linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic

Marvell OcteonTX2 and OCTEON 10 RVU Ethernet NICs

Ethernet networking for Marvell's OcteonTX2 and OCTEON 10 family of multi-core infrastructure processors and DPUs, which power 5G base stations, carrier routers, enterprise switches, secure gateways, and SmartNICs. The driver covers physical functions, virtual functions, and port representors on the on-chip Resource Virtualization Unit fabric.

keep conf=0.93 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
93%

recommendation

It should stay because the hardware is current Marvell silicon — new OCTEON 10 CN102 and CN103 processors began shipping in late 2023 and early 2024 — and the driver is under active upstream development, with bug fixes accepted into netdev as recently as February 2026 and new tracing features being added in early 2026. Maintainership is healthy and there is no deprecation discussion in flight.

repository signals

32 files
23,861 source lines
308 commits, 5y
+15,813 / −3,055 lines added / removed, 5y
78 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 308 total · active in 55/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-05: 2 commits · +5 −0 2021-06: 9 commits · +1,429 −207 2021-07: 6 commits · +52 −21 2021-08: 17 commits · +551 −211 2021-09: 10 commits · +650 −168 2021-10: 6 commits · +51 −38 2021-11: 4 commits · +10 −6 2021-12: 2 commits · +2 −4 2022-01: 5 commits · +47 −6 2022-02: 6 commits · +450 −88 2022-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-05: 4 commits · +101 −14 2022-06: 2 commits · +4 −3 2022-07: 12 commits · +363 −272 2022-08: 3 commits · +446 −26 2022-09: 4 commits · +229 −46 2022-10: 5 commits · +1,785 −4 2022-11: 8 commits · +260 −67 2022-12: 2 commits · +40 −1 2023-01: 4 commits · +29 −20 2023-02: 3 commits · +64 −22 2023-03: 1 commit · +2 −0 2023-04: 5 commits · +37 −16 2023-05: 17 commits · +2,274 −220 2023-06: 2 commits · +30 −3 2023-07: 8 commits · +756 −195 2023-08: 10 commits · +273 −113 2023-09: 4 commits · +138 −65 2023-10: 6 commits · +123 −66 2023-11: 7 commits · +257 −32 2023-12: 5 commits · +102 −73 2024-01: 1 commit · +4 −7 2024-02: 1 commit · +12 −2 2024-03: 8 commits · +165 −77 2024-04: 5 commits · +34 −7 2024-05: 4 commits · +95 −5 2024-06: 5 commits · +152 −52 2024-07: 1 commit · +1 −1 2024-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-09: 2 commits · +1 −3 2024-10: 12 commits · +228 −145 2024-11: 12 commits · +1,173 −86 2024-12: 12 commits · +1,545 −67 2025-01: 1 commit · +1 −3 2025-02: 8 commits · +571 −120 2025-03: 1 commit · +9 −4 2025-04: 7 commits · +74 −58 2025-05: 10 commits · +109 −20 2025-06: 10 commits · +573 −162 2025-07: 3 commits · +93 −95 2025-08: 1 commit · +30 −2 2025-09: 6 commits · +8 −4 2025-10: 4 commits · +277 −47 2025-11: 2 commits · +6 −6 2025-12: 1 commit · +8 −0 2026-01: 7 commits · +30 −20 2026-02: 5 commits · +54 −55 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. spinics.net

    Netdev patch traffic hit this exact driver directory in February 2026 (`otx2_pf.c`), indicating ongoing upstream maintenance rather than removal.

  2. spinics.net

    Patchwork bot reported the February 2026 octeontx2-pf fix was applied to `netdev/net.git`, showing current maintainer acceptance.

  3. spinics.net

    A January 2026 net-next series added new tracing support under `drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/switch/`, which is feature work, not end-of-life cleanup.

  4. spinics.net

    A March 2026 MAINTAINERS update says OcteonTX2 still has active maintainers and last activity on 2026-02-18, with only one inactive maintainer being removed.

  5. marvell.com

    Marvell still markets OCTEON 10 DPUs and OCTEON TX2 DPUs for 5G, enterprise, carrier, routers, secure gateways, and SmartNIC use cases.

  6. marvell.com

    Marvell announced new OCTEON 10 CN102/CN103 processors on December 6, 2023 and stated production availability in late 2023 / early 2024, supporting ongoing new-platform deployment into 2025.

  7. cateee.net

    LKDDb shows the PF driver remains present through current kernel series and covers OcteonTX2 PF/VF/representor PCI IDs, confirming continued upstream support breadth.

  8. kernel.org

    Kernel documentation still describes the OcteonTX2 RVU networking drivers as a supported multi-driver stack with PF/VF/representor functionality.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local `exec_command` inspection found active PCI drivers (`rvu_nicpf`, `rvu_nicvf`, `rvu_rep`), and local `git log` showed nontrivial 2025-2026 fixes in this directory. All cited URLs were obtained via `web.search_query`: spinics links were used as mailing-list mirrors after direct lore access was unavailable in this environment; Marvell product/news pages establish ongoing product sales and new deployments; LKDDb and kernel.org docs confirm current upstream support. I found active patch flow and maintainer activity, and no removal/deprecation thread, so this should be kept rather than deprecated.