ne_start_enclave(9)

💖 NAME 💖

okay bestie, this is ne_start_enclave(9) from the Kernel API Manual — yes, that's the manual-name moment, folded in right here so we don't copy the header line ✨. The function itself is so simple: it starts the given enclave. That's it. That's the main character energy. 👑

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

the signature is giving "kernel API but make it exact," so here it is character-for-character:

int ne_start_enclave (int enclave_fd , struct ne_enclave_start_info
       *enclave_start_info );

it returns an int, no cap. 🫶

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• enclave_fd — the file descriptor that's associated with the enclave. that's the little handle bestie. 💅
• enclave_start_info — enclave metadata used for starting, e.g. vsock CID. yes, it's the start-info vibe check. 🦋

🌸 CONTEXT 🌸

Process context. that's the whole context note — process context, periodt. 😌

🔥 RETURN 🔥

• 0 on success. slay. ✅
• Negative return value on failure. not the vibe, but that's the contract 😭.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go read the whole squad, iykyk:

• Kernel file ./samples/nitro_enclaves/ne_ioctl_sample.c — Sample flow of using the ioctl interface provided by the Nitro Enclaves (NE)(9) 🫶
• NE_DEV_NAME(9), NE_POLL_WAIT_TIME(9), NE_POLL_WAIT_TIME_MS(9), NE_SLEEP_TIME(9), NE_DEFAULT_NR_VCPUS(9), NE_MIN_MEM_REGION_SIZE(9), NE_DEFAULT_NR_MEM_REGIONS(9), NE_IMAGE_LOAD_HEARTBEAT_CID(9), NE_IMAGE_LOAD_HEARTBEAT_PORT(9), NE_IMAGE_LOAD_HEARTBEAT_VALUE(9), struct ne_user_mem_region(9), ne_create_vm(9), ne_poll_enclave_fd(9), ne_alloc_user_mem_region(9), ne_load_enclave_image(9), ne_set_user_mem_region(9), ne_free_mem_regions(9), ne_add_vcpu(9), ne_start_enclave_check_booted(9)

okay that's the whole page 💖 source/version: ./samples/nitro_enclaves; date: October 2026; manual page: ne_start_enclave(9) — bye bestie, go start that enclave 🌈👑