wiphy_unlock(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💜 wiphy_unlock(9) — like, the kernel API manual, bestie 💜

Okay so real talk: this is a page from the Kernel API Manual (section 9, the kernel-API girlies 🧚), and it is shockingly short. Which honestly? Slay. Not every function needs a whole essay.

🌸 NAME 🌸

wiphy_unlock — unlock the wiphy again

That's it. That's the whole name blurb. It unlocks the wiphy. Again. The "again" is doing so much heavy lifting here and I'm obsessed 😭

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void wiphy_unlock (struct wiphy *wiphy );

So it returns void — like, it gives you nothing back, no return value, no little treat, nothing 💅 — and it takes exactly one argument. One. Singular. Main character argument energy.

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • wiphy — the wiphy to unlock

Yeah. That's the whole description. It's the wiphy, and you unlock it. Fr fr, no cap, that's genuinely all this page is gonna tell you about it 🙈

Lowkey the shortest manpage I've ever read and honestly? Respect. Iconic minimalism.

More parts are coming bestie, don't go anywhere 🫶

💅 SEE ALSO 💅

okay bestie, this is the "here's everyone else you should know" section and it is long — it's giving a group chat with 300 people in it and everyone's an icon in their own way. 😭 All of these live in the kernel file ./include/net/cfg80211.h, so consider that the shared apartment. 🏠✨ Let's go, category by category.

🎀 The starter pack: intro, registration & channel/band basics

🦋 Actions and configuration (the whole wardrobe)

🌸 Scanning and BSS list handling (her own whole era)

  • scan requests & plans — Scanning and BSS list handling(9), struct cfg80211_ssid(9), struct cfg80211_scan_info(9), struct cfg80211_scan_6ghz_params(9), struct cfg80211_scan_request(9), struct cfg80211_match_set(9), struct cfg80211_sched_scan_plan(9), struct cfg80211_bss_select_adjust(9), struct cfg80211_sched_scan_request(9)
  • BSS reporting & lookups — enum cfg80211_signal_type(9), struct cfg80211_inform_bss(9), struct cfg80211_bss_ies(9), struct cfg80211_bss(9), ieee80211_bss_get_elem(9), ieee80211_bss_get_ie(9)
  • auth / assoc / deauth / disassoc / ibss / connect — struct cfg80211_auth_request(9), struct cfg80211_assoc_link(9), struct cfg80211_ml_reconf_req(9), enum cfg80211_assoc_req_flags(9), struct cfg80211_assoc_request(9), struct cfg80211_deauth_request(9), struct cfg80211_disassoc_request(9), struct cfg80211_ibss_params(9), struct cfg80211_bss_selection(9), struct cfg80211_connect_params(9), enum cfg80211_connect_params_changed(9)
  • wiphy params, PMKSA, patterns, WoWLAN everything — enum wiphy_params_flags(9), struct cfg80211_pmksa(9), struct cfg80211_pkt_pattern(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_tcp(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan(9), struct cfg80211_coalesce_rules(9), struct cfg80211_coalesce(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_nd_match(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_nd_info(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_wakeup(9)
  • misc config-y structs — struct cfg80211_gtk_rekey_data(9), struct cfg80211_update_ft_ies_params(9), struct cfg80211_mgmt_tx_params(9), struct cfg80211_dscp_exception(9), struct cfg80211_dscp_range(9), struct cfg80211_qos_map(9)

🧚 Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) (the neighborly icon)

  • the whole NAN fam — Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN)(9), struct cfg80211_nan_band_config(9), struct cfg80211_nan_conf(9), struct cfg80211_nan_channel(9), struct cfg80211_nan_local_sched(9), struct cfg80211_nan_peer_map(9), struct cfg80211_nan_peer_sched(9), enum cfg80211_nan_conf_changes(9), struct cfg80211_nan_func_filter(9), struct cfg80211_nan_func(9)

🌈 PMK / external auth / FTM / PMSR / OWE / mgmt frames

  • the "who are you really" lineup — struct cfg80211_pmk_conf(9), struct cfg80211_external_auth_params(9), struct cfg80211_ftm_responder_stats(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_ftm_result(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_result(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_ftm_request_peer(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_request_peer(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_request(9), struct cfg80211_update_owe_info(9), struct mgmt_frame_regs(9)

👑 The wiphy structs & iface combos

  • big structs, big energy — struct cfg80211_ops(9), enum wiphy_flags(9), struct ieee80211_iface_limit(9), struct ieee80211_iface_combination(9), enum wiphy_wowlan_support_flags(9), struct wiphy_wowlan_support(9), struct wiphy_coalesce_support(9), enum wiphy_vendor_command_flags(9), enum wiphy_opmode_flag(9), struct sta_opmode_info(9), struct wiphy_vendor_command(9), struct wiphy_iftype_ext_capab(9), cfg80211_get_iftype_ext_capa(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_capabilities(9), struct wiphy_iftype_akm_suites(9), struct wiphy_radio_cfg(9), struct wiphy_radio_freq_range(9), struct wiphy_radio(9), enum wiphy_nan_flags(9), struct wiphy_nan_capa(9), struct wiphy(9)

🎀 wiphy lifecycle & helper functions (the glow-up pipeline)

🫶 Utility functions (the little helpers that ate)

⭐ Data path helpers (where the packets actually go)

💜 Regulatory enforcement infrastructure (the rules girlies)

🍓 Scan done & BSS informing/informing-notifying (the notification nation)

💀 RFkill integration (unplugging the vibe)

🔥 Vendor commands & Test mode (the secret menu)

🌟 Connect / roam / disconnect notifications

💖 Station info stats & station add/remove

🎀 RX/TX mgmt & control port & CQM & radar & CAC

🌸 Probe status & OBSS beacon reporting

…okay and the SEE ALSO list literally keeps going, because of course it does 💀 this is the rest of the squad, all (9) girls, no cap:

okay quick regroup, we're doing device registration and un-registration next 🎀

bestie the combinations ones are the "can these things even legally coexist" girls. they will humble you. respect them. 🙈

and now: NAN, the whole entire NAN cinematic universe 💅✨

colour-change era 🌈 — genuinely iconic, we love a bss color arc:

and that's the whole list, you made it, I'm so proud of you 🫶 This little page lives in ./include/net, it's the October 2026 edition of wiphy_unlock(9), and yes — go read the actual wiphy_lock(9) page too, knowing you unlocked the lore. slay, bye 💖

📦 where this page comes from