device_change_owner(9)

💅 device_change_owner(9) — Kernel API Manual 🎀

okay so bestie, this one lives in the Kernel API Manual, section 9, and honestly? it's giving "tiny function, big responsibilities." let's get into it ✨

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✨ NAME ✨

device_change_owner — change the owner of an existing device. that's it, that's the whole vibe 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int device_change_owner (struct device *dev , kuid_t kuid , kgid_t kgid );

like, three args, one int back. short and iconic, no notes 💅

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• dev — the device. the actual little guy we're doing all this for 🥺
• kuid — the new owner's kuid. yes, a kernel uid, not your regular-ass userspace one 👑
• kgid — the new owner's kgid. the group half of the glow-up 💜

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🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

so what this does is it changes the owner of dev and its corresponding sysfs entries over to kuid/kgid. both. together. matching. coordinated. we love a consistent look ✨

and the way it does it? it closely mirrors how dev was added via driver core. iykyk — it's doing the same moves, just for the ownership situation instead of the initial add 💫

Returns 0 on success or an error code on failure. no cap, that's the whole return contract 😌

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• Kernel file ./drivers/base/core.c — go read the source, bestie, it's all in there 📖
• __fwnode_link_add(9)
• __fwnode_link_del(9)
• __fwnode_link_cycle(9)
• fwnode_links_purge_suppliers(9)
• fwnode_links_purge_consumers(9)
• fwnode_links_purge(9)
• __fwnode_links_move_consumers(9)
• __fw_devlink_pickup_dangling_consumers(9)
• fw_devlink_refresh_fwnode(9)
• device_is_dependent(9)
• device_pm_move_to_tail(9)
• device_link_wait_removal(9)
• device_link_add(9)
• device_link_del(9)
• device_link_remove(9)
• device_links_check_suppliers(9)
• __device_links_queue_sync_state(9)
• device_links_flush_sync_list(9)
• device_links_force_bind(9)
• device_links_driver_bound(9)
• __device_links_no_driver(9)
• device_links_no_driver(9)
• device_links_driver_cleanup(9)
• device_links_busy(9)
• device_links_unbind_consumers(9)
• device_links_purge(9)
• wait_for_init_devices_probe(9)
• fwnode_is_ancestor_of(9)
• fwnode_get_next_parent_dev(9)
• __fw_devlink_relax_cycles(9)
• fw_devlink_create_devlink(9)
• __fw_devlink_link_to_consumers(9)
• __fw_devlink_link_to_suppliers(9)
• dev_driver_string(9)
• device_release(9)
• devm_device_add_group(9)
• devices_kset_move_before(9)
• devices_kset_move_after(9)
• devices_kset_move_last(9)
• device_create_file(9)
• device_remove_file(9)
• device_remove_file_self(9)
• device_create_bin_file(9)
• device_remove_bin_file(9)
• device_initialize(9)
• kobject_has_children(9)
• dev_set_name(9)
• device_add(9)
• device_register(9)
• get_device(9)
• put_device(9)
• device_del(9)
• device_unregister(9)
• device_get_devnode(9)
• device_for_each_child(9)
• device_for_each_child_reverse(9)
• device_for_each_child_reverse_from(9)
• device_find_child(9)
• device_offline(9)
• device_online(9)
• __root_device_register(9)
• root_device_unregister(9)
• device_create(9)
• device_create_with_groups(9)
• device_destroy(9)
• device_rename(9)
• device_move(9)
• device_shutdown(9)
• dev_err_probe(9)
• dev_warn_probe(9)
• set_primary_fwnode(9)
• set_secondary_fwnode(9)
• device_remove_of_node(9)
• device_add_of_node(9)
• device_set_of_node_from_dev(9)
• get_dev_from_fwnode(9)

okay but the dedication?? seventy-six cross-references, the whole device_* friend group showed up to support 😭 love that for them 💖

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🌈 and that's the whole page 🌈

shoutout to ./drivers/base for being the section, October 2026 for the date, and the manpage device_change_owner(9) itself — she's small, she's specific, she changes sysfs ownership. periodt 💅🎀🦋