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NAME
ifnet, ifaddr, ifqueue, if_data — kernel interfaces for manipulating network interfaces
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/param.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <net/if.h>
#include <net/if_var.h>
#include <net/if_types.h>
Interface Manipulation Functions
struct ifnet *
if_alloc(u_char type);
void
if_attach(struct ifnet *ifp);
void
if_detach(struct ifnet *ifp);
void
if_free(struct ifnet *ifp);
void
if_free_type(struct ifnet *ifp, u_char type);
void
if_down(struct ifnet *ifp);
int
ifioctl(struct socket *so, u_long cmd, caddr_t data, struct thread *td);
int
ifpromisc(struct ifnet *ifp, int pswitch);
int
if_allmulti(struct ifnet *ifp, int amswitch);
struct ifnet *
ifunit(const char *name);
struct ifnet *
ifunit_ref(const char *name);
void
if_up(struct ifnet *ifp);
Interface Address Functions
struct ifaddr *
ifaddr_byindex(u_short idx);
struct ifaddr *
ifa_ifwithaddr(struct sockaddr *addr);
struct ifaddr *
ifa_ifwithdstaddr(struct sockaddr *addr);
struct ifaddr *
ifa_ifwithnet(struct sockaddr *addr, int ignore_ptp);
struct ifaddr *
ifaof_ifpforaddr(struct sockaddr *addr, struct ifnet *ifp);
void
ifa_ref(struct ifaddr *ifa);
void
ifa_free(struct ifaddr *ifa);
Interface Multicast Address Functions
int
if_addmulti(struct ifnet *ifp, struct sockaddr *sa, struct ifmultiaddr **ifmap);
int
if_delmulti(struct ifnet *ifp, struct sockaddr *sa);
struct ifmultiaddr *
if_findmulti(struct ifnet *ifp, struct sockaddr *sa);
Output queue macros
IF_DEQUEUE(struct ifqueue *ifq, struct mbuf *m);
struct ifnet Member Functions
void
(*if_input)(struct ifnet *ifp, struct mbuf *m);
int
(*if_output)(struct ifnet *ifp, struct mbuf *m, const struct sockaddr *dst,
struct route *ro);
void
(*if_start)(struct ifnet *ifp);
int
(*if_transmit)(struct ifnet *ifp, struct mbuf *m);
void
(*if_qflush)(struct ifnet *ifp);
int
(*if_ioctl)(struct ifnet *ifp, u_long cmd, caddr_t data);
void
(*if_init)(void *if_softc);
int
(*if_resolvemulti)(struct ifnet *ifp, struct sockaddr **retsa, struct sockaddr *addr);
struct ifaddr member function
void
(*ifa_rtrequest)(int cmd, struct rtentry *rt, struct rt_addrinfo *info);
Global Variables
extern struct ifnethead ifnet;
extern int if_index;
extern int ifqmaxlen;
DATA STRUCTURES
The kernel mechanisms for handling network interfaces reside primarily in the ifnet,
if_data, ifaddr, and ifmultiaddr structures in <net/if.h> and <net/if_var.h> and the
functions named above and defined in /sys/net/if.c. Those interfaces which are intended to
be used by user programs are defined in <net/if.h>; these include the interface flags, the
if_data structure, and the structures defining the appearance of interface-related messages
on the route(4) routing socket and in sysctl(3). The header file <net/if_var.h> defines the
kernel-internal interfaces, including the ifnet, ifaddr, and ifmultiaddr structures and the
functions which manipulate them. (A few user programs will need <net/if_var.h> because it
is the prerequisite of some other header file like <netinet/if_ether.h>. Most references to
those two files in particular can be replaced by <net/ethernet.h>.)
The system keeps a linked list of interfaces using the TAILQ macros defined in queue(3);
this list is headed by a struct ifnethead called ifnet. The elements of this list are of
type struct ifnet, and most kernel routines which manipulate interface as such accept or
return pointers to these structures. Each interface structure contains an if_data structure
used for statistics and information. Each interface also has a TAILQ of interface
addresses, described by ifaddr structures. An AF_LINK address (see link_addr(3)) describing
the link layer implemented by the interface (if any) is accessed by the ifaddr_byindex()
function or if_addr structure. (Some trivial interfaces do not provide any link layer
addresses; this structure, while still present, serves only to identify the interface name
and index.)
