diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_20_05.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_20_05.rst
index 000bbf5..645400b 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_20_05.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/release_20_05.rst
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ New Features
 
   * Added support for matching on IPv4 Time To Live and IPv6 Hop Limit.
 
+* **Added --config command line parameter to l2fwd example.**
+
+  Added new command line option ``--config(port, port)[,(port, port)]`` to
+  pass forwarding port details.
+  See the :doc:`doc/guides/sample_app_ug/l2_forward_real_virtual` for more
+  details of this parameter usage.
 
 Removed Items
 -------------
diff --git a/doc/guides/sample_app_ug/l2_forward_real_virtual.rst b/doc/guides/sample_app_ug/l2_forward_real_virtual.rst
index 39d6b00..e708f88 100644
--- a/doc/guides/sample_app_ug/l2_forward_real_virtual.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/sample_app_ug/l2_forward_real_virtual.rst
@@ -91,7 +91,10 @@ The application requires a number of command line options:
 
 .. code-block:: console
 
-    ./build/l2fwd [EAL options] -- -p PORTMASK [-q NQ] --[no-]mac-updating
+    ./build/l2fwd [EAL options] -- -p PORTMASK
+                                   [-q NQ]
+                                   --[no-]mac-updating
+                                   --config(port, port)[,(port, port)]
 
 where,
 
@@ -99,7 +102,10 @@ where,
 
 *   q NQ: A number of queues (=ports) per lcore (default is 1)
 
-*   --[no-]mac-updating: Enable or disable MAC addresses updating (enabled by default).
+*   --[no-]mac-updating: Enable or disable MAC addresses updating (enabled by default)
+
+*   --config(port,port)[,(port,port)]: Determines which ports are mapped to
+    which ports for packet forwarding.
 
 To run the application in linux environment with 4 lcores, 16 ports and 8 RX queues per lcore and MAC address
 updating enabled, issue the command:
@@ -108,6 +114,14 @@ updating enabled, issue the command:
 
     $ ./build/l2fwd -l 0-3 -n 4 -- -q 8 -p ffff
 
+To run the application in linux environment with 4 lcores, 4 ports, 8 RX queues
+per lcore and MAC address updating enabled, to forward RX traffic of ports 0 & 1
+on ports 2 & 3 respectively and vice versa, issue the command:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    $ ./build/l2fwd -l 0-3 -n 4 -- -q 8 -p f --config="(0,2)(1,3)"
+
 Refer to the *DPDK Getting Started Guide* for general information on running applications
 and the Environment Abstraction Layer (EAL) options.
 
diff --git a/examples/l2fwd/main.c b/examples/l2fwd/main.c
index 09257aa..a8b98b9 100644
--- a/examples/l2fwd/main.c
+++ b/examples/l2fwd/main.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <rte_ethdev.h>
 #include <rte_mempool.h>
 #include <rte_mbuf.h>
+#include <rte_string_fns.h>
 
 static volatile bool force_quit;
 
@@ -67,6 +68,15 @@ static uint32_t l2fwd_enabled_port_mask = 0;
 /* list of enabled ports */
 static uint32_t l2fwd_dst_ports[RTE_MAX_ETHPORTS];
 
+struct port_pair_params {
+#define NUM_PORTS	2
+	uint16_t port[NUM_PORTS];
+} __rte_cache_aligned;
+
+static struct port_pair_params port_pair_params_array[RTE_MAX_ETHPORTS];
+static struct port_pair_params *port_pair_params;
+static uint16_t nb_port_pair_params = 1;
+
 static unsigned int l2fwd_rx_queue_per_lcore = 1;
 
 #define MAX_RX_QUEUE_PER_LCORE 16
@@ -319,6 +329,60 @@ l2fwd_parse_portmask(const char *portmask)
 	return pm;
 }
 
