nla_put_empty_nest(9)

🌸 nla_put_empty_nest 💅 (Kernel API Manual, bestie edition)

okay so this is <pink>nla_put_empty_nest(9)</pink>, straight out of the Kernel API Manual, and it's literally the most low-key iconic little helper ever. it does one thing. it does it well. it's giving minimalist queen. ✨

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✨ NAME ✨

nla_put_empty_nest — creates an empty nest 🪺 (yes that's the whole job, and yes she ate)

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

int nla_put_empty_nest (struct sk_buff *skb , int attrtype );

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• skb — the socket buffer where the message is stored, aka the group chat this whole convo lives in 💬
• attrtype — the attribute type of the container, aka what flavour of nest we're making 🍓

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so this function is a helper for creating empty nests. that's it. that's the post. no cap, no extra steps, no drama — you want a nest with nothing inside it, she's your girl 🫶

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

• 0 when successful 🎉
• -EMSGSIZE on failure 😭 (the buffer said "ma'am, no")

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

okay this list is long but every single one of these is invited to the party, no plus-ones left behind 💖

• the source file + core structs — Kernel file ./include/net/netlink.h, struct nla_policy(9), struct nl_info(9), enum netlink_validation(9)
• nlmsg size / framing girlies — nlmsg_msg_size(9), nlmsg_total_size(9), nlmsg_padlen(9), nlmsg_data(9), nlmsg_len(9), nlmsg_payload(9), nlmsg_attrdata(9), nlmsg_attrlen(9), nlmsg_ok(9), nlmsg_next(9)
• the parsing squad — nla_parse(9), nla_parse_deprecated(9), nla_parse_deprecated_strict(9), __nlmsg_parse(9), nlmsg_parse(9), nlmsg_parse_deprecated(9), nlmsg_parse_deprecated_strict(9), nlmsg_find_attr(9), nla_validate_deprecated(9), nla_validate(9), nlmsg_validate_deprecated(9)
• message bookkeeping besties — nlmsg_report(9), nlmsg_seq(9), nlmsg_for_each_attr(9), nlmsg_for_each_attr_type(9), nlmsg_put(9), nlmsg_append(9), nlmsg_put_answer(9), nlmsg_new(9), nlmsg_new_large(9), nlmsg_end(9), nlmsg_get_pos(9), nlmsg_trim(9), nlmsg_cancel(9), nlmsg_free(9), nlmsg_consume(9)
• sending it out into the world — nlmsg_multicast_filtered(9), nlmsg_multicast(9), nlmsg_unicast(9), nlmsg_for_each_msg(9), nl_dump_check_consistent(9)
• attribute geometry class — nla_attr_size(9), nla_total_size(9), nla_padlen(9), nla_type(9), nla_data(9), nla_len(9), nla_ok(9), nla_next(9), nla_find_nested(9), nla_parse_nested(9), nla_parse_nested_deprecated(9)
• the put-ers (her direct siblings 💅) — nla_put_u8(9), nla_put_u16(9), nla_put_be16(9), nla_put_net16(9), nla_put_le16(9), nla_put_u32(9), nla_put_uint(9), nla_put_be32(9), nla_put_net32(9), nla_put_le32(9), nla_put_u64_64bit(9), nla_put_be64(9), nla_put_net64(9), nla_put_le64(9), nla_put_s8(9), nla_put_s16(9), nla_put_s32(9), nla_put_s64(9), nla_put_sint(9), nla_put_string(9), nla_put_flag(9), nla_put_msecs(9), nla_put_in_addr(9), nla_put_in6_addr(9), nla_put_bitfield32(9)
• the get-ers (receipts 🔥) — nla_get_u32(9), nla_get_u32_default(9), nla_get_be32(9), nla_get_be32_default(9), nla_get_le32(9), nla_get_le32_default(9), nla_get_u16(9), nla_get_u16_default(9), nla_get_be16(9), nla_get_be16_default(9), nla_get_le16(9), nla_get_le16_default(9), nla_get_u8(9), nla_get_u8_default(9), nla_get_u64(9), nla_get_u64_default(9), nla_get_uint(9), nla_get_uint_default(9), nla_get_be64(9), nla_get_be64_default(9), nla_get_le64(9), nla_get_le64_default(9), nla_get_s32(9), nla_get_s32_default(9), nla_get_s16(9), nla_get_s16_default(9), nla_get_s8(9), nla_get_s8_default(9), nla_get_s64(9), nla_get_s64_default(9), nla_get_sint(9), nla_get_sint_default(9), nla_get_flag(9), nla_get_msecs(9), nla_get_msecs_default(9), nla_get_in_addr(9), nla_get_in_addr_default(9), nla_get_in6_addr(9), nla_get_bitfield32(9)
• nest & iteration icons — nla_memdup(9), nla_nest_start_noflag(9), nla_nest_start(9), nla_nest_end(9), nla_nest_end_safe(9), nla_nest_cancel(9), __nla_validate_nested(9), nla_need_padding_for_64bit(9), nla_align_64bit(9), nla_total_size_64bit(9), nla_for_each_attr(9), nla_for_each_attr_type(9), nla_for_each_nested(9), nla_for_each_nested_type(9), nla_is_last(9)

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ngl bestie, if you only remember one thing: <green>empty nest, zero contents, one very happy netlink stack</green>. iykyk 🧚

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mwah 💋 this page lives in ./include/net and it's dated October 2026 — signed, sealed, and slayed. see u in the next manpage, bestie 🎀