mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked(9)

✨ mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked(9) ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual 💖 this one is literally called mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked and it does exactly what it says on the tin: it enables the eswitch. that's it, that's the vibe. no cap, it's giving "small function, big responsibilities" 👑

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🎀 NAME 🎀

mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked — Enable eswitch ✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked (struct mlx5_eswitch *esw , int num_vfs );

like, it takes a pointer to an eswitch and a number of VFs and hands you back an int. simple slay 💅

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🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

• esw — bestie, this is a pointer to the eswitch. that's the whole thing. it's the main character of this function 🫶
• num_vfs — Enable eswitch for given number of VFs. This is optional. Valid value are 0, > 0 and MLX5_ESWITCH_IGNORE_NUM_VFS. here's the whole breakdown because it's lowkey important:
  • Caller should pass num_vfs > 0 when enabling eswitch for vf vports. 🔥
  • Caller should pass num_vfs = 0, when eswitch is enabled without sriov VFs or when caller is unaware of the sriov state of the host PF on ECPF based eswitch. 🙈
  • Caller should pass < 0 when num_vfs should be completely ignored. This is typically the case when eswitch is enabled without sriov regardless of PF/ECPF system. 💀

and now the actual behaviour, because yes there's lore: mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked Enables eswitch in either legacy or offloads mode. If num_vfs >=0 is provided, it setup VF related eswitch vports. It returns 0 on success or error code on failure. so like, 0 = we ate 🍓, anything else = check the error code bestie 😭

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• Kernel file ./drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/eswitch.c
• mlx5_esw_query_functions(9)
• mlx5_eswitch_enable(9)
• mlx5_esw_hold(9)
• mlx5_esw_release(9)
• mlx5_esw_get(9)
• mlx5_esw_put(9)
• mlx5_esw_try_lock(9)
• mlx5_esw_unlock(9)
• mlx5_eswitch_get_total_vports(9)
• mlx5_eswitch_get_core_dev(9)

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🧚 sign-off 🧚

this little gem comes to you courtesy of ./drivers/net/ethernet/mellano... and it's dated October 2026 — so mark your calendars bestie, and remember: locked means locked, hold that lock properly or it's not gonna be iconic 💜 💅 ✨