+static int
+l2fwd_parse_port_pair_config(const char *q_arg)
+{
+	enum fieldnames {
+		FLD_PORT1 = 0,
+		FLD_PORT2,
+		_NUM_FLD
+	};
+	unsigned long int_fld[_NUM_FLD];
+	const char *p, *p0 = q_arg;
+	char *str_fld[_NUM_FLD];
+	unsigned int size;
+	char s[256];
+	char *end;
+	int i;
+
+	nb_port_pair_params = 0;
+
+	while ((p = strchr(p0, '(')) != NULL) {
+		++p;
+		p0 = strchr(p, ')');
+		if (p0 == NULL)
+			return -1;
+
+		size = p0 - p;
+		if (size >= sizeof(s))
+			return -1;
+
+		snprintf(s, sizeof(s), "%.*s", size, p);
+		if (rte_strsplit(s, sizeof(s), str_fld,
+				 _NUM_FLD, ',') != _NUM_FLD)
+			return -1;
+		for (i = 0; i < _NUM_FLD; i++) {
+			errno = 0;
+			int_fld[i] = strtoul(str_fld[i], &end, 0);
+			if (errno != 0 || end == str_fld[i] ||
+			    int_fld[i] > RTE_MAX_ETHPORTS)
+				return -1;
+		}
+		if (nb_port_pair_params >= RTE_MAX_ETHPORTS/2) {
+			printf("exceeded max number of port pair params: %hu\n",
+				nb_port_pair_params);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		port_pair_params_array[nb_port_pair_params].port[0] =
+				(uint16_t)int_fld[FLD_PORT1];
+		port_pair_params_array[nb_port_pair_params].port[1] =
+				(uint16_t)int_fld[FLD_PORT2];
+		++nb_port_pair_params;
+	}
+	port_pair_params = port_pair_params_array;
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static unsigned int
 l2fwd_parse_nqueue(const char *q_arg)
 {
@@ -361,6 +425,7 @@ static const char short_options[] =
 
 #define CMD_LINE_OPT_MAC_UPDATING "mac-updating"
 #define CMD_LINE_OPT_NO_MAC_UPDATING "no-mac-updating"
+#define CMD_LINE_OPT_CONFIG "config"
 
 enum {
 	/* long options mapped to a short option */
@@ -368,11 +433,13 @@ enum {
 	/* first long only option value must be >= 256, so that we won't
 	 * conflict with short options */
 	CMD_LINE_OPT_MIN_NUM = 256,
+	CMD_LINE_OPT_CONFIG_NUM,
 };
 
 static const struct option lgopts[] = {
 	{ CMD_LINE_OPT_MAC_UPDATING, no_argument, &mac_updating, 1},
 	{ CMD_LINE_OPT_NO_MAC_UPDATING, no_argument, &mac_updating, 0},
+	{ CMD_LINE_OPT_CONFIG, 1, 0, CMD_LINE_OPT_CONFIG_NUM},
 	{NULL, 0, 0, 0}
 };
 
@@ -386,6 +453,7 @@ l2fwd_parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
 	char *prgname = argv[0];
 
 	argvopt = argv;
+	port_pair_params = NULL;
 
 	while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argvopt, short_options,
 				  lgopts, &option_index)) != EOF) {
@@ -423,7 +491,13 @@ l2fwd_parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
 			break;
 
 		/* long options */
-		case 0:
+		case CMD_LINE_OPT_CONFIG_NUM:
+			ret = l2fwd_parse_port_pair_config(optarg);
+			if (ret) {
+				fprintf(stderr, "Invalid config\n");
+				l2fwd_usage(prgname);
+				return -1;
+			}
 			break;
 
