Compiling DPDK

The Network Builde IDE installer should have created the following Docker container images with DPDK 25.11.2 (LTS) inside:

packetcord/ubuntu-pktgen   latest
packetcord/alpine-dpdk     latest

In order to avoid compatibility issues between the host (where the applications are usually built) and the containers (where the binaries are deployed for evaluation in a topology context), we do not recommend installing DPDK using the package manager of your Linux distribution. Instead, stick to the mentioned LTS version and build it from source as described below.

Downloading, building and installing DPDK 25.11.2 (LTS)

Navigate to an appropriate directory and execute the following:

# Install meson (on Ubuntu)
sudo apt install -y meson

# Download and unpack
wget https://fast.dpdk.org/rel/dpdk-25.11.2.tar.xz
tar xJf dpdk-25.11.2.tar.xz

# Configure
cd dpdk-stable-25.11.2
meson setup build

# Build and install
cd build
ninja
meson install
sudo ldconfig

Building the PacketCord SDK with DPDK support

Just (rebuild) the PacketCord.io codebase with the ENABLE_DPDK_DATAPLAN flag:

cd ~/packetcord/sdk/packetcord.io/build/
cmake -DENABLE_DPDK_DATAPLANE=ON .. --fresh
make