Enable SRIOV with DPDK

SRIOV and DPDK

SRI-IOV WorkerNode Prerequisites

In order for the cni-sriov-plugin to start reading Virtual Functions resources as well HostNetworkTemplate objects can configure virtual functions you need to perform the following steps.

  1. Enable** VT-D** at BIOS level.

  2. Enable SRIOV feature globally and/or per nic according to the nic you are working with, for example Intel x710 should be enabled per nic at BIOS level.

  3. Upgrade Kernel boot line to enable intel_iommu=on and iommu=pt

$ grubby --update-kernel=ALL --args="iommu=pt intel_iommu=on"
$ reboot

Huge page Support

Most network applications use huge pages, so you may want to enable that. Please edit /etc/default/grub and add huge-ages

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nofb nomodeset vga=normal iommu=pt intel_iommu=on default_hugepagesz=1G hugepagesz=1G hugepages=16"
#Rebuild grub.cfg
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg && reboot

Create SR-IOV ConfigMap

SR-IOV ConfigMap

Please copy paste the following definition update the values of your Physical Functions and ranges or Virtual Functions as well as Drivers and apply it to our cluster, in case that you have multiple nics, that each one uses different kernels drivers please omit the drivers section and just mentioned pfName within the selectors section.

SR-IOV Kernel Driver plus DPDK ConfigMap

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
name: sriovdp-config
namespace: kube-system
data:
config.json: |
{
"resourceList": [
{
"resourceName": "intel_sriov_dpdk0",
"selectors": {
"drivers": ["vfio-pci"],
"pfNameis": ["enp3s0f0#0-7"]
}
},
{
"resourceName": "intel_sriov_kernel0",
"selectors": {
"drivers": ["ixgbevf"],
"pfNames": ["enp3s0f0#8-15"]
}
},
{
"resourceName": "intel_sriov_dpdk1",
"selectors": {

Create NetworkAttachDefinition of DPDK type

kind: NetworkAttachmentDefinition
metadata:
name: sriov-net-a
annotations:
k8s.v1.cni.cncf.io/resourceName: intel.com/intel_sriov_dpdk_a
spec:
config: '{
"type": "sriov",
"cniVersion": "0.3.1",
"name": "sriov-network-a",
"vlan": 100,
"vlanQoS": 1,
"max_tx_rate": 100,
"spoofchk": "off",
"trust": "on"
}'

Network Attach Definition Validation SR-IOV-DPDK type

Let’s validate our work by listing and describing our new Network Attach Definition

$ kubectl get net-attach-def
NAME AGE
sriov-dpdk0 15s
$ kubectl describe net-attach-def sriov-dpdk0
Name: sriov-dpdk0
Namespace: default
Labels: <none>
Annotations: k8s.v1.cni.cncf.io/resourceName: intel.com/intel_sriov_dpdk0
kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration:
{"apiVersion":"k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1","kind":"NetworkAttachmentDefinition","metadata":{"annotations":{"k8s.v1.cni.cncf.io/resourceName":"inte...
API Version: k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1
Kind: NetworkAttachmentDefinition
Metadata:
Creation Timestamp: 2020-10-05T20:25:57Z
Generation: 1
Resource Version: 2310115
Self Link: /apis/k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1/namespaces/default/network-attachment-definitions/sriov-dpdk0
UID: 5307140a-3771-41b4-845e-1aa8460acffc
Spec:
Config: { "cniVersion": "0.3.1", "name": "sriov-dpdk0", "type": "sriov", "vlan": 90 }

Create Pods with SR-IOV interfaces (DPDK Driver - vfio-pci)

# cat sriov-pod-2.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
name: sriov-pod-2
annotations:
k8s.v1.cni.cncf.io/networks: sriov-net-a
spec:
containers:
- name: sriov-example
image: rparikh/dpdk-app-centos
securityContext:
privileged: true
volumeMounts:
- mountPath: /etc/podnetinfo
name: podnetinfo
readOnly: false
- mountPath: /dev/hugepages
name: hugepage
resources:
requests:
memory: 1Gi
#cpu: "4"
intel.com/intel_sriov_dpdk_a: '1'
limits:
hugepages-1Gi: 2Gi
#cpu: "4"
intel.com/intel_sriov_dpdk_a: '1'
# Uncomment to control which DPDK App is running in container.

Deploy the new pods

$ kubectl apply -f sriov-pod-2.yaml

Validate Pods Creation with SR-IOV interfaces (DPDK - Driver vfio-pci)

Let’s validate your work by confirming that the created pods got successfully created by doing the following commands:

$ kubectl get pods -o wide
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE IP NODE NOMINATED NODE READINESS GATES
sriov-pod-2 1/1 Running 0 5d21h 10.167.181.11 10.128.237.204 <none> <none>

SR-IOV DPDK Driver - vfio-pci Validation

$ kubectl exec -it sriov-pod-2 -- sh
sh-4.4# dpdk-app
ENTER dpdk-app:
argc=1
dpdk-app
cpuRsp.CPUSet = 0-31
Interface[0]:
IfName="" Name="" Type=SR-IOV
MAC="" IP="10.143.181.4"
PCIAddress=0000:03:10.7
myArgc=14
dpdk-app -n 4 -l 1 --master-lcore 1 -w 0000:03:10.7 -- -p 0x1 -P --config="(0,0,1)" --parse-ptype


  Last updated by Anagha Pamidi on Jan 26, 2026

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On This Page
Enable SRIOV with DPDKSRIOV and DPDKSRI-IOV WorkerNode PrerequisitesHuge page SupportCreate SR-IOV ConfigMapSR-IOV ConfigMapSR-IOV Kernel Driver plus DPDK ConfigMapCreate NetworkAttachDefinition of DPDK typeNetwork Attach Definition Validation SR-IOV-DPDK typeCreate Pods with SR-IOV interfaces (DPDK Driver - vfio-pci)Validate Pods Creation with SR-IOV interfaces (DPDK - Driver vfio-pci)SR-IOV DPDK Driver - vfio-pci Validation