`` : path to the config file
+* ``--duration 120`` : specifies how long should be traffic running in each iteration
+* ``--json results.json`` : collected data are stored in this file after run is finished
+
+
+Multichain
+----------
+
+NFVbench allows to run multiple chains at the same time. For example it is possible to run PVP service chain N-times,
+where N can be as much as your compute power can scale. With N = 10, NFVbench will spawn 10 VMs as a part of 10 simultaneous PVP chains.
+
+Number of chains is specified by ``--service-chain-count`` or ``-scc`` flag, default value is 1.
+For example to run NFVbench with 3 PVP chains use command:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c nfvbench.cfg --rate 10000pps -scc 3
+
+It is not necessary to specify service chain because PVP is set as default. PVP service chains will have 3 VMs in 3 chains with this configuration.
+If ``-sc PVVP`` is specified instead, there would be 6 VMs in 3 chains as this service chain has 2 VMs per chain.
+Both **single run** or **NDR/PDR** can be run as multichain. Running multichain is a scenario closer to a real life situation than just simple run.
+
+
+External Chain
+--------------
+
+NFVbench can measure the performance of 1 or more L3 service chains that are setup externally. Instead of being setup by NFVbench,
+the complete environment (VMs and networks) has to be setup prior to running NFVbench.
+
+Each external chain is made of 1 or more VNFs and has exactly 2 end network interfaces (left and right network interfaces) that are connected to 2 neutron networks (left and right networks).
+The internal composition of a multi-VNF service chain can be arbitrary (usually linear) as far as NFVbench is concerned,
+the only requirement is that the service chain can route L3 packets properly between the left and right networks.
+
+To run NFVbench on such external service chains:
+
+- explicitly tell NFVbench to use external service chain by adding ``-sc EXT`` or ``--service-chain EXT`` to NFVbench CLI options
+- specify the number of external chains using the ``-scc`` option (defaults to 1 chain)
+- specify the 2 end point networks of your environment in ``external_networks`` inside the config file.
+ - The two networks specified there have to exist in Neutron and will be used as the end point networks by NFVbench ('napa' and 'marin' in the diagram below)
+- specify the router gateway IPs for the external service chains (1.1.0.2 and 2.2.0.2)
+- specify the traffic generator gateway IPs for the external service chains (1.1.0.102 and 2.2.0.102 in diagram below)
+- specify the packet source and destination IPs for the virtual devices that are simulated (10.0.0.0/8 and 20.0.0.0/8)
+
+
+.. image:: images/extchain-config.svg
+
+The L3 router function must be enabled in the VNF and configured to:
+
+- reply to ARP requests to its public IP addresses on both left and right networks
+- route packets from each set of remote devices toward the appropriate dest gateway IP in the traffic generator using 2 static routes (as illustrated in the diagram)
+
+Upon start, NFVbench will:
+- first retrieve the properties of the left and right networks using Neutron APIs,
+- extract the underlying network ID (either VLAN ID or VNI if VxLAN is used),
+- then program the TOR to stitch the 2 interfaces from the traffic generator into each end of the service chain,
+- then generate and measure traffic.
+
+Note that in the case of multiple chains, all chains end interfaces must be connected to the same two left and right networks.
+The traffic will be load balanced across the corresponding gateway IP of these external service chains.
+
+.. note:: By default, interfaces configuration (TOR, VTS, etc.) will be run by NFVbench but these can be skipped by using ``--no-int-config`` flag.
+
+
+Multiflow
+---------
+
+NFVbench always generates L3 packets from the traffic generator but allows the user to specify how many flows to generate.
+A flow is identified by a unique src/dest MAC IP and port tuple that is sent by the traffic generator. Note that from a vswitch point of view, the
+number of flows seen will be higher as it will be at least 4 times the number of flows sent by the traffic generator
+(add reverse direction of vswitch to traffic generator, add flow to VM and flow from VM).
+
+
+The number of flows will be spread roughly even between chains when more than 1 chain is being tested.
+For example, for 11 flows and 3 chains, number of flows that will run for each chain will be 3, 4, and 4 flows respectively.
+
+The number of flows is specified by ``--flow-count`` or ``-fc`` flag, the default value is 2 (1 flow in each direction).
+To run NFVbench with 3 chains and 100 flows, use the following command:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench -c nfvbench.cfg --rate 10000pps -scc 3 -fc 100
+
+
+IP addresses generated can be controlled with the following NFVbench configuration options:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ ip_addrs: ['10.0.0.0/8', '20.0.0.0/8']
+ ip_addrs_step: 0.0.0.1
+ tg_gateway_ip_addrs: ['1.1.0.100', '2.2.0.100']
+ tg_gateway_ip_addrs_step: 0.0.0.1
+ gateway_ip_addrs: ['1.1.0.2', '2.2.0.2']
+ gateway_ip_addrs_step: 0.0.0.1
+
+``ip_addrs`` are the start of the 2 ip address ranges used by the traffic generators as the packets source and destination packets
+where each range is associated to virtual devices simulated behind 1 physical interface of the traffic generator.
+These can also be written in CIDR notation to represent the subnet.
+
+``tg_gateway_ip_addrs`` are the traffic generator gateway (virtual) ip addresses, all traffic to/from the virtual devices go through them.
+
+``gateway_ip_addrs`` are the 2 gateway ip address ranges of the VMs used in the external chains. They are only used with external chains and must correspond to their public IP address.
+
+The corresponding ``step`` is used for ranging the IP addresses from the `ip_addrs``, ``tg_gateway_ip_addrs`` and ``gateway_ip_addrs`` base addresses.
+0.0.0.1 is the default step for all IP ranges. In ``ip_addrs``, 'random' can be configured which tells NFVBench to generate random src/dst IP pairs in the traffic stream.
+
+
+Traffic Config via CLI
+----------------------
+
+While traffic configuration can modified using the config file, it became a hassle to have to change the config file everytime you need to change traffic config.
+
+Traffic config can be overridden with the CLI options.
+
+Here is an example of configuring traffic via CLI:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+ nfvbench --rate 10kpps --service-chain-count 2 -fs 64 -fs IMIX -fs 1518 --unidir
+
+This command will run NFVbench with two streams with unidirectional flow for three packet sizes 64B, IMIX, and 1518B.
+
+Used parameters:
+
+* ``--rate 10kpps`` : defines rate of packets sent by traffic generator (total TX rate)
+* ``-scc 2`` or ``--service-chain-count 2`` : specifies number of parallel chains of given flow to run (default to 1)
+* ``-fs 64`` or ``--frame-size 64``: add the specified frame size to the list of frame sizes to run
+* ``--unidir`` : run traffic with unidirectional flow (default to bidirectional flow)
+
+
+MAC Addresses
+-------------
+
+NFVbench will dicover the MAC addresses to use for generated frames using:
+- either OpenStack discovery (find the MAC of an existing VM) if the loopback VM is configured to run L2 forwarding
+- or using dynamic ARP discovery (find MAC from IP) if the loopback VM is configured to run L3 routing or in the case of external chains.
+