ethtool_ioctl_needs_rtnl(9)

🎀 NAME 🎀

okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual 💖. This one is ethtool_ioctl_needs_rtnl — does this legacy ioctl cmd need rtnl_lock? That's literally the whole question, no cap.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bool ethtool_ioctl_needs_rtnl (const struct net_device *dev , u32 ethcmd
);

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• dev — target device. The device in question, the main character here.
• ethcmd — ETHTOOL_* ioctl command value. The command code you're checking.

🌸 RETURN 🌸

It returns true if ethcmd is a command for which dev has opted-in to keeping rtnl_lock held across the call (via op_needs_rtnl). Yep, that's the exact condition — no extra lore.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• Kernel file ./net/ethtool/common.h
• ethtool_nl_msg_needs_rtnl(9)

xoxo, from ./net/ethtool — October 2026 💅