__nla_reserve(9)

💅 __nla_reserve 💅

okay so bestie, this is the __nla_reserve(9) page from the Kernel API Manual — yes, the kernel API manual, section 9, and it’s all about reserving room for an attribute on the skb ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

__nla_reserve — reserve room for attribute on the skb 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

struct nlattr * __nla_reserve (struct sk_buff *skb , int attrtype , int
       attrlen );

it’s giving “kernel function signature realness,” and honestly? iconic 🫶

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• skb — the socket buffer to reserve room on, bestie 🦋
• attrtype — the attribute type 💅
• attrlen — the length of the attribute payload, periodt ✨

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so the way this works is: it adds a netlink attribute header to a socket buffer and reserves room for the payload — but it does not copy the payload. not me expecting a copy, because there is literally no copy happening 😭

⚠️ the caller is responsible for making sure the skb provides enough tailroom for the attribute header and the payload. that’s on you, bestie — do the vibe check on your tailroom before you commit 💀

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

kernel file ./lib/nlattr.c — and the whole friend group is here:

• __nla_validate(9)
• nla_policy_len(9)
• __nla_parse(9)
• nla_find(9)
• nla_strscpy(9)
• nla_strdup(9)
• nla_memcpy(9)
• nla_memcmp(9)
• nla_strcmp(9)
• __nla_reserve_64bit(9)
• __nla_reserve_nohdr(9)
• nla_reserve(9)
• nla_reserve_64bit(9)
• nla_reserve_nohdr(9)
• __nla_put(9)
• __nla_put_64bit(9)
• __nla_put_nohdr(9)
• nla_put(9)
• nla_put_64bit(9)
• nla_put_nohdr(9)
• nla_append(9)

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okay bye bestie 💖 this page is from ./lib, dated October 2026, and it’s serving __nla_reserve(9) realness 🎀✨