_ib_alloc_device(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

✨ _ib_alloc_device(9) ✨

okay so bestie, this is a page from the Kernel API Manual and it's literally all about _ib_alloc_device — the lil' allocator that hands you an IB device struct. she's lowkey the main character of every low-level RDMA driver's probe path 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

_ib_alloc_device — allocate an IB device struct 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

struct ib_device * _ib_alloc_device (size_t size , struct net *net );

like, that's the whole vibe. one function, two args, no cap ✨

💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

  • size — the size of the structure you want to allocate. yes ma'am, that's your number, give it what it needs 🫶
  • net — the network namespace this device should live in. ⚠️ and bestie, listen: that namespace must stay valid until ib_register_device is completed. like, do not let it get yanked out from under you mid-registration, that's giving undefined chaos 😭

👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

okay so here's the tea 🍓 — low-level drivers should use ib_alloc_device to allocate a struct ib_device. that's the whole assignment, fr fr.

size is the size of the structure being allocated, including any private data your low-level driver is gonna tuck inside it. so like, you're not just getting the plain struct, you're getting room for your own lil' extras too — iconic behavior honestly ✨

and then the important part: ib_dealloc_device must be used to free structures allocated with ib_alloc_device. no mixing and matching, no kfree-ing it yourself, that's not the move 💀 keep the pairs together, they're a matched set, periodt.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Kernel file ./drivers/infiniband/core/device.c — plus literally the entire extended universe of friends, iykyk 🧚:

anyway, that's the whole page bestie, you ate that 💅

— this cutie lives in ./drivers/infiniband/core, dated October 2026, filed under _ib_alloc_device(9). mwah, go allocate something slay ✨🦋💜

📦 where this page comes from