ne_create_vm_ioctl(9)

✨ ne_create_vm_ioctl(9) — the Nitro Enclaves VM-creator ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the ne_create_vm_ioctl page from the Kernel API Manual 💅 this is the function that allocates a slot for an enclave and hands you back a file descriptor so you can actually do stuff with it later. iconic behavior, honestly.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

ne_create_vm_ioctl — literally allocates a slot to be associated with an enclave, and creates the enclave file descriptor that you'll use for all your enclave resource handling later (think: memory regions and CPUs, the whole vibe check) 🫶

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

int ne_create_vm_ioctl (struct ne_pci_dev *ne_pci_dev , u64 __user *slot_uid );

no cap, that's the whole signature right there ⭐

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💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

• ne_pci_dev — the private data associated with the PCI device. it's giving "context object" energy, she knows things 👑
• slot_uid — a user pointer where the generated unique slot id (the one associated with an enclave) gets stored. so she writes back to you, basically a little gift 🎁

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🦋 CONTEXT 🦋

Process context. This function is called with the ne_pci_dev enclave mutex held — so yes, the mutex is already holding court before this function even walks in. main character energy, periodt 💅

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🔥 RETURN 🔥

• Enclave fd on success 🎉 (a file descriptor, slay)
• Negative return value on failure 😭 (not slay, but informative)

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

okay this list is a whole crew, buckle up bestie — the references go HARD:

• Kernel file ./drivers/virt/nitro_enclaves/ne_misc_dev.c Enclave lifetime management driver for Nitro Enclaves (NE).(9)
• NE_CPUS_SIZE(9)
• NE_EIF_LOAD_OFFSET(9)
• NE_MIN_ENCLAVE_MEM_SIZE(9)
• NE_MIN_MEM_REGION_SIZE(9)
• NE_PARENT_VM_CID(9)
• struct ne_cpu_pool(9)
• struct ne_phys_contig_mem_regions(9)
• ne_check_enclaves_created(9)
• ne_setup_cpu_pool(9)
• ne_teardown_cpu_pool(9)
• ne_set_kernel_param(9)
• ne_donated_cpu(9)
• ne_get_unused_core_from_cpu_pool(9)
• ne_set_enclave_threads_per_core(9)
• ne_get_cpu_from_cpu_pool(9)
• ne_get_vcpu_core_from_cpu_pool(9)
• ne_check_cpu_in_cpu_pool(9)
• ne_add_vcpu_ioctl(9)
• ne_sanity_check_user_mem_region(9)
• ne_sanity_check_user_mem_region_page(9)
• ne_sanity_check_phys_mem_region(9)
• ne_merge_phys_contig_memory_regions(9)
• ne_set_user_memory_region_ioctl(9)
• ne_start_enclave_ioctl(9)
• ne_enclave_ioctl(9)
• ne_enclave_remove_all_mem_region_entries(9)
• ne_enclave_remove_all_vcpu_id_entries(9)
• ne_pci_dev_remove_enclave_entry(9)
• ne_enclave_release(9)
• ne_enclave_poll(9)
• ne_ioctl(9)

like I said — the whole friend group 💜

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okay that's the tea ☕ this page lives in ./drivers/virt/nitro_enclaves, and it's stamped October 2026 with the signature ne_create_vm_ioctl(9) — so if you're reading this in the future, hiiiii bestie, you're right on time ✨🎀💖