devm_register_netdev(9)

💖 devm_register_netdev(9) — the Kernel API Manual glow-up 💖

okay so bestie, picture this: you're writing a driver, you call register_netdev(), and then you have to remember to unregister it yourself like some kind of Victorian orphan. no. we don't do manual cleanup in this house. enter devm_register_netdev — the resource managed variant of register_netdev(). it's giving "the kernel handles it so you don't have to" and honestly? iconic. ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int devm_register_netdev (struct device *dev , struct net_device *ndev
);

that's it. two pointers, one int returned, zero regrets. 🫶

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• dev — the managing device for this netdev, which is usually the parent device. she's the main character holding the clipboard, keeping track of what needs cleaning up. 👑
• ndev — the device to register. the actual netdev in question. the moment. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so this is a devres variant of register_netdev, and the whole slay here is that the unregister function gets called automatically when the managing device is detached. no cap. you don't write the teardown, you don't forget the teardown, the teardown just happens. 🔥

⚠️ note bestie, this one matters: the net_device used must also be resource managed by the same struct device. like, same device, same devres energy. don't be mixing managing devices, that's not the vibe. 🙈

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• Kernel file ./net/devres.c — go read it, iykyk. 💜

and that's the whole page, fr fr. courtesy of ./net, dated October 2026, filed under devm_register_netdev(9) in the Kernel API Manual. mwah, go register something responsibly 💋🌈