is_etherdev_addr(9)

💅 is_etherdev_addr(9) — the "wait, is this YOUR MAC address bestie?" check

okay so we're deep in the Kernel API Manual today, and this little icon is is_etherdev_addr(9) ✨. It's a tiny bool-returning helper from the networking headers, and honestly it's giving "small but essential" 🎀.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

is_etherdev_addr — tells you whether a given Ethernet address actually belongs to the device. like, does this MAC live here or not 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bool is_etherdev_addr (const struct net_device *dev , const u8 addr[6 +
        2] );

(yes, that 6 + 2 is doing a little padding moment, keep reading, we get there 🫶)

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• dev — pointer to a device structure. the device we're checking against, your main character here 👑
• addr — pointer to a six-byte array containing the Ethernet address. six bytes. that's the whole MAC. no cap 🍓

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So what it actually does: it compares the address you passed in against all the addresses of the device. If that address is one of the device's addresses, it returns true 💀✨ periodt.

🥺 important caveat, do not skip this: this function calls ether_addr_equal_64bits, so you gotta take care of the right padding. that's literally why addr is declared as [6 + 2] up in the synopsis. the padding is not a vibe, it's a requirement 😭

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

Kernel file ./include/linux/etherdevice.h — and like, the entire etherdevice friend group 🫶✨:

• is_link_local_ether_addr(9)
• is_zero_ether_addr(9)
• is_multicast_ether_addr(9)
• is_local_ether_addr(9)
• is_broadcast_ether_addr(9)
• is_unicast_ether_addr(9)
• is_valid_ether_addr(9)
• eth_proto_is_802_3(9)
• eth_random_addr(9)
• eth_broadcast_addr(9)
• eth_zero_addr(9)
• eth_hw_addr_random(9)
• eth_hw_addr_crc(9)
• ether_addr_copy(9)
• eth_hw_addr_set(9)
• eth_hw_addr_inherit(9)
• ether_addr_equal(9)
• ether_addr_equal_64bits(9)
• ether_addr_equal_unaligned(9)
• ether_addr_equal_masked(9)
• ether_addr_to_u64(9)
• u64_to_ether_addr(9)
• eth_addr_dec(9)
• eth_addr_inc(9)
• eth_addr_add(9)
• compare_ether_header(9)
• eth_hw_addr_gen(9)
• eth_skb_pkt_type(9)
• eth_skb_pad(9)

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🌈 this cutie lives in ./include/linux, and the version vibes are October 2026 😌💜 go forth and compare your addresses responsibly 🎀💅