Merge branch 'doc-mptcp-new-general-doc-and-fixes'

Matthieu Baerts says:

====================
doc: mptcp: new general doc and fixes

A general documentation about MPTCP was missing since its introduction
in v5.6. The last patch adds a new 'mptcp' page in the 'networking'
documentation.

The first patch is a fix for a missing sysctl entry introduced in v6.10
rc0, and the second one reorder the sysctl entries.
Signed-off-by: Matthieu Baerts (NGI0) <matttbe@kernel.org>
====================

v2: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240528-upstream-net-20240520-mptcp-doc-v2-0-47f2d5bc2ef3@kernel.org
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240520-upstream-net-20240520-mptcp-doc-v1-0-e3ad294382cb@kernel.org

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20240530-upstream-net-20240520-mptcp-doc-v3-0-e94cdd9f2673@kernel.orgSigned-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>

Documentation/networking/index.rst

@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ Contents:
    mac80211-injection
    mctp
    mpls-sysctl
+   mptcp
    mptcp-sysctl
    multiqueue
    multi-pf-netdev

Documentation/networking/mptcp-sysctl.rst

@@ -7,14 +7,6 @@ MPTCP Sysfs variables
 /proc/sys/net/mptcp/* Variables
 ===============================
 
-enabled - BOOLEAN
-	Control whether MPTCP sockets can be created.
-
-	MPTCP sockets can be created if the value is 1. This is a
-	per-namespace sysctl.
-
-	Default: 1 (enabled)
-
 add_addr_timeout - INTEGER (seconds)
 	Set the timeout after which an ADD_ADDR control message will be
 	resent to an MPTCP peer that has not acknowledged a previous
@@ -25,16 +17,22 @@ add_addr_timeout - INTEGER (seconds)
 
 	Default: 120
 
-close_timeout - INTEGER (seconds)
-	Set the make-after-break timeout: in absence of any close or
-	shutdown syscall, MPTCP sockets will maintain the status
-	unchanged for such time, after the last subflow removal, before
-	moving to TCP_CLOSE.
+allow_join_initial_addr_port - BOOLEAN
+	Allow peers to send join requests to the IP address and port number used
+	by the initial subflow if the value is 1. This controls a flag that is
+	sent to the peer at connection time, and whether such join requests are
+	accepted or denied.
 
-	The default value matches TCP_TIMEWAIT_LEN. This is a per-namespace
-	sysctl.
+	Joins to addresses advertised with ADD_ADDR are not affected by this
+	value.
 
-	Default: 60
+	This is a per-namespace sysctl.
+
+	Default: 1
+
+available_schedulers - STRING
+	Shows the available schedulers choices that are registered. More packet
+	schedulers may be available, but not loaded.
 
 checksum_enabled - BOOLEAN
 	Control whether DSS checksum can be enabled.
@@ -44,18 +42,24 @@ checksum_enabled - BOOLEAN
 
 	Default: 0
 
-allow_join_initial_addr_port - BOOLEAN
-	Allow peers to send join requests to the IP address and port number used
-	by the initial subflow if the value is 1. This controls a flag that is
-	sent to the peer at connection time, and whether such join requests are
-	accepted or denied.
+close_timeout - INTEGER (seconds)
+	Set the make-after-break timeout: in absence of any close or
+	shutdown syscall, MPTCP sockets will maintain the status
+	unchanged for such time, after the last subflow removal, before
+	moving to TCP_CLOSE.
 
-	Joins to addresses advertised with ADD_ADDR are not affected by this
-	value.
+	The default value matches TCP_TIMEWAIT_LEN. This is a per-namespace
+	sysctl.
 
