diff options
| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700 |
| commit | 034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c (patch) | |
| tree | 2536f4b2d7893ccd916b5abdf3c454ad6edc03c2 /Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.tar.gz linux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.zip | |
Merge tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-tracegrafted
Pull tracing fixes from Steven Rostedt:
- Fix error output of boot instance creation failure
Currently if a boot instance creation fails, instead of printing out
the name of the instance that failed, it prints "(null)". That is
because it prints "cur_str" that had already been processed by
strsep(). Print the saved name instead.
While at it, print the error code of the failure.
- Fix use-after-free for same named historgrams
Histograms can be named so that they can be used in multiple events.
But if the named histogram has a variable attached, the second event
that uses the named histogram which duplicates it and needs to free
the original after duplication leaves the old variable in place and
still visible. If another histogram uses than variable, it will use
the stale one which will try to reference the freed duplicate
histogram and crash the kernel.
Free the duplicate variables along with the duplicated histogram
data.
- Check return value of kthread_run() in event self test
The events self tests uses a kthread for testing but does not check
if it succeeded in creating a kthread. If the kthread creation were
to fail, the code will still try to call kthread_stop() on the error
returned.
- Fix race between reading trace_pipe and updating subbuffer size
If a user is reading the trace_pipe file at the same time they update
the ring buffer sub-buffer size, can cause the trace_pipe read to
read stale data. Add trace_access_lock() around updating the ring
buffer sub-buffer size.
- Fix eventfs_inode on failure path in creation of the events directory
In the creation of the "events" directory, if after allocating the
eventfs_inode a failure is detected, it calls cleanup_ei() which
calls free_ei(). The free_ei() will test if eventfs_inode being freed
has no children. It is a bug if it does. But on the failure case of
the creation of the "events" directory, the children lists have not
yet been initialized and the free will trigger a warning because
list_empty() on an uninitialized list returns false.
Move the initialization into init_ei() where it makes more sense and
makes sure that a created eventfs_inode has its lists initialized
upon creation.
- Check return value of kthread_run() in ftrace direct sample code
The sample code that shows how to use the ftrace direct calls does
not test the return of kthread_run() to see if it succeeds. Return a
failure if the kthread_run() doesn't succeed.
- Clear user events state on fork in case of alloc failure
On fork, the child gets a pointer to the parent's user events state.
It makes a copy of it then updates the child's pointer to it. But if
the allocation fails, the duplication function leaves the child with
a pointer to its parent's descriptor. When the child cleans up its
data, it will free the parent's descriptor while the parent is still
using it.
In the duplication function, set the child's user_event_mm to NULL
before testing if the allocation succeeded, and when it exits it will
not free the parent's descriptor.
- Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap
simple_ring_buffer_swap_reader_page() starts with retry set to 8 and
post-decrements it only after a failed link replacement. On the final
attempt, a successful replacement leaves retry at zero, while a
failed replacement leaves it at -1.
But the check for success expects the retry value to be non-zero and
exits with an error on zero. This is the opposite result. Fix it.
- Fail nicely when the remote swap_reader_page() returns an error
Currently, if the swap_reader_page() of a remote buffer fails, it
triggers a WARN_ON_ONCE() and continues normally. Instead, have it
exit with an error and a pr_warn() print instead of a full WARNING.
* tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace:
ring-buffer: Stop remote reader update when page swap fails
tracing: Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap
tracing/user_events: Clear copied tracing state before fork duplication
samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-multi-modify
samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-modify
eventfs: Initialize ei->children and ei->list in init_ei()
tracing: Fix use-after-free in trace_pipe read on sub-buffer order change
tracing: Fix crash passing ERR_PTR to kthread_stop()
tracing: Fix use-after-free with same-name named triggers
tracing: Fix logged instance name on creation failure
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst | 467 |
1 files changed, 467 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst b/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..debb4bfca --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/userspace-api/netlink/specs.rst @@ -0,0 +1,467 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause + +========================================= +Netlink protocol specifications (in YAML) +========================================= + +Netlink protocol specifications are complete, machine readable descriptions of +Netlink protocols written in YAML. The goal of the specifications is to allow +separating Netlink parsing from user space logic and minimize the amount of +hand written Netlink code for each new family, command, attribute. +Netlink specs should be complete and not depend on any other spec +or C header file, making it easy to use in languages which can't include +kernel headers directly. + +Internally kernel uses the YAML specs to generate: + + - the C uAPI header + - documentation of the protocol as a ReST file - see :ref:`Documentation/netlink/specs/index.rst <specs>` + - policy tables for input attribute validation + - operation tables + +YAML specifications can be found under ``Documentation/netlink/specs/`` + +This document describes details of the schema. +See :doc:`intro-specs` for a practical starting guide. + +All specs must be licensed under +``((GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR BSD-3-Clause)`` +to allow for easy adoption in user space code. + +Compatibility levels +==================== + +There are four schema levels for Netlink specs, from the simplest used +by new families to the most complex covering all the quirks of the old ones. +Each next level inherits the attributes of the previous level, meaning that +user capable of parsing more complex ``genetlink`` schemas is also compatible +with simpler ones. The levels are: + + - ``genetlink`` - most streamlined, should be used by all new families + - ``genetlink-c`` - superset of ``genetlink`` with extra attributes allowing + customization of define and enum type and value names; this schema should + be equivalent to ``genetlink`` for all implementations which don't interact + directly with C uAPI headers + - ``genetlink-legacy`` - Generic Netlink catch all schema supporting quirks of + all old genetlink families, strange attribute formats, binary structures etc. + - ``netlink-raw`` - catch all schema supporting pre-Generic Netlink protocols + such as ``NETLINK_ROUTE`` + +The definition of the schemas (in ``jsonschema``) can be found +under ``Documentation/netlink/``. + +Schema structure +================ + +YAML schema has the following conceptual sections: + + - globals + - definitions + - attributes + - operations + - multicast groups + +Most properties in the schema accept (or in fact require) a ``doc`` +sub-property documenting the defined object. + +The following sections describe the properties of the most modern ``genetlink`` +schema. See the documentation of :doc:`genetlink-c <c-code-gen>` +for information on how C names are derived from name properties. + +See also :ref:`Documentation/core-api/netlink.rst <kernel_netlink>` for +information on the Netlink specification properties that are only relevant to +the kernel space and not part of the user space API. + +genetlink +========= + +Globals +------- + +Attributes listed directly at the root level of the spec file. + +name +~~~~ + +Name of the family. Name identifies the family in a unique way, since +the Family IDs are allocated dynamically. + +protocol +~~~~~~~~ + +The schema level, default is ``genetlink``, which is the only value +allowed for new ``genetlink`` families. + +definitions +----------- + +Array of type and constant definitions. + +name +~~~~ + +Name of the type / constant. + +type +~~~~ + +One of the following types: + + - const - a single, standalone constant + - enum - defines an integer enumeration, with values for each entry + incrementing by 1, (e.g. 0, 1, 2, 3) + - flags - defines an integer enumeration, with values for each entry + occupying a bit, starting from bit 0, (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 8) + +value +~~~~~ + +The value for the ``const``. + +value-start +~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The first value for ``enum`` and ``flags``, allows overriding the default +start value of ``0`` (for ``enum``) and starting bit (for ``flags``). +For ``flags`` ``value-start`` selects the starting bit, not the shifted value. + +Sparse enumerations are not supported. + +entries +~~~~~~~ + +Array of names of the entries for ``enum`` and ``flags``. + +header +~~~~~~ + +For C-compatible languages, header which already defines this value. +In case the definition is shared by multiple families (e.g. ``IFNAMSIZ``) +code generators for C-compatible languages may prefer to add an appropriate +include instead of rendering a new definition. + +attribute-sets +-------------- + +This property contains information about netlink attributes of the family. +All families have at least one attribute set, most have multiple. +``attribute-sets`` is an array, with each entry describing a single set. + +Note that the spec is "flattened" and is not meant to visually resemble +the format of the netlink messages (unlike certain ad-hoc documentation +formats seen in kernel comments). In the spec subordinate attribute sets +are not defined inline as a nest, but defined in a separate attribute set +referred to with a ``nested-attributes`` property of the container. + +Spec may also contain fractional sets - sets which contain a ``subset-of`` +property. Such sets describe a section of a full set, allowing narrowing down +which attributes are allowed in a nest or refining the validation criteria. +Fractional sets can only be used in nests. They are not rendered to the uAPI +in any fashion. + +name +~~~~ + +Uniquely identifies the attribute set, operations and nested attributes +refer to the sets by the ``name``. + +subset-of +~~~~~~~~~ + +Re-defines a portion of another set (a fractional set). +Allows narrowing down fields and changing validation criteria +or even types of attributes depending on the nest in which they +are contained. The ``value`` of each attribute in the fractional +set is implicitly the same as in the main set. + +attributes +~~~~~~~~~~ + +List of attributes in the set. + +.. _attribute_properties: + +Attribute properties +-------------------- + +name +~~~~ + +Identifies the attribute, unique within the set. + +type +~~~~ + +Netlink attribute type, see :ref:`attr_types`. + +.. _assign_val: + +value +~~~~~ + +Numerical attribute ID, used in serialized Netlink messages. +The ``value`` property can be skipped, in which case the attribute ID +will be the value of the previous attribute plus one (recursively) +and ``1`` for the first attribute in the attribute set. + +Attributes (and operations) use ``1`` as the default value for the first +entry (unlike enums in definitions which start from ``0``) because +entry ``0`` is almost always reserved as undefined. Spec can explicitly +set value to ``0`` if needed. + +Note that the ``value`` of an attribute is defined only in its main set +(not in subsets). + +enum +~~~~ + +For integer types specifies that values in the attribute belong +to an ``enum`` or ``flags`` from the ``definitions`` section. + +enum-as-flags +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Treat ``enum`` as ``flags`` regardless of its type in ``definitions``. +When both ``enum`` and ``flags`` forms are needed ``definitions`` should +contain an ``enum`` and attributes which need the ``flags`` form should +use this attribute. + +nested-attributes +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Identifies the attribute space for attributes nested within given attribute. +Only valid for complex attributes which may have sub-attributes. + +multi-attr (arrays) +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Boolean property signifying that the attribute may be present multiple times. +Allowing an attribute to repeat is the recommended way of implementing arrays +(no extra nesting). + +byte-order +~~~~~~~~~~ + +For integer types specifies attribute byte order - ``little-endian`` +or ``big-endian``. + +checks +~~~~~~ + +Input validation constraints used by the kernel. User space should query +the policy of the running kernel using Generic Netlink introspection, +rather than depend on what is specified in the spec file. + +The validation policy in the kernel is formed by combining the type +definition (``type`` and ``nested-attributes``) and the ``checks``. + +sub-type +~~~~~~~~ + +Legacy families have special ways of expressing arrays. ``sub-type`` can be +used to define the type of array members in case array members are not +fully defined as attributes (in a bona fide attribute space). For instance +a C array of u32 values can be specified with ``type: binary`` and +``sub-type: u32``. Binary types and legacy array formats are described in +more detail in :doc:`genetlink-legacy`. + +display-hint +~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Optional format indicator that is intended only for choosing the right +formatting mechanism when displaying values of this type. Currently supported +hints are ``hex``, ``mac``, ``fddi``, ``ipv4``, ``ipv6`` and ``uuid``. + +operations +---------- + +This section describes messages passed between the kernel and the user space. +There are three types of entries in this section - operations, notifications +and events. + +Operations describe the most common request - response communication. User +sends a request and kernel replies. Each operation may contain any combination +of the two modes familiar to netlink users - ``do`` and ``dump``. +``do`` and ``dump`` in turn contain a combination of ``request`` and +``response`` properties. If no explicit message with attributes is passed +in a given direction (e.g. a ``dump`` which does not accept filter, or