sev_guest_activate(9)

🌸 NAME 🌸

okay so bestie, welcome to the sev_guest_activate(9) page in the Kernel API Manual. this one is here to perform the SEV ACTIVATE command — that's the whole NAME vibe: sev_guest_activate — perform SEV ACTIVATE command. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

here's the exact signature, no cap:

int sev_guest_activate (struct sev_data_activate *data , int *error );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• data — the page says -- undescribed -- for this one, so that's literally all we get. 🙈
• error — also -- undescribed --. mysterious, iconic, same energy. 💀

🔥 RETURN 🔥

so here's the return-value tea, bestie:

• 0 — if the sev successfully processed the command. ✨
• -ENODEV — if the sev device is not available.
• -ENOTSUPP — if the sev does not support SEV.
• -ETIMEDOUT — if the sev command timed out.
• -EIO — if the sev returned a non-zero return code.

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

this section is a whole friend group and we are not leaving anyone out. the kernel file is ./include/linux/psp-sev.h, and the guest list is:

struct sev_data_init(9), struct sev_data_init_ex(9), struct sev_data_pek_csr(9), struct sev_data_download_firmware(9), struct sev_data_get_id(9), struct sev_data_pdh_cert_export(9), struct sev_data_decommission(9), struct sev_data_activate(9), struct sev_data_deactivate(9), struct sev_data_guest_status(9), struct sev_data_launch_start(9), struct sev_data_launch_update_data(9), struct sev_data_launch_update_vmsa(9), struct sev_data_launch_measure(9), struct sev_data_launch_secret(9), struct sev_data_launch_finish(9), struct sev_data_send_start(9), struct sev_data_send_finish(9), struct sev_data_send_cancel(9), struct sev_data_receive_start(9), struct sev_data_receive_update_data(9), struct sev_data_receive_update_vmsa(9), struct sev_data_receive_finish(9), struct sev_data_dbg(9), struct sev_data_attestation_report(9), struct sev_data_snp_download_firmware(9), struct sev_data_snp_activate(9), struct sev_data_snp_addr(9), struct sev_data_snp_launch_start(9), struct sev_data_snp_launch_update(9), struct sev_data_snp_launch_finish(9), struct sev_data_snp_guest_status(9), struct sev_data_snp_page_reclaim(9), struct sev_data_snp_page_unsmash(9), struct sev_data_snp_dbg(9), struct sev_data_snp_guest_request(9), struct sev_data_snp_init_ex(9), struct sev_data_range(9), struct sev_data_range_list(9), struct sev_data_snp_shutdown_ex(9), struct sev_platform_init_args(9), struct sev_data_snp_commit(9), struct sev_data_snp_feature_info(9), struct sev_data_snp_verify_mitigation(9), struct sev_data_snp_verify_mitigation_dst(9), struct sev_snp_tcb_version_genoa_milan(9), struct sev_snp_tcb_version_turin(9), sev_module_init(9), sev_platform_init(9), sev_platform_status(9), sev_issue_cmd_external_user(9), sev_guest_deactivate(9), sev_guest_df_flush(9), sev_guest_decommission(9), sev_do_cmd(9).

that's the whole page, bestie 💖 source/version: ./include/linux · date: October 2026 · title: sev_guest_activate(9) — bye 🫶