-	This is a per-namespace sysctl.
+	Default: 60
 
-	Default: 1
+enabled - BOOLEAN
+	Control whether MPTCP sockets can be created.
+
+	MPTCP sockets can be created if the value is 1. This is a
+	per-namespace sysctl.
+
+	Default: 1 (enabled)
 
 pm_type - INTEGER
 	Set the default path manager type to use for each new MPTCP
@@ -74,6 +78,14 @@ pm_type - INTEGER
 
 	Default: 0
 
+scheduler - STRING
+	Select the scheduler of your choice.
+
+	Support for selection of different schedulers. This is a per-namespace
+	sysctl.
+
+	Default: "default"
+
 stale_loss_cnt - INTEGER
 	The number of MPTCP-level retransmission intervals with no traffic and
 	pending outstanding data on a given subflow required to declare it stale.
@@ -85,11 +97,3 @@ stale_loss_cnt - INTEGER
 	This is a per-namespace sysctl.
 
 	Default: 4
-
-scheduler - STRING
-	Select the scheduler of your choice.
-
-	Support for selection of different schedulers. This is a per-namespace
-	sysctl.
-
-	Default: "default"

Documentation/networking/mptcp.rst

+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+=====================
+Multipath TCP (MPTCP)
+=====================
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+Multipath TCP or MPTCP is an extension to the standard TCP and is described in
+`RFC 8684 (MPTCPv1) <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8684.html>`_. It allows a
+device to make use of multiple interfaces at once to send and receive TCP
+packets over a single MPTCP connection. MPTCP can aggregate the bandwidth of
+multiple interfaces or prefer the one with the lowest latency. It also allows a
+fail-over if one path is down, and the traffic is seamlessly reinjected on other
+paths.
+
+For more details about Multipath TCP in the Linux kernel, please see the
+official website: `mptcp.dev <https://www.mptcp.dev>`_.
+
+
+Use cases
+=========
+
+Thanks to MPTCP, being able to use multiple paths in parallel or simultaneously
+brings new use-cases, compared to TCP:
+
+- Seamless handovers: switching from one path to another while preserving
+  established connections, e.g. to be used in mobility use-cases, like on
+  smartphones.
+- Best network selection: using the "best" available path depending on some
+  conditions, e.g. latency, losses, cost, bandwidth, etc.
+- Network aggregation: using multiple paths at the same time to have a higher
+  throughput, e.g. to combine fixed and mobile networks to send files faster.
+
+
+Concepts
+========
+
+Technically, when a new socket is created with the ``IPPROTO_MPTCP`` protocol
+(Linux-specific), a *subflow* (or *path*) is created. This *subflow* consists of
+a regular TCP connection that is used to transmit data through one interface.
+Additional *subflows* can be negotiated later between the hosts. For the remote
+host to be able to detect the use of MPTCP, a new field is added to the TCP
+*option* field of the underlying TCP *subflow*. This field contains, amongst
+other things, a ``MP_CAPABLE`` option that tells the other host to use MPTCP if
+it is supported. If the remote host or any middlebox in between does not support
+it, the returned ``SYN+ACK`` packet will not contain MPTCP options in the TCP
+*option* field. In that case, the connection will be "downgraded" to plain TCP,
+and it will continue with a single path.
+
+This behavior is made possible by two internal components: the path manager, and
+the packet scheduler.
+
+Path Manager
+------------
+
+The Path Manager is in charge of *subflows*, from creation to deletion, and also
+address announcements. Typically, it is the client side that initiates subflows,
+and the server side that announces additional addresses via the ``ADD_ADDR`` and
+``REMOVE_ADDR`` options.
+
+Path managers are controlled by the ``net.mptcp.pm_type`` sysctl knob -- see
+mptcp-sysctl.rst. There are two types: the in-kernel one (type ``0``) where the
+same rules are applied for all the connections (see: ``ip mptcp``) ; and the
+userspace one (type ``1``), controlled by a userspace daemon (i.e. `mptcpd
