NVME-IO-PASSTHRU(1)

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✨ NVME-IO-PASSTHRU(1) — from the NVMe Manual ✨

hey bestie 💖 this is the NVME-IO-PASSTHRU(1) page from the NVMe Manual, and it's literally the “submit an arbitrary io command, return results” page. no cap, it does not interpret your opcodes or options for you — it just sends the command and gives you the results.

🎀 NAME 🎀

nvme-io-passthru — Submit an arbitrary io command, return results.

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

nvme [<global-options>] io-passthru <device>
                        [--opcode=<opcode> | -O <opcode>]
                        [--flags=<flags> | -f <flags>]
                        [-rsvd=<rsvd> | -R <rsvd>]
                        [--namespace-id=<nsid> | -n <nsid>]
                        [--cdw2=<cdw2> | -2 <cdw2>]
                        [--cdw3=<cdw3> | -3 <cdw3>]
                        [--cdw10=<cdw10> | -4 <cdw10>]
                        [--cdw11=<cdw11> | -5 <cdw11>]
                        [--cdw12=<cdw12> | -6 <cdw12>]
                        [--cdw13=<cdw13> | -7 <cdw13>]
                        [--cdw14=<cdw14> | -8 <cdw14>]
                        [--cdw15=<cdw15> | -9 <cdw15>]
                        [--data-len=<data-len> | -l <data-len>]
                        [--metadata-len=<len> | -m <len>]
                        [--read | -r] [--write | -w]
                        [--input-file=<file> | -i <file>]
                        [--metadata=<file> | -M <file>]
                        [--show-command | -s]
                        [--dry-run | -d] [--raw-binary | -b]
                        [--prefill=<prefill> | -p <prefill>]
                        [--latency | -T]

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so this submits an arbitrary NVMe IO command and returns the applicable results. That might simply be the command’s result and status, or it might also include a buffer if the command returns one. Important vibe: this command does no interpretation of the opcodes or options. It’s giving “raw command energy” — you’re the main character deciding what goes in.

The <device> parameter is mandatory, bestie. It may be either the NVMe character device (ex: /dev/nvme0), or a namespace block device (ex: /dev/nvme0n1).

On success, the returned structure (if applicable) may be returned in one of several ways depending on the option flags; the structure may be printed by the program as a hex dump, or may be returned as a raw buffer printed to stdout for another program to parse. iconic output flexibility, honestly 🌈

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -O <opcode>, --opcode=<opcode> — The NVMe opcode to send to the device in the command. Required argument as this param is mandatory — like, non-negotiable, you must give it.
  • -f <flags>, --flags=<flags> — The NVMe command flags to send to the device in the command.
  • -R <rsvd>, --rsvd=<rsvd> — The value for the reserved field in the command.
  • -n <nsid>, --namespace-id=<nsid> — The value for the ns-id in the command. Defaults to 0. The broadcast value 0xffffffff can also be given as all or -1.
  • -[2-9] <cdw>, --cdw[2-3,10-15]=<cdw> — Specifies the command dword value for that specified entry in the command. The synopsis lists the individual spellings: -2 <cdw2> / --cdw2=<cdw2>, -3 <cdw3> / --cdw3=<cdw3>, -4 <cdw10> / --cdw10=<cdw10>, -5 <cdw11> / --cdw11=<cdw11>, -6 <cdw12> / --cdw12=<cdw12>, -7 <cdw13> / --cdw13=<cdw13>, -8 <cdw14> / --cdw14=<cdw14>, and -9 <cdw15> / --cdw15=<cdw15>.
  • -r, --read, -w, --write — Used for the data-direction for the command and required for commands sending/receiving data. Don’t use both read and write at the same time. fr fr, pick one.
  • -i <file>, --input-file=<file> — If the command is a data-out (write) command, use this file to fill the buffer sent to the device. If no file is given, assumed to use STDIN. If the command is a data-in (read) command, the data returned from the device will be saved here.
  • -M <file>, --metadata=<file> — If the command is a data-out (write) command, use this file to fill the metadata buffer sent to the device. If no file is given, assumed to use STDIN. If the command is a data-in (read) command, the metadata returned from the device will be saved here.
  • -l <data-len>, --data-len=<data-len> — The data length for the buffer used for this command.
  • -m <data-len>, --metadata-len=<data-len> — The metadata length for the buffer used for this command.
  • -s, --show-cmd — Print out the command to be sent. (the synopsis line also shows --show-command | -s, so keep both spellings in your heart 💅)
  • -d, --dry-run — Do not actually send the command. If you want to use --dry-run option, --show-cmd option must be set. Otherwise --dry-run option will be ignored.
  • -b, --raw-binary — Print the raw returned buffer to stdout if the command returns data or a structure.
  • -p <prefill>, --prefill <prefill> — Prefill the buffer with a predetermined byte value. Defaults to 0. This may be useful if the data you are writing is shorter than the required buffer, and you need to pad it with a known value. It may also be useful if you need to confirm if a device is overwriting a buffer on a data-in command. (the synopsis spells this one --prefill=<prefill> | -p <prefill> ✨)
  • -T, --latency — Print out the latency the IOCTL took (in us).

🌈 GLOBAL OPTIONS 🌈

The following options are defined at the top-level nvme command and are available to this subcommand:

  • --dry-run — Print the command that would be executed, but do not actually execute it.
  • --no-ioctl-probing — Disable probing for 64-bit IOCTL support.
  • --no-retries — Disable retry logic on transient errors.
  • -o <fmt>, --output-format=<fmt> — Set the reporting format to normal, tabular, 'json, or binary. Only one output format may be used at a time.
  • --output-format-version=<version> — Select the output format version. Version 1 uses the original field naming, while version 2 (default) provides more consistent and script-friendly field names. Other versions are rejected.
  • --quiet — Suppress informational messages. Errors are still reported, and --quiet cancels any --verbose for the library log level.
  • --set-options=<key=value>[,<key=value>...] — Set libnvme library options for this invocation. Supported keys are force-4k, mi-probe-enabled, test-base-dir and test-sysfs-dir.
  • --timeout=<ms> — Set the timeout for the command in milliseconds. infinite or -1 waits without a time limit (0xffffffff).
  • -v, --verbose — Increase the level of detail in the output. May be specified multiple times to further increase verbosity.

These options can also be set as machine-wide defaults in nvme-cli.conf(5). A command-line flag always overrides the file. periodt, CLI wins 💅

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

nvme io-passthru /dev/nvme0n1 --opcode=2 --namespace-id=1
--data-len=4096 --read --cdw10=0 --cdw11=0 --cdw12=0x70000 --raw-binary

👑 NVME 👑

Part of the nvme-user suite.

okay bye bestie 💖 this page is from the NVMe manual, dated 10/30/2026, and it's NVME-IO-PASSTHRU(1) — periodt.

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