Re: [PATCH 0/3] net/intel: make link state configurable on device start

[Stephen Hemminger <stephen@networkplumber.org>]

On Sat,  3 Oct 2026 23:53:45 +0200
Roman Khromenok <roma55592@yandex.ru> wrote:

> On Sat, 3 Oct 2026, Stephen Hemminger wrote:
> > If you want something done better it must done at ethdev layer
> > and you must coordinate across all existing devices.  
> 
> Thanks, understood. I withdraw this series.
> 
> The problem behind it: a firewall starts its ports at boot but must keep
> the ports that are disabled in its configuration down, so that the link
> partner never sees them. Today rte_eth_dev_start() brings the link up
> on most drivers, and the application can only bring it down afterwards.
> 
> Would an RFC along these lines be acceptable?
> - ethdev keeps the administrative link state (RFC 2863 ifAdminStatus)
>   set by rte_eth_dev_set_link_down()/up(), including before the port
>   is started;
> - rte_eth_dev_start() honors it: drivers that support it keep the link
>   down on start, and for the others ethdev calls dev_set_link_down()
>   right after dev_start(), so the semantics are the same for all devices;
> - a new feature in the features matrix to track driver support.
> 
> Or would you prefer a separate API for the administrative state instead
> of changing the behavior of rte_eth_dev_set_link_down()?
> 
> Roman

No. Application should not call device start until it expects
to bring link up.

The RFC 2863 stuff is for layered devices where lower layers are
separate from the upper ones (ie. tunnels, bonding, etc).