Finally, those interfaces supporting reception of multicast datagrams have a TAILQ of
multicast group memberships, described by ifmultiaddr structures. These memberships are
reference-counted.
Interfaces are also associated with an output queue, defined as a struct ifqueue; this
structure is used to hold packets while the interface is in the process of sending another.
The ifnet structure
The fields of struct ifnet are as follows:
if_softc (void *) A pointer to the driver's private state block. (Initialized
by driver.)
if_l2com (void *) A pointer to the common data for the interface's layer 2
protocol. (Initialized by if_alloc().)
if_vnet (struct vnet *) A pointer to the virtual network stack instance.
(Initialized by if_attach().)
if_home_vnet (struct vnet *) A pointer to the parent virtual network stack, where
this struct ifnet originates from. (Initialized by if_attach().)
if_link (TAILQ_ENTRY(ifnet)) queue(3) macro glue.
if_xname (char *) The name of the interface, (e.g., “fxp0” or “lo0”).
(Initialized by driver (usually via if_initname()).)
if_dname (const char *) The name of the driver. (Initialized by driver
(usually via if_initname()).)
if_dunit (int) A unique number assigned to each interface managed by a
particular driver. Drivers may choose to set this to IF_DUNIT_NONE
if a unit number is not associated with the device. (Initialized by
driver (usually via if_initname()).)
if_refcount (u_int) The reference count. (Initialized by if_alloc().)
if_addrhead (struct ifaddrhead) The head of the queue(3) TAILQ containing the
list of addresses assigned to this interface.
if_pcount (int) A count of promiscuous listeners on this interface, used to
reference-count the IFF_PROMISC flag.
if_carp (struct carp_if *) A pointer to the CARP interface structure,
carp(4). (Initialized by the driver-specific if_ioctl() routine.)
if_bpf (struct bpf_if *) Opaque per-interface data for the packet filter,
bpf(4). (Initialized by bpf_attach().)
if_index (u_short) A unique number assigned to each interface in sequence as
it is attached. This number can be used in a struct sockaddr_dl to
refer to a particular interface by index (see link_addr(3)).
(Initialized by if_alloc().)
if_vlantrunk (struct ifvlantrunk *) A pointer to 802.1Q trunk structure, vlan(4).
(Initialized by the driver-specific if_ioctl() routine.)
if_flags (int) Flags describing operational parameters of this interface (see
below). (Manipulated by generic code.)
if_drv_flags (int) Flags describing operational status of this interface (see
below). (Manipulated by driver.)
if_capabilities (int) Flags describing the capabilities the interface supports (see
below).
if_capenable (int) Flags describing the enabled capabilities of the interface (see
below).
if_linkmib (void *) A pointer to an interface-specific MIB structure exported by
ifmib(4). (Initialized by driver.)
if_linkmiblen (size_t) The size of said structure. (Initialized by driver.)
if_data (struct if_data) More statistics and information; see The if_data
structure, below. (Initialized by driver, manipulated by both driver
and generic code.)
if_multiaddrs (struct ifmultihead) The head of the queue(3) TAILQ containing the
list of multicast addresses assigned to this interface.
if_amcount (int) A number of multicast requests on this interface, used to
reference-count the IFF_ALLMULTI flag.
if_addr (struct ifaddr *) A pointer to the link-level interface address.
(Initialized by if_alloc().)
if_snd (struct ifaltq) The output queue. (Manipulated by driver.)
if_broadcastaddr
(const u_int8_t *) A link-level broadcast bytestring for protocols
with variable address length.
if_bridge (void *) A pointer to the bridge interface structure, if_bridge(4).
(Initialized by the driver-specific if_ioctl() routine.)
if_label (struct label *) A pointer to the MAC Framework label structure,
mac(4). (Initialized by if_alloc().)
if_afdata (void *) An address family dependent data region.
if_afdata_initialized
(int) Used to track the current state of address family
initialization.
if_afdata_lock (struct rwlock) An rwlock(9) lock used to protect if_afdata
internals.
if_linktask (struct task) A taskqueue(9) task scheduled for link state change
events of the interface.
if_addr_lock (struct rwlock) An rwlock(9) lock used to protect interface-related
address lists.
if_clones (LIST_ENTRY(ifnet)) queue(3) macro glue for the list of clonable
network interfaces.
if_groups (TAILQ_HEAD(, ifg_list)) The head of the queue(3) TAILQ containing
the list of groups per interface.
if_pf_kif (void *) A pointer to the structure used for interface abstraction by
pf(4).
if_lagg (void *) A pointer to the lagg(4) interface structure.
if_alloctype (u_char) The type of the interface as it was at the time of its
allocation. It is used to cache the type passed to if_alloc(), but
unlike if_type, it would not be changed by drivers.
