diff --git a/app/test/test_gen.c b/app/test/test_gen.c
index b60ceaef8a..324582d0a5 100644
--- a/app/test/test_gen.c
+++ b/app/test/test_gen.c
@@ -112,6 +112,34 @@ test_gen_packet_set_raw(void)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+test_gen_packet_parse_string(void)
+{
+	struct rte_gen *gen = rte_gen_create(mp);
+	TEST_ASSERT_FAIL(gen, "Expected valid pointer after create()");
+
+	struct str_parse_t {
+		const char *str;
+	} pkt_strings[] = {
+		{ .str = "Ether()"},
+		{ .str = "Ether()/"},
+		{ .str = "/Ether()"},
+		{ .str = "/Ether()/"}
+	};
+
+	uint32_t i;
+	for (i = 0; i < RTE_DIM(pkt_strings); i++) {
+		const char *pkt_str = pkt_strings[i].str;
+		int32_t err = rte_gen_packet_parse_string(gen, pkt_str, NULL);
+		TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(err, 0, "Expected string %s to parse.",
+				pkt_str);
+	}
+
+	rte_gen_destroy(gen);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+
 static struct unit_test_suite gen_suite  = {
 	.suite_name = "gen: packet generator unit test suite",
 	.setup = testsuite_setup,
@@ -121,6 +149,7 @@ static struct unit_test_suite gen_suite  = {
 		TEST_CASE_ST(NULL, NULL, test_gen_basic_rxtx),
 		TEST_CASE_ST(NULL, NULL, test_gen_loop_rxtx),
 		TEST_CASE_ST(NULL, NULL, test_gen_packet_set_raw),
+		TEST_CASE_ST(NULL, NULL, test_gen_packet_parse_string),
 		TEST_CASES_END() /**< NULL terminate unit test array */
 	}
 };
diff --git a/lib/gen/meson.build b/lib/gen/meson.build
index 753984cbba..b3a55564f4 100644
--- a/lib/gen/meson.build
+++ b/lib/gen/meson.build
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@
 
 sources = files('rte_gen.c')
 headers = files('rte_gen.h')
-deps += ['mempool', 'mbuf']
+deps += ['mempool', 'mbuf', 'net']
diff --git a/lib/gen/rte_gen.c b/lib/gen/rte_gen.c
index 8a54c4bcdb..4d3fe4017f 100644
--- a/lib/gen/rte_gen.c
+++ b/lib/gen/rte_gen.c
@@ -9,12 +9,18 @@
 #include <rte_hexdump.h>
 #include <rte_log.h>
 
+#include <rte_ether.h>
+
 RTE_LOG_REGISTER(gen_logtype, lib.gen, NOTICE);
 
 #define GEN_LOG(level, fmt, args...)				\
 	rte_log(RTE_LOG_ ## level, gen_logtype, "%s(): " fmt,	\
 		__func__, ## args)
 
+/* Don't prefix with function name, breaks the Scapy style formatting. */
+#define GEN_LOG_PROTOCOL(level, fmt, args...)			\
+	rte_log(RTE_LOG_ ## level, gen_logtype, fmt, ## args)
+
 #define GEN_MAX_BURST 32
 #define GEN_INIT_PKT_SIZE 64
 
