ebpf

eBPF

ebpf-go is a pure Go library that provides utilities for loading, compiling, and debugging eBPF programs. It has minimal external dependencies and is intended to be used in long running processes.

See ebpf.io for complementary projects from the wider eBPF ecosystem.

Getting Started

Please take a look at our Getting Started guide.

Contributions are highly encouraged, as they highlight certain use cases of eBPF and the library, and help shape the future of the project.

Getting Help

The community actively monitors our GitHub Discussions page. Please search for existing threads before starting a new one. Refrain from opening issues on the bug tracker if you’re just starting out or if you’re not sure if something is a bug in the library code.

Alternatively, join the #ebpf-go channel on Slack if you have other questions regarding the project. Note that this channel is ephemeral and has its history erased past a certain point, which is less helpful for others running into the same problem later.

Packages

This library includes the following packages:

• asm contains a basic assembler, allowing you to write eBPF assembly instructions directly within your Go code. (You don’t need to use this if you prefer to write your eBPF program in C.)
• cmd/bpf2go allows compiling and embedding eBPF programs written in C within Go code. As well as compiling the C code, it auto-generates Go code for loading and manipulating the eBPF program and map objects.
• link allows attaching eBPF to various hooks
• perf allows reading from a PERF_EVENT_ARRAY
• ringbuf allows reading from a BPF_MAP_TYPE_RINGBUF map
• features implements the equivalent of bpftool feature probe for discovering BPF-related kernel features using native Go.
• rlimit provides a convenient API to lift the RLIMIT_MEMLOCK constraint on kernels before 5.11.
• btf allows reading the BPF Type Format.
• pin provides APIs for working with pinned objects on bpffs.

Generative AI Policy

ebpf-go is governed by Cilium’s AI policy and the Linux Foundation’s AI policy.

The project also has its own AI policy codified in AGENTS.md. Submissions found in violation of the policy will simply be rejected without warning.

Requirements

• A version of Go that is supported by upstream
• Linux (amd64, arm64): CI is run against kernel.org LTS releases. >= 4.4 should work but EOL’ed versions are not supported.
• Windows (amd64): CI is run against Windows Server 2022. Only the latest eBPF for Windows release is supported.
• Other architectures are best effort. 32bit arches are not supported.

License

MIT

eBPF Gopher

The eBPF honeygopher is based on the Go gopher designed by Renee French.