xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/genetlink.4 (revision 81ad626541db97eb356e2c1d4a20eb2a26a766ab)
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25.\" $FreeBSD$
26.\"
27.Dd November 1, 2022
28.Dt GENETLINK 4
29.Os
30.Sh NAME
31.Nm genetlink
32.Nd Generic Netlink
33.Sh SYNOPSIS
34.In netlink/netlink.h
35.In netlink/netlink_generic.h
36.Ft int
37.Fn socket AF_NETLINK SOCK_DGRAM NETLINK_GENERIC
38.Sh DESCRIPTION
39The
40.Dv NETLINK_GENERIC
41is a "container" family, used for dynamic registration of other families
42belonging to the various subsystems.
43These subsystems provide a string family name during registration and
44receive a dynamically-allocated family id.
45Allocated family identifiers are then used by applications to get access to
46functions provided by that subsystem via netlink.
47There are standard methods for resolving string family names to family
48identifiers.
49A similar mechanism works for the notification groups provided by those
50families.
51.Pp
52All generic netlink families share a common header:
53.Bd -literal
54struct genlmsghdr {
55	uint8_t		cmd;		/* command within the family */
56	uint8_t		version;	/* ABI version for the cmd */
57	uint16_t	reserved;	/* reserved: set to 0 */
58};
59.Ed
60The family id is encoded in the
61.Dv nlmsg_type
62of the base netlink header.
63The
64.Va cmd
65field is the command identifier within the family.
66The
67.Va version
68field is the command version.
69.Sh METHODS
70The generic Netlink framework provides the base family,
71.Dv GENL_ID_CTRL
72("nlctrl") with a fixed family id.
73This family is used to list the details of all registered families.
74.Pp
75The following messages are supported by the framework:
76.Ss CTRL_CMD_GETFAMILY
77Fetches a single family or all registered families, depending on the
78.Dv NLM_F_DUMP
79flag.
80Each family is reported as
81.Dv CTRL_CMD_NEWFAMILY
82message.
83The following filters are recognised by the kernel:
84.Pp
85.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
86CTRL_ATTR_FAMILY_ID	(uint16_t) current family id assigned by kernel
87CTRL_ATTR_FAMILY_NAME	(string) family name
88.Ed
89.Ss TLVs
90.Bl -tag -width indent
91.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_FAMILY_ID
92(uint16_t) Dynamically-assigned family identifier.
93.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_FAMILY_NAME
94(string) Family name.
95.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_HDRSIZE
96(uint32_t) Family mandatory header size (typically 0).
97.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_MAXATTR
98(uint32_t) Maximum attribute number valid for the family.
99.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_OPS
100(nested) List of the operations supported by the family.
101The attribute consists of a list of nested TLVs, with attribute values
102monotonically incremented, starting from 0.
103The following attributes are present in each TLV:
104.Bl -tag -width indent
105.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_OP_ID
106Operation (message) number.
107.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_OP_FLAGS
108Operation flags.
109The following flags are supported:
110.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
111GENL_ADMIN_PERM		requires elevated permissions
112GENL_CMD_CAP_DO		operation is a modification request
113GENL_CMD_CAP_DUMP	operation is a get/dump request
114.Ed
115.El
116.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_MCAST_GROUPS
117(nested) List of the notification groups supported by the family.
118The attribute consists of a list of nested TLVs, with attribute values
119monotonically incremented, starting from 0.
120The following attributes are present in each TLV:
121.Bl -tag -width indent
122.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_MCAST_GRP_ID
123Group id that can be used in
124.Dv NETLINK_ADD_MEMBERSHIP
125.Xr setsockopt 2 .
126.It Dv CTRL_ATTR_MCAST_GRP_NAME
127(string) Human-readable name of the group.
128.El
129.El
130.Ss Groups
131The following groups are defined:
132.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
133"notify"	Notifies on family registrations/removal.
134.Ed
135.Sh SEE ALSO
136.Xr netlink 4
137.Sh HISTORY
138The
139.Dv NETLINK_GENERIC
140protocol family appeared in
141.Fx 14.0 .
142.Sh AUTHORS
143The netlink was implementated by
144.An -nosplit
145.An Alexander Chernikov Aq Mt melifaro@FreeBSD.org .
146It was derived from the Google Summer of Code 2021 project by
147.An Ng Peng Nam Sean .
148