References to ifnet structures are gained by calling the if_ref() function and released by
calling the if_rele() function. They are used to allow kernel code walking global interface
lists to release the ifnet lock yet keep the ifnet structure stable.
There are in addition a number of function pointers which the driver must initialize to
complete its interface with the generic interface layer:
if_input()
Pass a packet to an appropriate upper layer as determined from the link-layer header
of the packet. This routine is to be called from an interrupt handler or used to
emulate reception of a packet on this interface. A single function implementing
if_input() can be shared among multiple drivers utilizing the same link-layer framing,
e.g., Ethernet.
if_output()
Output a packet on interface ifp, or queue it on the output queue if the interface is
already active.
if_transmit()
Transmit a packet on an interface or queue it if the interface is in use. This
function will return ENOBUFS if the devices software and hardware queues are both
full. This function must be installed after if_attach() to override the default
implementation. This function is exposed in order to allow drivers to manage their
own queues and to reduce the latency caused by a frequently gratuitous enqueue /
dequeue pair to ifq. The suggested internal software queueing mechanism is buf_ring.
if_qflush()
Free mbufs in internally managed queues when the interface is marked down. This
function must be installed after if_attach() to override the default implementation.
This function is exposed in order to allow drivers to manage their own queues and to
reduce the latency caused by a frequently gratuitous enqueue / dequeue pair to ifq.
The suggested internal software queueing mechanism is buf_ring.
if_start()
Start queued output on an interface. This function is exposed in order to provide for
some interface classes to share a if_output() among all drivers. if_start() may only
be called when the IFF_DRV_OACTIVE flag is not set. (Thus, IFF_DRV_OACTIVE does not
literally mean that output is active, but rather that the device's internal output
queue is full.) Please note that this function will soon be deprecated.
if_ioctl()
Process interface-related ioctl(2) requests (defined in <sys/sockio.h>). Preliminary
processing is done by the generic routine ifioctl() to check for appropriate
privileges, locate the interface being manipulated, and perform certain generic
operations like twiddling flags and flushing queues. See the description of ifioctl()
below for more information.
if_init()
Initialize and bring up the hardware, e.g., reset the chip and enable the receiver
unit. Should mark the interface running, but not active (IFF_DRV_RUNNING,
~IIF_DRV_OACTIVE).
if_resolvemulti()
Check the requested multicast group membership, addr, for validity, and if necessary
compute a link-layer group which corresponds to that address which is returned in
*retsa. Returns zero on success, or an error code on failure.
Interface Flags
Interface flags are used for a number of different purposes. Some flags simply indicate
information about the type of interface and its capabilities; others are dynamically
manipulated to reflect the current state of the interface. Flags of the former kind are
marked ⟨S⟩ in this table; the latter are marked ⟨D⟩. Flags which begin with “IFF_DRV_” are
stored in if_drv_flags; all other flags are stored in if_flags.
The macro IFF_CANTCHANGE defines the bits which cannot be set by a user program using the
SIOCSIFFLAGS command to ioctl(2); these are indicated by an asterisk (‘*’) in the following
listing.
IFF_UP ⟨D⟩ The interface has been configured up by the user-level code.
IFF_BROADCAST ⟨S*⟩ The interface supports broadcast.
IFF_DEBUG ⟨D⟩ Used to enable/disable driver debugging code.
IFF_LOOPBACK ⟨S⟩ The interface is a loopback device.
IFF_POINTOPOINT ⟨S*⟩ The interface is point-to-point; “broadcast” address is actually
the address of the other end.
IFF_SMART ⟨S*⟩ The interface manages its own routes, rather than using the
generic code in if_up() and if_down(). This is probably useful for
serial lines.
IFF_DRV_RUNNING ⟨D*⟩ The interface has been configured and dynamic resources were
successfully allocated. Probably only useful internal to the
interface.
IFF_NOARP ⟨D⟩ Disable network address resolution on this interface.