@@ -126,3 +132,296 @@ rte_gen_tx_burst(struct rte_gen *gen,
 
 	return nb_pkts;
 }
+
+enum GEN_PROTO {
+	GEN_PROTO_INVALID,
+	GEN_PROTO_ETHER,
+
+	/* Must be last. */
+	GEN_PROTO_COUNT,
+};
+
+typedef void (*gen_log_func)(void *data, const char *indent);
+
+/* Structure for holding offset and function pointers for protocol. */
+struct protocol_meta {
+	/* Byte offset into packet where this protocol starts. */
+	uint32_t offset;
+	/* Function to call to log the packet's information. */
+	gen_log_func log_func;
+};
+
+/* Allow up to 32 nexted '/' characters in the protocol string. */
+#define GEN_PROTO_PARSE_MAX 16
+
+/* Structure to hold state required while parsing. */
+struct gen_parser {
+	/* Mbuf the parsed data is being put into. */
+	struct rte_mbuf *mbuf;
+	uint8_t *mbuf_data;
+
+	/* Offset into the packet data to parse to next. */
+	uint32_t buf_write_offset;
+
+	/* Parsing state. */
+	uint8_t parse_iter;
+	char indent_str[(GEN_PROTO_PARSE_MAX * 2) + 1];
+
+	/* String being parsed. */
+	char *parse_string;
+	char *parse_strtok_save_ptr;
+
+	/* Store metadata for parse/display of protocols.  */
+	struct protocol_meta proto_meta[GEN_PROTO_PARSE_MAX];
+
+	/* Per protocol hit counters. */
+	uint32_t proto_hit_counters[GEN_PROTO_COUNT];
+};
+
+/* Forward declaration of recursive parsing function.
+ * @param inner reports back the inner protocol that was handled. This is often
+ * required for the outer protocol to indicate what the inner protocol is.
+ */
+static int32_t
+gen_parser_parse_next(struct gen_parser *parser, enum GEN_PROTO *inner);
+
+/* Return void pointer to the position in the data buffer to parse into. */
+static inline void *
+gen_parser_get_data_ptr(struct gen_parser *parser)
+{
+	return &parser->mbuf_data[parser->buf_write_offset];
+}
+
+/* Initialize a parser structure. */
+static int32_t
+gen_parser_init(struct gen_parser *parser, struct rte_gen *gen,
+		const char *pkt_string)
+{
+	/* Initialize own memory to zero. */
+	memset(parser, 0, sizeof(*parser));
+
+	/* Duplicate string for tokenizing string. */
+	parser->parse_string = strdup(pkt_string);
+	if (!parser->parse_string)
+		goto error;
+
+	/* Allocate mbuf to parse packet into. */
+	parser->mbuf = rte_pktmbuf_alloc(gen->mp);
+	if (!parser->mbuf)
+		goto error;
+
+	parser->mbuf_data = rte_pktmbuf_mtod(parser->mbuf, uint8_t *);
+
+	return 0;
+
+error:
+	free(parser->parse_string);
+	return -ENOMEM;
+}
+
+static void
+gen_log_ether(void *data, const char *indent)
+{
+	struct rte_ether_hdr *eth = data;
+	char src[64];
+	char dst[64];
+
+	rte_ether_format_addr(src, 64, &eth->src_addr);
+	rte_ether_format_addr(dst, 64, &eth->dst_addr);
+	const char *type_str;
+	switch (rte_be_to_cpu_16(eth->ether_type)) {
+	case RTE_ETHER_TYPE_IPV4:
+		type_str = "IPv4";
+		break;
+	default:
+		type_str = "0x9000";
+		break;
+	};
+	GEN_LOG_PROTOCOL(DEBUG,
+		"###[ Ethernet ]###\n%sdst= %s\n%ssrc= %s\n%stype= %s\n",
+		indent, dst, indent, src, indent, type_str);
+}
+
+/* Ether(...) string detected, supports parameters:
+ * - dst : Destination MAC in 00:11:22:33:44:55 or 0011:2233:4455 forms.
+ * - src : Source MAC in the same forms.
+ * Note:
+ * - type is set based on the next header
+ */
+static int32_t
+gen_parse_ether(struct gen_parser *parser, char *protocol_str)
+{
+	struct rte_ether_hdr *eth = gen_parser_get_data_ptr(parser);
+
+	char *dst_ptr = strstr(protocol_str, "dst=");
+	if (dst_ptr) {
+		char *dup = strdup(dst_ptr);
+		rte_ether_unformat_addr(&dup[4], &eth->dst_addr);
+		free(dup);
+	} else
+		rte_ether_unformat_addr("ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff", &eth->dst_addr);
+
+	char *src_ptr = strstr(protocol_str, "src=");
+	if (src_ptr)
+		rte_ether_unformat_addr(&src_ptr[4], &eth->src_addr);
+	else
+		rte_ether_unformat_addr("00:00:00:00:00:00", &eth->src_addr);
+
+	/* Move up write pointer in packet. */
+	parser->buf_write_offset += sizeof(*eth);
+
+	/* Recurse and handle inner protocol. */
+	enum GEN_PROTO inner;
+	int32_t err = gen_parser_parse_next(parser, &inner);
+	if (err) {
+		GEN_LOG(ERR, "parser parse next() error %d\n", err);
+		return err;
+	}
+
+	switch (inner) {
+	default:
+		eth->ether_type = rte_cpu_to_be_16(0x9000);
+		break;
+	};
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/* (Name, Function-pointer) pairs for supported parse types */
+typedef int32_t (*gen_parse_func)(struct gen_parser *parser,
+				char *protocol_str);
+
+struct gen_parse_func_t {
+	const char *name;
+	enum GEN_PROTO proto;
+	gen_parse_func parse_func;
+	gen_log_func log_func;
+};
+
+/* Mapping from string to function to parse that protocol. */
+static struct gen_parse_func_t gen_protocols[] = {
+	{
+		.name = "Ether(",
+		.proto = GEN_PROTO_ETHER,
+		.parse_func = gen_parse_ether,