+<https://mptcpd.mptcp.dev/>`_) where different rules can be applied for each
+connection. The path managers can be controlled via a Netlink API; see
+netlink_spec/mptcp_pm.rst.
+
+To be able to use multiple IP addresses on a host to create multiple *subflows*
+(paths), the default in-kernel MPTCP path-manager needs to know which IP
+addresses can be used. This can be configured with ``ip mptcp endpoint`` for
+example.
+
+Packet Scheduler
+----------------
+
+The Packet Scheduler is in charge of selecting which available *subflow(s)* to
+use to send the next data packet. It can decide to maximize the use of the
+available bandwidth, only to pick the path with the lower latency, or any other
+policy depending on the configuration.
+
+Packet schedulers are controlled by the ``net.mptcp.scheduler`` sysctl knob --
+see mptcp-sysctl.rst.
+
+
+Sockets API
+===========
+
+Creating MPTCP sockets
+----------------------
+
+On Linux, MPTCP can be used by selecting MPTCP instead of TCP when creating the
+``socket``:
+
+.. code-block:: C
+
+    int sd = socket(AF_INET(6), SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_MPTCP);
+
+Note that ``IPPROTO_MPTCP`` is defined as ``262``.
+
+If MPTCP is not supported, ``errno`` will be set to:
+
+- ``EINVAL``: (*Invalid argument*): MPTCP is not available, on kernels < 5.6.
+- ``EPROTONOSUPPORT`` (*Protocol not supported*): MPTCP has not been compiled,
+  on kernels >= v5.6.
+- ``ENOPROTOOPT`` (*Protocol not available*): MPTCP has been disabled using
+  ``net.mptcp.enabled`` sysctl knob; see mptcp-sysctl.rst.
+
+MPTCP is then opt-in: applications need to explicitly request it. Note that
+applications can be forced to use MPTCP with different techniques, e.g.
+``LD_PRELOAD`` (see ``mptcpize``), eBPF (see ``mptcpify``), SystemTAP,
+``GODEBUG`` (``GODEBUG=multipathtcp=1``), etc.
+
+Switching to ``IPPROTO_MPTCP`` instead of ``IPPROTO_TCP`` should be as
+transparent as possible for the userspace applications.
+
+Socket options
+--------------
+
+MPTCP supports most socket options handled by TCP. It is possible some less
+common options are not supported, but contributions are welcome.
+
+Generally, the same value is propagated to all subflows, including the ones
+created after the calls to ``setsockopt()``. eBPF can be used to set different
+values per subflow.
+
+There are some MPTCP specific socket options at the ``SOL_MPTCP`` (284) level to
+retrieve info. They fill the ``optval`` buffer of the ``getsockopt()`` system
+call:
+
+- ``MPTCP_INFO``: Uses ``struct mptcp_info``.
+- ``MPTCP_TCPINFO``: Uses ``struct mptcp_subflow_data``, followed by an array of
+  ``struct tcp_info``.
+- ``MPTCP_SUBFLOW_ADDRS``: Uses ``struct mptcp_subflow_data``, followed by an
+  array of ``mptcp_subflow_addrs``.
+- ``MPTCP_FULL_INFO``: Uses ``struct mptcp_full_info``, with one pointer to an
+  array of ``struct mptcp_subflow_info`` (including the
+  ``struct mptcp_subflow_addrs``), and one pointer to an array of
+  ``struct tcp_info``, followed by the content of ``struct mptcp_info``.
+
+Note that at the TCP level, ``TCP_IS_MPTCP`` socket option can be used to know
+if MPTCP is currently being used: the value will be set to 1 if it is.
+
+
+Design choices
+==============
+
+A new socket type has been added for MPTCP for the userspace-facing socket. The
+kernel is in charge of creating subflow sockets: they are TCP sockets where the
+behavior is modified using TCP-ULP.
+
+MPTCP listen sockets will create "plain" *accepted* TCP sockets if the
+connection request from the client didn't ask for MPTCP, making the performance
+impact minimal when MPTCP is enabled by default.

MAINTAINERS

@@ -15753,7 +15753,7 @@ B:	https://github.com/multipath-tcp/mptcp_net-next/issues
 T:	git https://github.com/multipath-tcp/mptcp_net-next.git export-net
 T:	git https://github.com/multipath-tcp/mptcp_net-next.git export
 F:	Documentation/netlink/specs/mptcp_pm.yaml
-F:	Documentation/networking/mptcp-sysctl.rst
+F:	Documentation/networking/mptcp*.rst
 F:	include/net/mptcp.h
 F:	include/trace/events/mptcp.h
 F:	include/uapi/linux/mptcp*.h