a ``do`` +of a SET operation to which the kernel responds with just the netlink error +code) ``request`` or ``response`` section can be skipped. +``request`` and ``response`` sections list the attributes allowed in a message. +The list contains only the names of attributes from a set referred +to by the ``attribute-set`` property. + +Notifications and events both refer to the asynchronous messages sent by +the kernel to members of a multicast group. The difference between the +two is that a notification shares its contents with a GET operation +(the name of the GET operation is specified in the ``notify`` property). +This arrangement is commonly used for notifications about +objects where the notification carries the full object definition. + +Events are more focused and carry only a subset of information rather than full +object state (a made up example would be a link state change event with just +the interface name and the new link state). Events contain the ``event`` +property. Events are considered less idiomatic for netlink and notifications +should be preferred. + +list +~~~~ + +The only property of ``operations`` for ``genetlink``, holds the list of +operations, notifications etc. + +Operation properties +-------------------- + +name +~~~~ + +Identifies the operation. + +value +~~~~~ + +Numerical message ID, used in serialized Netlink messages. +The same enumeration rules are applied as to +:ref:`attribute values<assign_val>`. + +attribute-set +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Specifies the attribute set contained within the message. + +do +~~~ + +Specification for the ``doit`` request. Should contain ``request``, ``reply`` +or both of these properties, each holding a :ref:`attr_list`. + +dump +~~~~ + +Specification for the ``dumpit`` request. Should contain ``request``, ``reply`` +or both of these properties, each holding a :ref:`attr_list`. + +notify +~~~~~~ + +Designates the message as a notification. Contains the name of the operation +(possibly the same as the operation holding this property) which shares +the contents with the notification (``do``). + +event +~~~~~ + +Specification of attributes in the event, holds a :ref:`attr_list`. +``event`` property is mutually exclusive with ``notify``. + +mcgrp +~~~~~ + +Used with ``event`` and ``notify``, specifies which multicast group +message belongs to. + +.. _attr_list: + +Message attribute list +---------------------- + +``request``, ``reply`` and ``event`` properties have a single ``attributes`` +property which holds the list of attribute names. + +Messages can also define ``pre`` and ``post`` properties which will be rendered +as ``pre_doit`` and ``post_doit`` calls in the kernel (these properties should +be ignored by user space). + +mcast-groups +------------ + +This section lists the multicast groups of the family. + +list +~~~~ + +The only property of ``mcast-groups`` for ``genetlink``, holds the list +of groups. + +Multicast group properties +-------------------------- + +name +~~~~ + +Uniquely identifies the multicast group in the family. Similarly to +Family ID, Multicast Group ID needs to be resolved at runtime, based +on the name. + +.. _attr_types: + +Attribute types +=============== + +This section describes the attribute types supported by the ``genetlink`` +compatibility level. Refer to documentation of different levels for additional +attribute types. + +Common integer types +-------------------- + +``sint`` and ``uint`` represent signed and unsigned 64 bit integers. +If the value can fit on 32 bits only 32 bits are carried in netlink +messages, otherwise full 64 bits are carried. Note that the payload +is only aligned to 4B, so the full 64 bit value may be unaligned! + +Common integer types should be preferred over fix-width types in majority +of cases. + +Fix-width integer types +----------------------- + +Fixed-width integer types include: +``u8``, ``u16``, ``u32``, ``u64``, ``s8``, ``s16``, ``s32``, ``s64``. + +Note that types smaller than 32 bit should be avoided as using them +does not save any memory in Netlink messages (due to alignment). +See :ref:`pad_type` for padding of 64 bit attributes. + +The payload of the attribute is the integer in host order unless ``byte-order`` +specifies otherwise. + +64 bit values are usually aligned by the kernel but it is recommended +that the user space is able to deal with unaligned values. + +.. _pad_type: + +pad +--- + +Special attribute type used for padding attributes which require alignment +bigger than standard 4B alignment required by netlink (e.g. 64 bit integers). +There can only be a single attribute of the ``pad`` type in any attribute set +and it should be automatically used for padding when needed. + +flag +---- + +Attribute with no payload, its presence is the entire information. + +binary +------ + +Raw binary data attribute, the contents are opaque to generic code. + +string +------ + +Character string. Unless ``checks`` has ``unterminated-ok`` set to ``true`` +the string is required to be null terminated. +``max-len`` in ``checks`` indicates the longest possible string, +if not present the length of the string is unbounded. + +Note that ``max-len`` does not count the terminating character. + +nest +---- + +Attribute containing other (nested) attributes. +``nested-attributes`` specifies which attribute set is used inside. |
