Hi,

This series by Nikolay introduces a new generic devlink device
parameter, max_sfs, to control the number of light-weight NIC
subfunctions (SFs) that can be created on a device.

The first patch adds the generic devlink parameter and infrastructure
support.
The second patch implements support for the parameter in the mlx5
driver.

With this addition, users can enable or disable SF creation directly via
devlink, without relying on external vendor-specific tools.

Regards,
Tariq

Notes about a few items from a previous Sashiko review:
 > Should there be a validate callback analogous to
 > mlx5_devlink_total_vfs_validate() that reads the cap and rejects values
 > above the device-reported maximum, so the documented "device-specific
 > max" is actually enforced?

 N: I don't know of such cap, if there was I'd have added it.

 > mlx5_devlink_total_vfs_set() rejects with -EOPNOTSUPP and an extack
 > "SRIOV is not per PF on this device" when sriov_support or
 > per_pf_total_vf_supported is clear, but no equivalent
 > per_pf_num_sf_supported (or any SF-related) capability bit is added to
 > nv_global_pci_cap_bits or queried here.  On hardware that lacks the
 > feature, the user only sees the generic firmware error "Failed to
 > change ... global PCI configuration".

 N: I don't know of such bit, if there was such bit I'd have added it.

 > At this point, a successful write of per_pf_num_sf has already been
 > committed to non-volatile firmware storage.  If the subsequent
 > mlx5_nv_param_read_per_host_pf_conf() or the second mlx5_nv_param_write()
 > fails (for example, transient firmware/PCIe issue), is there a path that
 > rolls back per_pf_num_sf?
 >
 > Because these are permanent parameters that "require a reboot to take
 > effect", a half-applied state (e.g., per_pf_num_sf=1 but
 > pf_total_sf_en=0/total_sf=0) appears to persist across reboots until
 > the user issues another successful set.

 N: That is expected and in line with the rest of the code.

 > The commit message says max_sfs is to "control the total light-weight
 > NIC subfunctions"; the BAR-size side-effect is not mentioned, and any
 > previously configured log_sf_bar_size is overwritten on every
 > max_sfs set.  Should that behavior be documented or split out from the
 > count knob?

 N: It should be documented when it is split out, at present time - no.

V3, all changes are in patch 02 (mlx5 implementation):
- Cap max_sfs at U16_MAX using a validate callback (sashiko)
- Change the warning message to match the docs (sashiko)
- On get verify that per_pf_num_sf & pf_total_sf_en are set
  otherwise return 0 since it means SFs are not properly enabled (sashiko)
- Define the default log bar size and use it instead of raw value (sashiko)

V2:
https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20260519200436.353249-1-tariqt@nvidia.com/

Nikolay Aleksandrov (2):
  devlink: add generic device max_sfs parameter
  net/mlx5: implement max_sfs parameter

 .../networking/devlink/devlink-params.rst     |   6 +
 Documentation/networking/devlink/mlx5.rst     |   7 +-
 .../mellanox/mlx5/core/lib/nv_param.c         | 118 +++++++++++++++++-
 include/net/devlink.h                         |   4 +
 net/devlink/param.c                           |   5 +
 5 files changed, 136 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)


base-commit: c2c0486c56800ce276e79c40a6e576ffd672f2a9
-- 
2.44.0

On 03/06/2026 13:26, Tariq Toukan wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> This series by Nikolay introduces a new generic devlink device
> parameter, max_sfs, to control the number of light-weight NIC
> subfunctions (SFs) that can be created on a device.
> 
> The first patch adds the generic devlink parameter and infrastructure
> support.
> The second patch implements support for the parameter in the mlx5
> driver.
> 
> With this addition, users can enable or disable SF creation directly via
> devlink, without relying on external vendor-specific tools.
> 
> Regards,
> Tariq
> 
>
Need to rebase due to commit d603517771d8 ("devlink: pass param values by 
pointer"). Sorry for the noise.

From: Tariq Toukan <tariqt@nvidia.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2026 13:26:44 +0300

> Hi,
> 
> This series by Nikolay introduces a new generic devlink device
> parameter, max_sfs, to control the number of light-weight NIC
> subfunctions (SFs) that can be created on a device.
> 
> The first patch adds the generic devlink parameter and infrastructure
> support.
> The second patch implements support for the parameter in the mlx5
> driver.
> 
> With this addition, users can enable or disable SF creation directly via
> devlink, without relying on external vendor-specific tools.

For the series:

Reviewed-by: Alexander Lobakin <aleksander.lobakin@intel.com>

> 
> Regards,
> Tariq

Thanks,
Olek