net netlink: Add new type NLA_BITFIELD32

Generic bitflags attribute content sent to the kernel by user.
With this netlink attr type the user can either set or unset a
flag in the kernel.

The value is a bitmap that defines the bit values being set
The selector is a bitmask that defines which value bit is to be
considered.

A check is made to ensure the rules that a kernel subsystem always
conforms to bitflags the kernel already knows about. i.e
if the user tries to set a bit flag that is not understood then
the _it will be rejected_.

In the most basic form, the user specifies the attribute policy as:
[ATTR_GOO] = { .type = NLA_BITFIELD32, .validation_data = &myvalidflags },

where myvalidflags is the bit mask of the flags the kernel understands.

If the user _does not_ provide myvalidflags then the attribute will
also be rejected.

Examples:
value = 0x0, and selector = 0x1
implies we are selecting bit 1 and we want to set its value to 0.

value = 0x2, and selector = 0x2
implies we are selecting bit 2 and we want to set its value to 1.

Suggested-by: Jiri Pirko <jiri@mellanox.com>
Signed-off-by: Jamal Hadi Salim <jhs@mojatatu.com>
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>

1 files changed, 17 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/netlink.h b/include/uapi/linux/netlink.h
index f86127a46cfc..f4fc9c9e123d 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/netlink.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/netlink.h
@@ -226,5 +226,22 @@ struct nlattr {
 #define NLA_ALIGN(len)		(((len) + NLA_ALIGNTO - 1) & ~(NLA_ALIGNTO - 1))
 #define NLA_HDRLEN		((int) NLA_ALIGN(sizeof(struct nlattr)))
 
+/* Generic 32 bitflags attribute content sent to the kernel.
+ *
+ * The value is a bitmap that defines the values being set
+ * The selector is a bitmask that defines which value is legit
+ *
+ * Examples:
+ *  value = 0x0, and selector = 0x1
+ *  implies we are selecting bit 1 and we want to set its value to 0.
+ *
+ *  value = 0x2, and selector = 0x2
+ *  implies we are selecting bit 2 and we want to set its value to 1.
+ *
+ */
+struct nla_bitfield32 {
+	__u32 value;
+	__u32 selector;
+};
 
 #endif /* _UAPI__LINUX_NETLINK_H */