+		.log_func = gen_log_ether,
+	}
+};
+
+/* Function to tokenize and parse each segment of a string.
+ * @param outer indicates the protocol before this one.
+ * @param inner returns the protocol that is parsed here/now.
+ */
+static int32_t
+gen_parser_parse_next(struct gen_parser *parser,
+			enum GEN_PROTO *inner_proto)
+{
+	/* Tokenize the input string based on '/' character. */
+	char *tok_str = (parser->parse_iter == 0) ?
+					parser->parse_string : NULL;
+	parser->parse_string = strtok_r(tok_str, "/",
+					&parser->parse_strtok_save_ptr);
+
+	/* End protocol parsing recursion when parse_string is NULL, or max
+	 * protocol recursion depth is reached.
+	 */
+	if (!parser->parse_string ||
+			parser->parse_iter >= GEN_PROTO_PARSE_MAX) {
+		struct rte_mbuf *mbuf = parser->mbuf;
+		mbuf->data_len = parser->buf_write_offset;
+		mbuf->pkt_len = parser->buf_write_offset;
+		GEN_LOG(DEBUG, "packet length %d\n", mbuf->pkt_len);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	uint32_t i;
+	/* Loop over protocols, and identify the parse function to call. */
+	for (i = 0; i < RTE_DIM(gen_protocols); i++) {
+		const char *proto = gen_protocols[i].name;
+		uint32_t proto_len = strlen(proto);
+		if (strncmp(proto, parser->parse_string, proto_len))
+			continue;
+
+		/* Store the log function pointer to output later. */
+		uint32_t iter = parser->parse_iter;
+		parser->proto_hit_counters[i]++;
+		struct protocol_meta *meta = &parser->proto_meta[iter];
+
+		if (gen_protocols[i].log_func == NULL) {
+			GEN_LOG(ERR, "Missing log function, failed to log %s\n",
+									proto);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		meta->log_func = gen_protocols[i].log_func;
+		meta->offset = parser->buf_write_offset;
+
+		if (gen_protocols[i].parse_func == NULL) {
+			GEN_LOG(ERR, "Missing parse function, failed to parse %s\n"
+								, proto);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		/* Handle protocol recursively. */
+		parser->parse_iter++;
+		int err = gen_protocols[i].parse_func(parser,
+							parser->parse_string);
+		*inner_proto = gen_protocols[i].proto;
+
+		return err;
+	}
+
+	GEN_LOG(ERR, "parser does not understand protocol %s\n",
+		parser->parse_string);
+	return -1;
+}
+
+int32_t
+rte_gen_packet_parse_string(struct rte_gen *gen,
+			    const char *pkt_string,
+			    struct rte_mbuf **old_mbuf_to_user)
+{
+	struct gen_parser parser;
+	int32_t err = gen_parser_init(&parser, gen, pkt_string);
+	if (err) {
+		GEN_LOG(ERR, "error with parser_init(), %d\n", err);
+		return -1;
+	};
+
+	/* Recursively parse each protocol. */
+	enum GEN_PROTO inner;
+	err = gen_parser_parse_next(&parser, &inner);
+	if (err) {
+		GEN_LOG(ERR, "Error in parsing packet string. "
+			"Set \"gen\" log level to debug for more info.\n");
+		rte_pktmbuf_free(parser.mbuf);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	uint32_t i;
+	/* Iterate the per protocol stored metadata to log output. */
+	for (i = 0; i < parser.parse_iter; i++) {
+		snprintf(parser.indent_str, 2 + i * 2,
+			"                               " /* 32 spaces. */);
+
+		if (gen_protocols[i].log_func == NULL) {
+			GEN_LOG(ERR, "Missing log function\n");
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		void *buf_off = parser.mbuf_data + parser.proto_meta[i].offset;
+		parser.proto_meta[i].log_func(buf_off, parser.indent_str);
+	}
+
+	if (inner != GEN_PROTO_ETHER) {
+		GEN_LOG(WARNING,
+			"Outer protocol of frame is not Ethernet.\n");
+	}
+
+	/* Free the currently in use mbuf. */
+	if (old_mbuf_to_user)
+		*old_mbuf_to_user = gen->base_pkt;
+	else
+		rte_pktmbuf_free(gen->base_pkt);
+
+	/* TODO: HVH design race-condition above vs rx/tx*/
+	gen->base_pkt = parser.mbuf;
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/lib/gen/rte_gen.h b/lib/gen/rte_gen.h
index 9119331673..93b3346436 100644
--- a/lib/gen/rte_gen.h
+++ b/lib/gen/rte_gen.h
@@ -95,6 +95,18 @@ rte_gen_packet_set_raw(struct rte_gen *gen,
 		       const uint8_t *raw_data,
 		       uint32_t raw_data_size);
 
+/* Parse a string description of a packet.
+ *
+ * The optional out parameter supplies the previously being sent mbuf to
+ * the user to be freed later. If this argument is not provided, then the
+ * mbuf is freed by this function.
+ */
+__rte_experimental
+int32_t
+rte_gen_packet_parse_string(struct rte_gen *gen,
+			    const char *pkt_string,
+			    struct rte_mbuf **old_mbuf_to_user);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/gen/version.map b/lib/gen/version.map
index d75e0b4bac..e335c608ee 100644
--- a/lib/gen/version.map
+++ b/lib/gen/version.map
@@ -6,4 +6,5 @@ EXPERIMENTAL {
 	rte_gen_rx_burst;
 	rte_gen_tx_burst;
 	rte_gen_packet_set_raw;
+	rte_gen_packet_parse_string;
 };
