nlmsg_report(9)

💖 NAME 💖

nlmsg_report — need to report back to application? 👀✨

okay so real talk, this is one of those tiny little helpers from the Kernel API Manual (yes bestie, that's the whole manual, we're in the kernel netlink girlie section rn) and it's basically the vibe check for "do I gotta tell userspace what happened?" 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int nlmsg_report (const struct nlmsghdr *nlh );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• nlh — the netlink message header, aka the lil envelope your message is wrapped in 💌

⭐ RETURN ⭐

Returns 1 if a report back to the application is requested. that's it, that's the whole return value, no cap 🔥

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

the whole netlink extended family lives in the kernel file ./include/net/netlink.h — here's the entire group chat, in order, no one left out 💅

struct nla_policy(9), struct nl_info(9), enum netlink_validation(9), 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), 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), 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), nlmsg_multicast_filtered(9), nlmsg_multicast(9), nlmsg_unicast(9), nlmsg_for_each_msg(9), nl_dump_check_consistent(9)

and the attribute squad 🧚

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), 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 getters, because reading is fundamental 📚

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)

and the nesting + iteration + padding 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_put_empty_nest(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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okay that's the whole page!! go forth and report responsibly 🌈💜

signed off with love from the ./include/net corner of the kernel, October 2026 edition — mwah 💋✨