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NLSYSEVENT(4) Kernel Interfaces Manual NLSYSEVENT(4) NAME nlsysevent -- Netlink-based kernel event notification module SYNOPSIS To load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following line in loader.conf(5): nlsysevent_load="YES" Alternatively, to load the module at runtime: kldload nlsysevent DESCRIPTION The nlsysevent kernel module provides a netlink(4) Generic Netlink inter- face for receiving kernel device events. It hooks into the devctl(4) noti- fication system and re-publishes all kernel events as Generic Netlink mul- ticast messages under the NETLINK_GENERIC protocol family. This provides an alternative to reading events from /dev/devctl (used by devd(8)), with the advantage that multiple consumers can subscribe to events simultaneously, and consumers can selectively subscribe to specific event groups. Generic Netlink Family The module registers a Generic Netlink family named "nlsysevent". The dy- namically-assigned family identifier can be resolved using the standard CTRL_CMD_GETFAMILY request as described in genetlink(4). Commands The following command is defined: NLSE_CMD_NEWEVENT Sent when a kernel event occurs. This message is never solicited by userland; it is only delivered to sockets that have subscribed to one or more multicast groups. Attributes Each NLSE_CMD_NEWEVENT message contains the following TLV attributes: NLSE_ATTR_SYSTEM (string) The system name that generated the event (e.g., "ACPI, "IFNET, "USB"""). NLSE_ATTR_SUBSYSTEM (string) The subsystem name within the system. NLSE_ATTR_TYPE (string) The type of the event. NLSE_ATTR_DATA (string) Optional extra data associated with the event. This at- tribute may be absent if no extra data was provided. Multicast Groups The module creates one multicast group per system name. The following groups are pre-registered when the module is loaded: ACPI AEON CAM CARP coretemp DEVFS device ETHERNET GEOM HYPERV_NIC_VF IFNET INFINIBAND KERNEL nvme PMU RCTL USB VFS VT ZFS Additional groups are created dynamically as new system names appear in kernel events, up to a maximum of 64 groups. The group identifier for a given system name can be resolved via CTRL_CMD_GETFAMILY and then subscribed to using the NETLINK_ADD_MEMBERSHIP socket option. EXAMPLES The genl(1) utility can be used to monitor events: genl monitor nlsysevent SEE ALSO genl(1), snl(3), devctl(4), genetlink(4), netlink(4), devd(8) HISTORY The nlsysevent module first appeared in FreeBSD 15.0. AUTHORS The nlsysevent kernel module and this manual page were written by Baptiste Daroussin <bapt@FreeBSD.org>. FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly April 9, 2026 NLSYSEVENT(4)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS
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