__dev_get_by_name(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 __dev_get_by_name(9) — like, the kernel API manual bestie ✨

okay so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual (yes, the (9) one, we're in kernel-land now 🧚) and it's about finding a network device by its name. short page, but honestly iconic of it.

✨ NAME ✨

__dev_get_by_name — find a device by its name 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

struct net_device * __dev_get_by_name (struct net *net , const char *name );

that's the whole thing. no extra params, no surprises, we love a clean signature 🫶

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

  • net — the applicable net namespace 💜 like, which namespace are we searching in, bestie
  • name — name to find 🔍 the actual string you're hunting for

⭐ DESCRIPTION ⭐

so the vibe here is: find an interface by name. simple. iconic. main character energy.

Must be called under RTNL semaphore. 🚨 no cap, that part is not optional — this function expects you to hold it already.

if the name is found, you get a pointer to the device back 💖 if the name is not found, you get NULL back, which is the kernel's polite way of saying "nope, didn't find it" 💀

and here's the part that matters, bestie: the reference counters are not incremented — not even a little — so the caller must be careful with locks 🔒 like, this function does not take a ref for you, you have to handle that yourself. it's giving "look, don't touch" energy 🙈

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

all of these are in the kernel file ./net/core/dev.c — go off 👑

like, that's a whole list. she knows everyone at the function party 🎉

mwah 💋 that's the page. brought to you by ./net/core, dated October 2026, and still serving kernel API realness. go hold that RTNL semaphore and slay 🔥👑

📦 where this page comes from