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Jakub Kicinski 411ad06058 Merge branch 'devlink-introduce-shared-devlink-instance-for-pfs-on-same-chip'
Jiri Pirko says:

====================
devlink: introduce shared devlink instance for PFs on same chip

Multiple PFs on a network adapter often reside on the same physical
chip, running a single firmware. Some resources and configurations
are inherently shared among these PFs - PTP clocks, VF group rates,
firmware parameters, and others. Today there is no good object in
the devlink model to attach these chip-wide configuration knobs to.
Drivers resort to workarounds like pinning shared state to PF0 or
maintaining ad-hoc internal structures (e.g., ice_adapter) that are
invisible to userspace.

This problem was discussed extensively starting with Przemek Kitszel's
"whole device devlink instance" RFC for the ice driver [1]. Several
approaches for representing the parent instance were considered:
using a partial PCI BDF as the dev_name (breaks when PFs have different
BDFs in VMs), creating a per-driver bus, using auxiliary devices, or
using faux devices. All of these required a backing struct device for
the parent devlink instance, which does not naturally exist - there is
no PCI device that represents the chip as a whole.

This patchset takes a different approach: allow devlink instances to
exist without any backing struct device. The instance is identified
purely by its internal index, exposed over devlin netlink. This avoids
fabricating fake devices and keeps the devlink handle semantics clean.

The first ten patches prepare the devlink core for device-less
instances by decoupling the handle from the parent device. The last
three introduce the shared devlink infrastructure and its first user
in the mlx5 driver.

Example output showing the shared instance and nesting:

  pci/0000:08:00.0: index 0
    nested_devlink:
      auxiliary/mlx5_core.eth.0
  devlink_index/1: index 1
    nested_devlink:
      pci/0000:08:00.0
      pci/0000:08:00.1
  auxiliary/mlx5_core.eth.0: index 2
  pci/0000:08:00.1: index 3
    nested_devlink:
      auxiliary/mlx5_core.eth.1
  auxiliary/mlx5_core.eth.1: index 4

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20250219164410.35665-1-przemyslaw.kitszel@intel.com/
---
Decoupled from "devlink and mlx5: Support cross-function rate scheduling"
patchset to maintain 15-patches limit.

See individual patches for changelog.
====================

Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260312100407.551173-1-jiri@resnulli.us
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
2026-03-14 13:08:58 -07:00
arch powerpc fixes for 7.0 #2 2026-03-11 08:35:31 -07:00
block block-7.0-20260305 2026-03-06 08:36:18 -08:00
certs Convert 'alloc_obj' family to use the new default GFP_KERNEL argument 2026-02-21 17:09:51 -08:00
crypto crypto: testmgr - Fix stale references to aes-generic 2026-03-03 11:57:15 -08:00
Documentation documentation: networking: add shared devlink documentation 2026-03-14 13:08:50 -07:00
drivers net/mlx5: Add a shared devlink instance for PFs on same chip 2026-03-14 13:08:51 -07:00
fs Including fixes from CAN and netfilter. 2026-03-12 11:33:35 -07:00
include net/mlx5: Add a shared devlink instance for PFs on same chip 2026-03-14 13:08:51 -07:00
init io_uring-7.0-20260305 2026-03-06 08:31:36 -08:00
io_uring io_uring-7.0-20260305 2026-03-06 08:31:36 -08:00
ipc Convert 'alloc_obj' family to use the new default GFP_KERNEL argument 2026-02-21 17:09:51 -08:00
kernel Make clock_adjtime() syscall timex validation slightly more 2026-03-07 17:09:15 -08:00
lib linux_kselftest-kunit-fixes-7.0-rc3 2026-03-06 12:34:49 -08:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm 15 hotfixes. 6 are cc:stable. 14 are for MM. 2026-03-10 12:47:56 -07:00
net devlink: introduce shared devlink instance for PFs on same chip 2026-03-14 13:08:50 -07:00
rust linux_kselftest-kunit-fixes-7.0-rc3 2026-03-06 12:34:49 -08:00
samples USB / Thunderbolt changes for 7.0-rc1 2026-02-17 09:36:43 -08:00
scripts kbuild: install-extmod-build: Package resolve_btfids if necessary 2026-02-26 14:49:34 -07:00
security smack: Remove IPPROTO_UDPLITE support in security_sock_rcv_skb(). 2026-03-13 18:57:44 -07:00
sound ASoC: Fixes for v7.0 2026-03-05 17:22:14 +01:00
tools selftests/net: packetdrill: add tcp_rcv_neg_window.pkt 2026-03-14 08:02:51 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: drop dependency on CC_CAN_LINK 2026-01-16 15:02:11 -07:00
virt KVM: always define KVM_CAP_SYNC_MMU 2026-02-28 15:31:35 +01:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore MAINTAINERS: remove Alyssa Rosenzweig 2025-09-18 21:17:31 +02:00
.gitattributes
.gitignore rust: kbuild: add proc macro library support 2025-11-24 17:15:36 +01:00
.mailmap 15 hotfixes. 6 are cc:stable. 14 are for MM. 2026-03-10 12:47:56 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml
COPYING
CREDITS MAINTAINERS: remove Thomas Falcon from IBM ibmvnic 2026-03-05 07:35:45 -08:00
Kbuild sched: Make migrate_{en,dis}able() inline 2025-09-25 09:57:16 +02:00
Kconfig
MAINTAINERS Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/netdev/net 2026-03-12 12:53:34 -07:00
Makefile Linux 7.0-rc3 2026-03-08 16:56:54 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst