NAME

     ng_bridge — Ethernet bridging netgraph node type

SYNOPSIS

     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <netgraph/ng_bridge.h>

DESCRIPTION

     The bridge node type performs Ethernet bridging over one or more links.  Each link
     (represented by a connected hook) is used to transmit and receive raw Ethernet frames.  As
     packets are received, the node learns which link each host resides on.  Packets unicast to a
     known host are directed out the appropriate link only, and other links are spared the
     traffic.  This behavior is in contrast to a hub, which always forwards every received packet
     to every other link.

LOOP DETECTION

     The bridge node incorporates a simple loop detection algorithm.  A loop is when two ports
     are connected to the same physical medium.  Loops are important to avoid because of packet
     storms, which severely degrade performance.  A packet storm results when the same packet is
     sent and received over and over again.  If a host is detected on link A, and is then
     detected on link B within a certain time period after first being detected on link A, then
     link B is considered to be a looped back link.  The time period is called the minimum stable
     time.

     A looped back link will be temporarily muted, i.e., all traffic received on that link is
     ignored.

IPFW PROCESSING

     Processing of IP packets via the ipfirewall(4) mechanism on a per-link basis is not yet
     implemented.

HOOKS

     This node type supports an unlimited number of hooks.  Each connected hook represents a
     bridged link.  The hooks are named link0, link1, etc.  Typically these hooks are connected
     to the lower hooks of one or more ng_ether(4) nodes.  To connect the host machine to a
     bridged network, simply connect the upper hook of an ng_ether(4) node to the bridge node.

CONTROL MESSAGES

     This node type supports the generic control messages, plus the following:

     NGM_BRIDGE_SET_CONFIG (setconfig)
          Set the node configuration.  This command takes a struct ng_bridge_config as an
          argument:

          /* Node configuration structure */
          struct ng_bridge_config {
            u_char      debugLevel;           /* debug level */
            uint32_t    loopTimeout;          /* link loopback mute time */
            uint32_t    maxStaleness;         /* max host age before nuking */
            uint32_t    minStableAge;         /* min time for a stable host */
          };

          The debugLevel field sets the debug level on the node.  At level of 2 or greater,
          detected loops are logged.  The default level is 1.

          The loopTimeout determines how long (in seconds) a looped link is muted.  The default
          is 60 seconds.  The maxStaleness parameter determines how long a period of inactivity
          before a host's entry is forgotten.  The default is 15 minutes.  The minStableAge
          determines how quickly a host must jump from one link to another before we declare a
          loopback condition.  The default is one second.

     NGM_BRIDGE_GET_CONFIG (getconfig)
          Returns the current configuration as a struct ng_bridge_config.

     NGM_BRIDGE_RESET (reset)
          Causes the node to forget all hosts and unmute all links.  The node configuration is
          not changed.

     NGM_BRIDGE_GET_STATS (getstats)
          This command takes a four byte link number as an argument and returns a struct
          ng_bridge_link_stats containing statistics for the corresponding link, which must be
          currently connected:

          /* Statistics structure (one for each link) */
          struct ng_bridge_link_stats {
            uint64_t   recvOctets;     /* total octets rec'd on link */
            uint64_t   recvPackets;    /* total pkts rec'd on link */
            uint64_t   recvMulticasts; /* multicast pkts rec'd on link */
            uint64_t   recvBroadcasts; /* broadcast pkts rec'd on link */
            uint64_t   recvUnknown;    /* pkts rec'd with unknown dest addr */
            uint64_t   recvRunts;      /* pkts rec'd less than 14 bytes */
            uint64_t   recvInvalid;    /* pkts rec'd with bogus source addr */
            uint64_t   xmitOctets;     /* total octets xmit'd on link */
            uint64_t   xmitPackets;    /* total pkts xmit'd on link */
            uint64_t   xmitMulticasts; /* multicast pkts xmit'd on link */
            uint64_t   xmitBroadcasts; /* broadcast pkts xmit'd on link */
            uint64_t   loopDrops;      /* pkts dropped due to loopback */
            uint64_t   loopDetects;    /* number of loop detections */
            uint64_t   memoryFailures; /* times couldn't get mem or mbuf */
          };

     NGM_BRIDGE_CLR_STATS (clrstats)
          This command takes a four byte link number as an argument and clears the statistics for
          that link.

     NGM_BRIDGE_GETCLR_STATS (getclrstats)
          Same as NGM_BRIDGE_GET_STATS, but also atomically clears the statistics as well.

     NGM_BRIDGE_GET_TABLE (gettable)
          Returns the current host mapping table used to direct packets, in a struct
          ng_bridge_host_ary.

     NGM_BRIDGE_SET_PERSISTENT (setpersistent)
          This command sets the persistent flag on the node, and takes no arguments.

SHUTDOWN

     This node shuts down upon receipt of a NGM_SHUTDOWN control message, or when all hooks have
     been disconnected.  Setting the persistent flag via a NGM_BRIDGE_SET_PERSISTENT control
     message disables automatic node shutdown when the last hook gets disconnected.

FILES

     /usr/share/examples/netgraph/ether.bridge
               Example script showing how to set up a bridging network

SEE ALSO

     if_bridge(4), netgraph(4), ng_ether(4), ng_hub(4), ng_one2many(4), ngctl(8)

HISTORY

     The ng_bridge node type was implemented in FreeBSD 4.2.

AUTHORS

     Archie Cobbs <archie@FreeBSD.org>