IFF_PROMISC ⟨D*⟩ This interface is in promiscuous mode.
IFF_PPROMISC ⟨D⟩ This interface is in the permanently promiscuous mode (implies
IFF_PROMISC).
IFF_ALLMULTI ⟨D*⟩ This interface is in all-multicasts mode (used by multicast
routers).
IFF_DRV_OACTIVE ⟨D*⟩ The interface's hardware output queue (if any) is full; output
packets are to be queued.
IFF_SIMPLEX ⟨S*⟩ The interface cannot hear its own transmissions.
IFF_LINK0
IFF_LINK1
IFF_LINK2 ⟨D⟩ Control flags for the link layer. (Currently abused to select
among multiple physical layers on some devices.)
IFF_MULTICAST ⟨S*⟩ This interface supports multicast.
IFF_CANTCONFIG ⟨S*⟩ The interface is not configurable in a meaningful way.
Primarily useful for IFT_USB interfaces registered at the interface
list.
IFF_MONITOR ⟨D⟩ This interface blocks transmission of packets and discards
incoming packets after BPF processing. Used to monitor network
traffic but not interact with the network in question.
IFF_STATICARP ⟨D⟩ Used to enable/disable ARP requests on this interface.
IFF_DYING ⟨D*⟩ Set when the ifnet structure of this interface is being released
and still has if_refcount references.
IFF_RENAMING ⟨D*⟩ Set when this interface is being renamed.
Interface Capabilities Flags
Interface capabilities are specialized features an interface may or may not support. These
capabilities are very hardware-specific and allow, when enabled, to offload specific network
processing to the interface or to offer a particular feature for use by other kernel parts.
It should be stressed that a capability can be completely uncontrolled (i.e., stay always
enabled with no way to disable it) or allow limited control over itself (e.g., depend on
another capability's state.) Such peculiarities are determined solely by the hardware and
driver of a particular interface. Only the driver possesses the knowledge on whether and
how the interface capabilities can be controlled. Consequently, capabilities flags in
if_capenable should never be modified directly by kernel code other than the interface
driver. The command SIOCSIFCAP to ifioctl() is the dedicated means to attempt altering
if_capenable on an interface. Userland code shall use ioctl(2).
The following capabilities are currently supported by the system:
IFCAP_RXCSUM This interface can do checksum validation on receiving data.
Some interfaces do not have sufficient buffer storage to store
frames above a certain MTU-size completely. The driver for the
interface might disable hardware checksum validation if the MTU
is set above the hardcoded limit.
IFCAP_TXCSUM This interface can do checksum calculation on transmitting
data.
IFCAP_HWCSUM A shorthand for (IFCAP_RXCSUM | IFCAP_TXCSUM).
IFCAP_NETCONS This interface can be a network console.
IFCAP_VLAN_MTU The vlan(4) driver can operate over this interface in software
tagging mode without having to decrease MTU on vlan(4)
interfaces below 1500 bytes. This implies the ability of this
interface to cope with frames somewhat longer than permitted by
the Ethernet specification.
IFCAP_VLAN_HWTAGGING This interface can do VLAN tagging on output and demultiplex
frames by their VLAN tag on input.
IFCAP_JUMBO_MTU This Ethernet interface can transmit and receive frames up to
9000 bytes long.
IFCAP_POLLING This interface supports polling(4). See below for details.
IFCAP_VLAN_HWCSUM This interface can do checksum calculation on both transmitting
and receiving data on vlan(4) interfaces (implies
IFCAP_HWCSUM).
IFCAP_TSO4 This Ethernet interface supports TCP4 Segmentation offloading.
IFCAP_TSO6 This Ethernet interface supports TCP6 Segmentation offloading.
IFCAP_TSO A shorthand for (IFCAP_TSO4 | IFCAP_TSO6).
IFCAP_TOE4 This Ethernet interface supports TCP offloading.
IFCAP_TOE6 This Ethernet interface supports TCP6 offloading.
IFCAP_TOE A shorthand for (IFCAP_TOE4 | IFCAP_TOE6).
IFCAP_WOL_UCAST This Ethernet interface supports waking up on any Unicast
packet.
IFCAP_WOL_MCAST This Ethernet interface supports waking up on any Multicast
packet.
