ifIndex allocation

[Sven Schnelle]

Hi List,

investigating a problem with an snmp software for linux, i was wondering
why the kernel allocates a new ifindex Number, even if the old one is still
available. For example, if i unload a network driver module, and reload
it, it has a different ifindex.

Looking at the function dev_new_index (line 2620 in net/core/dev.c)
there is a line 'static int ifindex'. Is there any special reason why
this variable is static, and the list is not traversed from the
beginning, so that the first free ifindex will be used?


Best regards,

Sven.

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