 		default:
@@ -440,6 +514,48 @@ l2fwd_parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Check port pair config with enabled port mask,
+ * and for valid port pair combinations.
+ */
+static int
+check_port_pair_config(void)
+{
+	uint32_t port_pair_config_mask = 0;
+	uint32_t port_pair_mask = 0;
+	uint16_t index, i, portid;
+
+	for (index = 0; index < nb_port_pair_params; index++) {
+		port_pair_mask = 0;
+
+		for (i = 0; i < NUM_PORTS; i++)  {
+			portid = port_pair_params[index].port[i];
+			if ((l2fwd_enabled_port_mask & (1 << portid)) == 0) {
+				printf("port %u is not enabled in port mask\n",
+				       portid);
+				return -1;
+			}
+			if (!rte_eth_dev_is_valid_port(portid)) {
+				printf("port %u is not present on the board\n",
+				       portid);
+				return -1;
+			}
+
+			port_pair_mask |= 1 << portid;
+		}
+
+		if (port_pair_config_mask & port_pair_mask) {
+			printf("port %u is used in other port pairs\n", portid);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		port_pair_config_mask |= port_pair_mask;
+	}
+
+	l2fwd_enabled_port_mask &= port_pair_config_mask;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /* Check the link status of all ports in up to 9s, and print them finally */
 static void
 check_all_ports_link_status(uint32_t port_mask)
@@ -555,6 +671,11 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (nb_ports == 0)
 		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "No Ethernet ports - bye\n");
 
+	if (port_pair_params != NULL) {
+		if (check_port_pair_config() < 0)
+			rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Invalid port pair config\n");
+	}
+
 	/* check port mask to possible port mask */
 	if (l2fwd_enabled_port_mask & ~((1 << nb_ports) - 1))
 		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Invalid portmask; possible (0x%x)\n",
@@ -565,26 +686,40 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		l2fwd_dst_ports[portid] = 0;
 	last_port = 0;
 
-	/*
-	 * Each logical core is assigned a dedicated TX queue on each port.
-	 */
-	RTE_ETH_FOREACH_DEV(portid) {
-		/* skip ports that are not enabled */
-		if ((l2fwd_enabled_port_mask & (1 << portid)) == 0)
-			continue;
+	/* populate destination port details */
+	if (port_pair_params != NULL) {
+		uint16_t idx;
+
+		for (idx = 0; idx < (nb_port_pair_params << 1); idx++) {
+			if (idx % 2 == 0) {
+				portid = port_pair_params[idx >> 1].port[0];
+				l2fwd_dst_ports[portid] =
+					port_pair_params[idx >> 1].port[1];
+			} else {
+				portid = port_pair_params[idx >> 1].port[1];
+				l2fwd_dst_ports[portid] =
+					port_pair_params[idx >> 1].port[0];
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		RTE_ETH_FOREACH_DEV(portid) {
+			/* skip ports that are not enabled */
+			if ((l2fwd_enabled_port_mask & (1 << portid)) == 0)
+				continue;
+
+			if (nb_ports_in_mask % 2) {
+				l2fwd_dst_ports[portid] = last_port;
+				l2fwd_dst_ports[last_port] = portid;
+			} else {
+				last_port = portid;
+			}
 
+			nb_ports_in_mask++;
+		}
 		if (nb_ports_in_mask % 2) {
-			l2fwd_dst_ports[portid] = last_port;
-			l2fwd_dst_ports[last_port] = portid;
+			printf("Notice: odd number of ports in portmask.\n");
+			l2fwd_dst_ports[last_port] = last_port;
 		}
-		else
-			last_port = portid;
-
-		nb_ports_in_mask++;
-	}
-	if (nb_ports_in_mask % 2) {
-		printf("Notice: odd number of ports in portmask.\n");
-		l2fwd_dst_ports[last_port] = last_port;
 	}
 
 	rx_lcore_id = 0;
@@ -613,7 +748,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 		qconf->rx_port_list[qconf->n_rx_port] = portid;
 		qconf->n_rx_port++;
-		printf("Lcore %u: RX port %u\n", rx_lcore_id, portid);
+		printf("Lcore %u: RX port %u TX port %u\n", rx_lcore_id,
+		       portid, l2fwd_dst_ports[portid]);
 	}
 
 	nb_mbufs = RTE_MAX(nb_ports * (nb_rxd + nb_txd + MAX_PKT_BURST +