IFCAP_WOL_MAGIC This Ethernet interface supports waking up on any Magic packet
such as those sent by wake(8).
IFCAP_WOL A shorthand for (IFCAP_WOL_UCAST | IFCAP_WOL_MCAST |
IFCAP_WOL_MAGIC).
IFCAP_TOE4 This Ethernet interface supports TCP4 Offload Engine.
IFCAP_TOE6 This Ethernet interface supports TCP6 Offload Engine.
IFCAP_TOE A shorthand for (IFCAP_TOE4 | IFCAP_TOE6).
IFCAP_VLAN_HWFILTER This interface supports frame filtering in hardware on vlan(4)
interfaces.
IFCAP_POLLING_NOCOUNT The return value for the number of processed packets should be
skipped for this interface.
IFCAP_VLAN_HWTSO This interface supports TCP Segmentation offloading on vlan(4)
interfaces (implies IFCAP_TSO).
IFCAP_LINKSTATE This Ethernet interface supports dynamic link state changes.
The ability of advanced network interfaces to offload certain computational tasks from the
host CPU to the board is limited mostly to TCP/IP. Therefore a separate field associated
with an interface (see ifnet.if_data.ifi_hwassist below) keeps a detailed description of its
enabled capabilities specific to TCP/IP processing. The TCP/IP module consults the field to
see which tasks can be done on an outgoing packet by the interface. The flags defined for
that field are a superset of those for mbuf.m_pkthdr.csum_flags, namely:
CSUM_IP The interface will compute IP checksums.
CSUM_TCP The interface will compute TCP checksums.
CSUM_UDP The interface will compute UDP checksums.
CSUM_IP_FRAGS The interface can compute a TCP or UDP checksum for a packet fragmented
by the host CPU. Makes sense only along with CSUM_TCP or CSUM_UDP.
CSUM_FRAGMENT The interface will do the fragmentation of IP packets if necessary.
The host CPU does not need to care about MTU on this interface as long
as a packet to transmit through it is an IP one and it does not exceed
the size of the hardware buffer.
An interface notifies the TCP/IP module about the tasks the former has performed on an
incoming packet by setting the corresponding flags in the field mbuf.m_pkthdr.csum_flags of
the mbuf chain containing the packet. See mbuf(9) for details.
The capability of a network interface to operate in polling(4) mode involves several flags
in different global variables and per-interface fields. The capability flag IFCAP_POLLING
set in interface's if_capabilities indicates support for polling(4) on the particular
interface. If set in if_capabilities, the same flag can be marked or cleared in the
interface's if_capenable within ifioctl(), thus initiating switch of the interface to
polling(4) mode or interrupt mode, respectively. The actual mode change is managed by the
driver-specific if_ioctl() routine. The polling handler returns the number of packets
processed.
The if_data Structure
The if_data structure contains statistics and identifying information used by management
programs, and which is exported to user programs by way of the ifmib(4) branch of the
sysctl(3) MIB. The following elements of the if_data structure are initialized by the
interface and are not expected to change significantly over the course of normal operation:
ifi_type (u_char) The type of the interface, as defined in <net/if_types.h> and
described below in the Interface Types section.
ifi_physical (u_char) Intended to represent a selection of physical layers on
devices which support more than one; never implemented.
ifi_addrlen (u_char) Length of a link-layer address on this device, or zero if
there are none. Used to initialized the address length field in
sockaddr_dl structures referring to this interface.
ifi_hdrlen (u_char) Maximum length of any link-layer header which might be
prepended by the driver to a packet before transmission. The generic
code computes the maximum over all interfaces and uses that value to
influence the placement of data in mbufs to attempt to ensure that
there is always sufficient space to prepend a link-layer header
without allocating an additional mbuf.
ifi_datalen (u_char) Length of the if_data structure. Allows some stabilization
of the routing socket ABI in the face of increases in the length of
struct ifdata.
ifi_mtu (u_long) The maximum transmission unit of the medium, exclusive of any
link-layer overhead.
ifi_metric (u_long) A dimensionless metric interpreted by a user-mode routing
process.
ifi_baudrate (u_long) The line rate of the interface, in bits per second.
ifi_hwassist (u_long) A detailed interpretation of the capabilities to offload
computational tasks for outgoing packets. The interface driver must
keep this field in accord with the current value of if_capenable.
ifi_epoch (time_t) The system uptime when interface was attached or the
statistics below were reset. This is intended to be used to set the
SNMP variable ifCounterDiscontinuityTime. It may also be used to
determine if two successive queries for an interface of the same index
have returned results for the same interface.
