net: macvtap driver

In order to use macvlan with qemu and other tools that require
a tap file descriptor, the macvtap driver adds a small backend
with a character device with the same interface as the tun
driver, with a minimum set of features.

Macvtap interfaces are created in the same way as macvlan
interfaces using ip link, but the netif is just used as a
handle for configuration and accounting, while the data
goes through the chardev. Each macvtap interface has its
own character device, simplifying permission management
significantly over the generic tun/tap driver.

Cc: Patrick McHardy <kaber@trash.net>
Cc: Stephen Hemminger <shemminger@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>
Cc: "Michael S. Tsirkin" <mst@redhat.com>
Cc: Herbert Xu <herbert@gondor.apana.org.au>
Cc: Or Gerlitz <ogerlitz@voltaire.com>
Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org
Cc: bridge@lists.linux-foundation.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>

1 files changed, 12 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/drivers/net/Kconfig b/drivers/net/Kconfig
index cb0e534418e3..411e20703110 100644
--- a/drivers/net/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/net/Kconfig
@@ -90,6 +90,18 @@ config MACVLAN
           To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the module
           will be called macvlan.
 
+config MACVTAP
+        tristate "MAC-VLAN based tap driver (EXPERIMENTAL)"
+        depends on MACVLAN
+        help
+          This adds a specialized tap character device driver that is based
+          on the MAC-VLAN network interface, called macvtap. A macvtap device
+          can be added in the same way as a macvlan device, using 'type
+          macvlan', and then be accessed through the tap user space interface.
+
+          To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the module
+          will be called macvtap.
+
 config EQUALIZER
         tristate "EQL (serial line load balancing) support"
         ---help---