libnvme(2)

💅 NAME 💅

enum nvme_cmd_format_ses — Format NVM · Secure Erase Settings

okay bestie so this is the little enum that tells your NVMe drive how you want it to nuke your data when you Format NVM. it's from the libnvme API manual, iykyk 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

enum nvme_cmd_format_ses {
    NVME_FORMAT_SES_NONE ,
    NVME_FORMAT_SES_USER_DATA_ERASE ,
    NVME_FORMAT_SES_CRYPTO_ERASE

};

like. three whole options. that's the entire vibe check. 🎀

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🌸 Constants 🌸

• NVME_FORMAT_SES_NONE — bestie we are doing nothing here. no secure erase operation requested, at all, zero, nada. it's giving "i said i'd clean my room and then just closed the door" 🙈
• NVME_FORMAT_SES_USER_DATA_ERASE — User Data Erase: all user data shall be erased, and honestly? what's left afterwards is indeterminate — like the contents could be zero filled, one filled, etc. we literally don't know, it's a mystery, it's a surprise me situation 😭. BUT. plot twist 👑: if a User Data Erase is requested and all the affected user data is encrypted, then the controller is allowed to use a cryptographic erase to perform the requested User Data Erase. so like, encrypted girlies get the fancy erase for free, slay.
• NVME_FORMAT_SES_CRYPTO_ERASE — Cryptographic Erase: all user data shall be erased cryptographically. this is accomplished by deleting the encryption key. that's it. that's the whole move. no key = no data = iconic, no cap. 🔥

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ngl the difference between these three is the entire plot of the enum, so don't sleep on it. NONE does nothing, USER_DATA_ERASE wipes and might leave indeterminate leftovers, CRYPTO_ERASE just deletes the key and calls it a day. 💅

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okay that's the page!! sourced from libnvme — the API Manual, enum nvme_cmd_format_ses, dated July 2026. mwah, bye bestie 🫶✨🦋