The structure additionally contains generic statistics applicable to a variety of different
interface types (except as noted, all members are of type u_long):
ifi_link_state (u_char) The current link state of Ethernet interfaces. See the
Interface Link States section for possible values.
ifi_ipackets Number of packets received.
ifi_ierrors Number of receive errors detected (e.g., FCS errors, DMA overruns,
etc.). More detailed breakdowns can often be had by way of a link-
specific MIB.
ifi_opackets Number of packets transmitted.
ifi_oerrors Number of output errors detected (e.g., late collisions, DMA overruns,
etc.). More detailed breakdowns can often be had by way of a link-
specific MIB.
ifi_collisions Total number of collisions detected on output for CSMA interfaces.
(This member is sometimes [ab]used by other types of interfaces for
other output error counts.)
ifi_ibytes Total traffic received, in bytes.
ifi_obytes Total traffic transmitted, in bytes.
ifi_imcasts Number of packets received which were sent by link-layer multicast.
ifi_omcasts Number of packets sent by link-layer multicast.
ifi_iqdrops Number of packets dropped on input. Rarely implemented.
ifi_noproto Number of packets received for unknown network-layer protocol.
ifi_lastchange (struct timeval) The time of the last administrative change to the
interface (as required for SNMP).
Interface Types
The header file <net/if_types.h> defines symbolic constants for a number of different types
of interfaces. The most common are:
IFT_OTHER none of the following
IFT_ETHER Ethernet
IFT_ISO88023 ISO 8802-3 CSMA/CD
IFT_ISO88024 ISO 8802-4 Token Bus
IFT_ISO88025 ISO 8802-5 Token Ring
IFT_ISO88026 ISO 8802-6 DQDB MAN
IFT_FDDI FDDI
IFT_PPP Internet Point-to-Point Protocol (ppp(8))
IFT_LOOP The loopback (lo(4)) interface
IFT_SLIP Serial Line IP
IFT_PARA Parallel-port IP (“PLIP”)
IFT_ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
IFT_USB USB Interface
Interface Link States
The following link states are currently defined:
LINK_STATE_UNKNOWN The link is in an invalid or unknown state.
LINK_STATE_DOWN The link is down.
LINK_STATE_UP The link is up.
The ifaddr Structure
Every interface is associated with a list (or, rather, a TAILQ) of addresses, rooted at the
interface structure's if_addrlist member. The first element in this list is always an
AF_LINK address representing the interface itself; multi-access network drivers should
complete this structure by filling in their link-layer addresses after calling if_attach().
Other members of the structure represent network-layer addresses which have been configured
by means of the SIOCAIFADDR command to ioctl(2), called on a socket of the appropriate
protocol family. The elements of this list consist of ifaddr structures. Most protocols
will declare their own protocol-specific interface address structures, but all begin with a
struct ifaddr which provides the most-commonly-needed functionality across all protocols.
Interface addresses are reference-counted.
The members of struct ifaddr are as follows:
ifa_addr (struct sockaddr *) The local address of the interface.
ifa_dstaddr (struct sockaddr *) The remote address of point-to-point interfaces,
and the broadcast address of broadcast interfaces. (ifa_broadaddr is a
macro for ifa_dstaddr.)
ifa_netmask (struct sockaddr *) The network mask for multi-access interfaces, and
the confusion generator for point-to-point interfaces.
ifa_ifp (struct ifnet *) A link back to the interface structure.
ifa_link (TAILQ_ENTRY(ifaddr)) queue(3) glue for list of addresses on each
interface.
ifa_rtrequest See below.
ifa_flags (u_short) Some of the flags which would be used for a route
representing this address in the route table.
ifa_refcnt (short) The reference count.
ifa_metric (int) A metric associated with this interface address, for the use of
some external routing protocol.
References to ifaddr structures are gained by calling the ifa_ref() function and released by
calling the ifa_free() function.
ifa_rtrequest() is a pointer to a function which receives callouts from the routing code
(rtrequest()) to perform link-layer-specific actions upon requests to add, or delete routes.
The cmd argument indicates the request in question: RTM_ADD, or RTM_DELETE. The rt argument
is the route in question; the info argument contains the specific destination being
manipulated.
