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Run bpfd From Release Image

This section describes how to deploy bpfd from a given release. See Releases for the set of bpfd releases.

Jump to the Setup and Building bpfd section for help building from the latest code or building from a release branch.

Tutorial contains more details on the different modes to run bpfd in on the host and how to test. Use Local Host or Systemd Service below for deploying released version of bpfd and then use Tutorial for further information on how to test and interact with bpfd.

Deploying the bpfd-operator contains more details on deploying bpfd in a Kubernetes deployment and Deploying Example eBPF Programs On Kubernetes contains more details on interacting with bpfd running in a Kubernetes deployment. Use Deploying Release Version of the bpfd-operator below for deploying released version of bpfd in Kubernetes and then use the links above for further information on how to test and interact with bpfd.

Local Host

To run bpfd in the foreground using sudo, download the release binary tar files and unpack them.

export BPFD_REL=0.3.1
mkdir -p $HOME/src/bpfd-${BPFD_REL}/; cd $HOME/src/bpfd-${BPFD_REL}/
wget https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/releases/download/v${BPFD_REL}/bpfctl-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
wget https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/releases/download/v${BPFD_REL}/bpfd-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

tar -xzvf bpfctl-linux-x86_64.tar.gz; rm bpfctl-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xzvf bpfd-linux-x86_64.tar.gz; rm bpfd-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

$ tree
.
├── bpfctl-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
├── bpfd-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
└── target
    └── x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
        └── release
            ├── bpfctl
            └── bpfd

To deploy bpfd:

sudo RUST_LOG=info ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/release/bpfd 
[2023-10-13T15:53:25Z INFO  bpfd] Log using env_logger
[2023-10-13T15:53:25Z INFO  bpfd] Has CAP_BPF: true
[2023-10-13T15:53:25Z INFO  bpfd] Has CAP_SYS_ADMIN: true
:

To use bpfctl:

sudo ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/release/bpfctl list
 Program ID  Name       Type  Load Time

Continue in Tutorial if desired.

Systemd Service

To run bpfd as a systemd service, the binaries will be placed in a well known location (/usr/sbin/.) and a service configuration file will be added (/usr/lib/systemd/system/bpfd.service). There is a script that is used to install the service properly, so the source code needs to be downloaded to retrieve the script. Download and unpack the source code, then download and unpack the binaries.

export BPFD_REL=0.3.1
mkdir -p $HOME/src/; cd $HOME/src/
wget https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/archive/refs/tags/v${BPFD_REL}.tar.gz
tar -xzvf v${BPFD_REL}.tar.gz; rm v${BPFD_REL}.tar.gz
cd bpfd-${BPFD_REL}

wget https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/releases/download/v${BPFD_REL}/bpfctl-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
wget https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/releases/download/v${BPFD_REL}/bpfd-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

tar -xzvf bpfctl-linux-x86_64.tar.gz; rm bpfctl-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xzvf bpfd-linux-x86_64.tar.gz; rm bpfd-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Run the following command to copy the bpfd and bpfctl binaries to /usr/sbin/ and copy a default bpfd.service file to /usr/lib/systemd/system/. This option will also start the systemd service bpfd.service by default.

sudo ./scripts/setup.sh install

NOTE: If running a release older than v0.3.1, the install script is not coded to copy binaries from the release directory, so the binaries will need to be manually copied.

Continue in Tutorial if desired.

Deploying Release Version of the bpfd-operator

The quickest solution for running bpfd in a Kubernetes deployment is to run a Kubernetes KIND Cluster:

kind create cluster --name=test-bpfd

Next, deploy the bpfd CRDs:

export BPFD_REL=0.3.1
kubectl apply -f  https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/releases/download/v${BPFD_REL}/bpfd-crds-install-v${BPFD_REL}.yaml

Next, deploy the bpfd-operator, which will also deploy the bpfd-daemon, which contains bpfd and bpfd-agent:

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/releases/download/v${BPFD_REL}/bpfd-operator-install-v${BPFD_REL}.yaml

Finally, deploy an example eBPF program.

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/bpfd-dev/bpfd/releases/download/v${BPFD_REL}/go-xdp-counter-install-v${BPFD_REL}.yaml

There are other example programs in the Releases page.

Continue in Deploying the bpfd-operator or Deploying Example eBPF Programs On Kubernetes if desired.