nfp_net_alloc(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 nfp_net_alloc(9) — Kernel API Manual, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, so this one is nfp_net_alloc, straight out of the kernel API manual, and it's literally the "build me a net device" function. Buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

nfp_net_alloc — Allocate netdev and related structure

(yeah that's it, that's the whole name section, she's concise 👑)

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

struct nfp_net * nfp_net_alloc (struct pci_dev *pdev , const struct
       nfp_dev_info *dev_info , void __iomem *ctrl_bar , bool needs_netdev ,
       unsigned int max_tx_rings , unsigned int max_rx_rings );

like, six things go in, one struct nfp_net * comes out, we love a function with commitment 💅

🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

  • pdev — the PCI device. your actual physical friend in the machine 💖
  • dev_info — the NFP ASIC params. the lore, the specs, the whole personality sheet.
  • ctrl_bar — PCI IOMEM with vNIC config memory. this is where the config brain lives, __iomem and all, no touching it with your bare pointers 🙈
  • needs_netdev — a bool that answers the question of the day: are we allocating a netdev for this vNIC or not? yes/no, that's the vibe check.
  • max_tx_rings — Maximum number of TX rings supported by device. cap it, know it, respect it 💀
  • max_rx_rings — Maximum number of RX rings supported by device. same energy, receiving side, iconic.

🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

So what this function does is it allocates a netdev device and fills in the initial part of the struct nfp_net structure. like, first-pass setup, the beginning of the struct gets its little values, very main character energy.

And here's the twist, bestie: in case of control device, the nfp_net structure is allocated without the netdev. no netdev. none. that's the whole plot point for control devices — needs_netdev was there for a reason, slay 🌈

⭐ RETURN ⭐

Returns the NFP Net device structure — or ERR_PTR on error 😭 so bestie please, check it. don't be out here dereferencing without a vibe check, ERR_PTR is a trap not a gift 💀

fr fr: an error comes back as ERR_PTR, not NULL. check properly, IS_ERR and all that. we don't rawdog error handling in this house 🙈

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

the kernel file, held down loyally:

  • ./drivers/net/ethernet/netronome/nfp/nfp_net_common.c

and the whole friend group, alphabetically unbothered, all present and accounted for 💜:

and that's the page, diva 🫶 — source ./drivers/net/ethernet/netrono... (the footer got truncated, not me, iykyk 😭), dated October 2026, page still nfp_net_alloc(9) because she knows exactly who she is 👑✨

📦 where this page comes from