drivers/net/netdevsim

netdevsim simulated network device for kernel testing

A purely software-simulated network interface used by kernel developers and continuous-integration systems to exercise the Linux networking stack, including features like devlink, eBPF/XDP offload paths, and tc classifier behavior, without needing real hardware.

not-a-driver conf=1.00 deploy=none replacement=none subsystem=net category=not-a-driver

100%

recommendation

This is not actually a hardware driver; it is a test-and-development scaffold that pretends to be a NIC so the networking subsystem can be exercised in self-tests and selftests-on-CI. It belongs in the kernel as infrastructure for developers and is not something an end user would ever deploy on production hardware.

repository signals

15 files

8,849 source lines

172 commits, 5y

+4,168 / −1,211 lines added / removed, 5y

61 authors, 5y

monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 172 total · active in 51/61 months

sources

No sources cited.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Not a driver directory: netdevsim is a simulated network-device/test infrastructure driver used for kernel and networking stack development, not a hardware-bound device driver.