FUNCTIONS
The functions provided by the generic interface code can be divided into two groups: those
which manipulate interfaces, and those which manipulate interface addresses. In addition to
these functions, there may also be link-layer support routines which are used by a number of
drivers implementing a specific link layer over different hardware; see the documentation
for that link layer for more details.
The ifmultiaddr Structure
Every multicast-capable interface is associated with a list of multicast group memberships,
which indicate at a low level which link-layer multicast addresses (if any) should be
accepted, and at a high level, in which network-layer multicast groups a user process has
expressed interest.
The elements of the structure are as follows:
ifma_link (LIST_ENTRY(ifmultiaddr)) queue(3) macro glue.
ifma_addr (struct sockaddr *) A pointer to the address which this record
represents. The memberships for various address families are stored in
arbitrary order.
ifma_lladdr (struct sockaddr *) A pointer to the link-layer multicast address, if
any, to which the network-layer multicast address in ifma_addr is
mapped, else a null pointer. If this element is non-nil, this
membership also holds an invisible reference to another membership for
that link-layer address.
ifma_refcount (u_int) A reference count of requests for this particular membership.
Interface Manipulation Functions
if_alloc()
Allocate and initialize struct ifnet. Initialization includes the allocation of an
interface index and may include the allocation of a type specific structure in
if_l2com.
if_attach()
Link the specified interface ifp into the list of network interfaces. Also initialize
the list of addresses on that interface, and create a link-layer ifaddr structure to
be the first element in that list. (A pointer to this address structure is saved in
the ifnet structure and shall be accessed by the ifaddr_byindex() function.) The ifp
must have been allocated by if_alloc().
if_detach()
Shut down and unlink the specified ifp from the interface list.
if_free()
Free the given ifp back to the system. The interface must have been previously
detached if it was ever attached.
if_free_type()
Identical to if_free() except that the given type is used to free if_l2com instead of
the type in if_type. This is intended for use with drivers that change their
interface type.
if_down()
Mark the interface ifp as down (i.e., IFF_UP is not set), flush its output queue,
notify protocols of the transition, and generate a message from the route(4) routing
socket.
if_up()
Mark the interface ifp as up, notify protocols of the transition, and generate a
message from the route(4) routing socket.
ifpromisc()
Add or remove a promiscuous reference to ifp. If pswitch is true, add a reference; if
it is false, remove a reference. On reference count transitions from zero to one and
one to zero, set the IFF_PROMISC flag appropriately and call if_ioctl() to set up the
interface in the desired mode.
if_allmulti()
As ifpromisc(), but for the all-multicasts (IFF_ALLMULTI) flag instead of the
promiscuous flag.
ifunit()
Return an ifnet pointer for the interface named name.
ifunit_ref()
Return a reference-counted (via ifa_ref()) ifnet pointer for the interface named name.
This is the preferred function over ifunit(). The caller is responsible for releasing
the reference with if_rele() when it is finished with the ifnet.
ifioctl()
Process the ioctl request cmd, issued on socket so by thread td, with data parameter
data. This is the main routine for handling all interface configuration requests from
user mode. It is ordinarily only called from the socket-layer ioctl(2) handler, and
only for commands with class ‘i’. Any unrecognized commands will be passed down to
socket so's protocol for further interpretation. The following commands are handled
by ifioctl():
SIOCGIFCONF
OSIOCGIFCONF Get interface configuration. (No call-down to driver.)
SIOCSIFNAME Set the interface name. RTM_IFANNOUNCE departure and arrival
messages are sent so that routing code that relies on the
interface name will update its interface list. Caller must
have appropriate privilege. (No call-down to driver.)
SIOCGIFCAP
SIOCGIFFIB
SIOCGIFFLAGS
SIOCGIFMETRIC
SIOCGIFMTU
SIOCGIFPHYS Get interface capabilities, FIB, flags, metric, MTU, medium
selection. (No call-down to driver.)
SIOCSIFCAP Enable or disable interface capabilities. Caller must have
appropriate privilege. Before a call to the driver-specific
if_ioctl() routine, the requested mask for enabled capabilities
is checked against the mask of capabilities supported by the
interface, if_capabilities. Requesting to enable an
unsupported capability is invalid. The rest is supposed to be
done by the driver, which includes updating if_capenable and
if_data.ifi_hwassist appropriately.
