net: ndisc: introduce ndisc_evict_nocarrier sysctl parameter

In most situations the neighbor discovery cache should be cleared on a
NOCARRIER event which is currently done unconditionally. But for wireless
roams the neighbor discovery cache can and should remain intact since
the underlying network has not changed.

This patch introduces a sysctl option ndisc_evict_nocarrier which can
be disabled by a wireless supplicant during a roam. This allows packets
to be sent after a roam immediately without having to wait for
neighbor discovery.

A user reported roughly a 1 second delay after a roam before packets
could be sent out (note, on IPv4). This delay was due to the ARP
cache being cleared. During testing of this same scenario using IPv6
no delay was noticed, but regardless there is no reason to clear
the ndisc cache for wireless roams.

Signed-off-by: James Prestwood <prestwoj@gmail.com>
Reviewed-by: David Ahern <dsahern@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>

1 files changed, 9 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
index 18fde4ed7a5e..c61cc0219f4c 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
@@ -2350,6 +2350,15 @@ ndisc_tclass - INTEGER
 
 	* 0 - (default)
 
+ndisc_evict_nocarrier - BOOLEAN
+	Clears the neighbor discovery table on NOCARRIER events. This option is
+	important for wireless devices where the neighbor discovery cache should
+	not be cleared when roaming between access points on the same network.
+	In most cases this should remain as the default (1).
+
+	- 1 - (default): Clear neighbor discover cache on NOCARRIER events.
+	- 0 - Do not clear neighbor discovery cache on NOCARRIER events.
+
 mldv1_unsolicited_report_interval - INTEGER
 	The interval in milliseconds in which the next unsolicited
 	MLDv1 report retransmit will take place.