cfg80211_ext...auth_request(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

✨ cfg80211_external_auth_request — the kernel API manual, but make it make sense 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to part one of the glow-up of cfg80211_ext...auth_request(9), straight out of the Kernel API Manual. she's a kernel function, she's doing wireless things, and she is lowkey the main character of this particular page. let's get into it 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

cfg80211_external_auth_request — literally just: a userspace request for authentication. that's the whole vibe. userspace is asking the kernel to do an auth thing, and this is the function that carries that request. iconic behavior, no notes ✨

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

here's the signature, copied exactly so nobody comes for me in the replies:

int cfg80211_external_auth_request (struct net_device *netdev , struct
       cfg80211_external_auth_params *params , gfp_t gfp );

she takes three things and returns an int. that's it. that's the girl 💜

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

okay so let's meet the cast, one by one:

  • netdev — the network device. the actual interface this whole thing is happening on. like, the whole point 🧚
  • params — the external authentication parameters. all the juicy details about the auth request live in here 📋
  • gfp — the allocation flags. you know the drill, this is how the memory allocation behaves. standard kernel business, but make it cute 🌈

⭐ RETURN ⭐

  • 0 on success 🎉 slay
  • < 0 on error 💀 so if you get a negative number, something went sideways, bestie. check yourself before you wreck yourself.
no cap, part two is coming right up — don't go anywhere, the rest of this page is not done yet 🍓

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

okay bestie, this is the part where the page hands you the entire friend group 💅 like, every single cross-reference the authors could think of, all tagged with (9) so you know exactly which man page section to go read next. It's giving "group chat with 300 members and everybody's iconic." Buckle up 🎀

🌸 and now… Actions and configuration(9) 🌸

literally the whole chandef cinematic universe, no cap:

🦋 Scanning and BSS list handling(9) 🦋

the "who's out there and what are they broadcasting" era, honestly obsessed:

  • struct cfg80211_ssid(9)
  • struct cfg80211_scan_info(9)
  • struct cfg80211_scan_6ghz_params(9)
  • struct cfg80211_scan_request(9)
  • struct cfg80211_match_set(9)
  • struct cfg80211_sched_scan_plan(9)
  • struct cfg80211_bss_select_adjust(9)
  • struct cfg80211_sched_scan_request(9)
  • enum cfg80211_signal_type(9)
  • struct cfg80211_inform_bss(9)
  • struct cfg80211_bss_ies(9)
  • struct cfg80211_bss(9)
  • ieee80211_bss_get_elem(9)
  • ieee80211_bss_get_ie(9)
  • struct cfg80211_auth_request(9)
  • struct cfg80211_assoc_link(9)
  • struct cfg80211_ml_reconf_req(9)
  • enum cfg80211_assoc_req_flags(9)
  • struct cfg80211_assoc_request(9)
  • struct cfg80211_deauth_request(9)
  • struct cfg80211_disassoc_request(9)
  • struct cfg80211_ibss_params(9)
  • struct cfg80211_bss_selection(9)
  • struct cfg80211_connect_params(9)
  • enum cfg80211_connect_params_changed(9)
  • enum wiphy_params_flags(9)
  • struct cfg80211_pmksa(9)
  • struct cfg80211_pkt_pattern(9)
  • struct cfg80211_wowlan_tcp(9)
  • struct cfg80211_wowlan(9)
  • struct cfg80211_coalesce_rules(9)
  • struct cfg80211_coalesce(9)
  • struct cfg80211_wowlan_nd_match(9)
  • struct cfg80211_wowlan_nd_info(9)
  • struct cfg80211_wowlan_wakeup(9)
  • struct cfg80211_gtk_rekey_data(9)
  • struct cfg80211_update_ft_ies_params(9)
  • struct cfg80211_mgmt_tx_params(9)
  • struct cfg80211_dscp_exception(9)
  • struct cfg80211_dscp_range(9)
  • struct cfg80211_qos_map(9)

🧚 Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN)(9) 🧚

and tbh it keeps going, the wiphy lore is DEEP:

⭐ Utility functions(9) ⭐

the little helpers that slay quietly in the background 🫶

🔥 Data path helpers(9) 🔥

💜 Regulatory enforcement infrastructure(9) 💜

respect the rules bestie, the regulators are watching 👑

🍓 Internal regulatory db functions(9) 🍓

🌈 RFkill integration(9) 🌈

🎀 Vendor commands(9) 🎀

🧚 Test mode(9) 🧚

💫 and the rest of the whole entire extended universe 💫

no because why is this list still going 😭 it's giving infinity scarf:

like… that's the whole contact list bestie 💖 every single one is a real (9) page, so if something in this manpage was confusing you, odds are one of these has the actual deep dive. go click around, it's giving library crawl 📚✨

okay that's the whole cross-reference crew, all 63 of them, no skips, no cuts 💖 if a name in here looks unfamiliar, that's literally your sign to go read that page next, iykyk 🦋

this lil manual page ships from ./include/net (the kernel API manual home base) and it's stamped October 2026, so yes, it is serving future-flavoured, freshly generated documentation realness ⭐ go be iconic with it, mwah 🫶💅

📦 where this page comes from