SIOCSIFFIB Sets interface FIB. Caller must have appropriate privilege.
FIB values start at 0 and values greater or equals than
net.fibs are considered invalid.
SIOCSIFFLAGS Change interface flags. Caller must have appropriate
privilege. If a change to the IFF_UP flag is requested,
if_up() or if_down() is called as appropriate. Flags listed in
IFF_CANTCHANGE are masked off, and the field if_flags in the
interface structure is updated. Finally, the driver if_ioctl()
routine is called to perform any setup requested.
SIOCSIFMETRIC
SIOCSIFPHYS Change interface metric or medium. Caller must have
appropriate privilege.
SIOCSIFMTU Change interface MTU. Caller must have appropriate privilege.
MTU values less than 72 or greater than 65535 are considered
invalid. The driver if_ioctl() routine is called to implement
the change; it is responsible for any additional sanity
checking and for actually modifying the MTU in the interface
structure.
SIOCADDMULTI
SIOCDELMULTI Add or delete permanent multicast group memberships on the
interface. Caller must have appropriate privilege. The
if_addmulti() or if_delmulti() function is called to perform
the operation; qq.v.
SIOCAIFADDR
SIOCDIFADDR The socket's protocol control routine is called to implement
the requested action.
OSIOCGIFADDR
OSIOCGIFDSTADDR
OSIOCGIFBRDADDR
OSIOCGIFNETMASK The socket's protocol control routine is called to implement
the requested action. On return, sockaddr structures are
converted into old-style (no sa_len member).
if_down(), ifioctl(), ifpromisc(), and if_up() must be called at splnet() or higher.
Interface Address Functions
Several functions exist to look up an interface address structure given an address.
ifa_ifwithaddr() returns an interface address with either a local address or a broadcast
address precisely matching the parameter addr. ifa_ifwithdstaddr() returns an interface
address for a point-to-point interface whose remote (“destination”) address is addr.
ifa_ifwithnet() returns the most specific interface address which matches the specified
address, addr, subject to its configured netmask, or a point-to-point interface address
whose remote address is addr if one is found. If ignore_ptp is true, skip point-to-point
interface addresses.
ifaof_ifpforaddr() returns the most specific address configured on interface ifp which
matches address addr, subject to its configured netmask. If the interface is point-to-
point, only an interface address whose remote address is precisely addr will be returned.
ifaddr_byindex() returns the link-level address of the interface with the given index idx.
All of these functions return a null pointer if no such address can be found.
Interface Multicast Address Functions
The if_addmulti(), if_delmulti(), and if_findmulti() functions provide support for
requesting and relinquishing multicast group memberships, and for querying an interface's
membership list, respectively. The if_addmulti() function takes a pointer to an interface,
ifp, and a generic address, sa. It also takes a pointer to a struct ifmultiaddr * which is
filled in on successful return with the address of the group membership control block. The
if_addmulti() function performs the following four-step process:
1. Call the interface's if_resolvemulti() entry point to determine the link-layer
address, if any, corresponding to this membership request, and also to give the
link layer an opportunity to veto this membership request should it so desire.
2. Check the interface's group membership list for a pre-existing membership for
this group. If one is not found, allocate a new one; if one is, increment its
reference count.
3. If the if_resolvemulti() routine returned a link-layer address corresponding to
the group, repeat the previous step for that address as well.
4. If the interface's multicast address filter needs to be changed because a new
membership was added, call the interface's if_ioctl() routine (with a cmd
argument of SIOCADDMULTI) to request that it do so.
The if_delmulti() function, given an interface ifp and an address, sa, reverses this
process. Both functions return zero on success, or a standard error number on failure.
The if_findmulti() function examines the membership list of interface ifp for an address
matching sa, and returns a pointer to that struct ifmultiaddr if one is found, else it
returns a null pointer.
SEE ALSO
ioctl(2), link_addr(3), queue(3), sysctl(3), bpf(4), ifmib(4), lo(4), netintro(4),
polling(4), config(8), ppp(8), mbuf(9), rtentry(9)
Gary R. Wright and W. Richard Stevens, TCP/IP Illustrated, Vol. 2, Addison-Wesley, ISBN
0-201-63354-X.
AUTHORS
This manual page was written by Garrett A. Wollman.