linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core

NVIDIA/Mellanox ConnectX-4 through ConnectX-10 and BlueField Ethernet/InfiniBand adapters

The core driver for NVIDIA/Mellanox ConnectX-4, ConnectX-5, ConnectX-6, ConnectX-7, and newer 25/50/100/200/400 Gbps Ethernet and InfiniBand PCIe adapters, plus the integrated NICs in BlueField DPUs. These cards are widely deployed in cloud, HPC, and AI training fabrics and remain NVIDIA's current high-end networking line.

keep conf=0.98 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
98%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because this is the actively maintained core driver for NVIDIA's flagship ConnectX-series and BlueField DPU adapters, which dominate high-performance data center, HPC, and AI cluster networking. The hardware is still sold new in 2025 (ConnectX-7 SKUs are listed as Mass Production), the upstream tree is receiving frequent fixes and new device IDs, and there is no replacement driver because mlx5_core is the replacement.

repository signals

408 files
191,998 source lines
3,031 commits, 5y
+131,544 / −55,098 lines added / removed, 5y
232 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 3,031 total · active in 61/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 61 commits · +4,767 −2,324 2021-05: 43 commits · +1,285 −619 2021-06: 56 commits · +3,367 −703 2021-07: 63 commits · +4,888 −2,867 2021-08: 96 commits · +4,430 −1,486 2021-09: 67 commits · +2,690 −767 2021-10: 69 commits · +1,696 −998 2021-11: 66 commits · +1,363 −597 2021-12: 47 commits · +917 −653 2022-01: 108 commits · +3,628 −2,241 2022-02: 40 commits · +1,030 −366 2022-03: 71 commits · +2,236 −1,497 2022-04: 57 commits · +1,729 −5,003 2022-05: 42 commits · +2,095 −1,151 2022-06: 26 commits · +616 −215 2022-07: 51 commits · +2,099 −609 2022-08: 42 commits · +1,610 −306 2022-09: 95 commits · +5,749 −1,804 2022-10: 62 commits · +926 −432 2022-11: 81 commits · +2,476 −798 2022-12: 85 commits · +3,119 −1,423 2023-01: 104 commits · +2,785 −1,926 2023-02: 69 commits · +2,942 −844 2023-03: 86 commits · +3,016 −1,357 2023-04: 74 commits · +1,912 −665 2023-05: 78 commits · +2,011 −1,291 2023-06: 85 commits · +1,305 −978 2023-07: 46 commits · +1,707 −428 2023-08: 48 commits · +2,357 −712 2023-09: 32 commits · +2,265 −385 2023-10: 37 commits · +1,083 −1,493 2023-11: 38 commits · +921 −415 2023-12: 34 commits · +752 −148 2024-01: 13 commits · +381 −1,385 2024-02: 17 commits · +1,015 −186 2024-03: 6 commits · +43 −28 2024-04: 46 commits · +1,809 −808 2024-05: 18 commits · +191 −206 2024-06: 49 commits · +18,117 −273 2024-07: 20 commits · +213 −45 2024-08: 33 commits · +492 −185 2024-09: 25 commits · +964 −635 2024-10: 59 commits · +1,662 −1,381 2024-11: 22 commits · +432 −528 2024-12: 26 commits · +1,568 −862 2025-01: 46 commits · +2,981 −732 2025-02: 61 commits · +1,977 −624 2025-03: 42 commits · +1,144 −519 2025-04: 31 commits · +1,391 −1,177 2025-05: 25 commits · +2,607 −407 2025-06: 32 commits · +1,741 −320 2025-07: 49 commits · +1,607 −588 2025-08: 44 commits · +1,196 −514 2025-09: 62 commits · +4,418 −1,691 2025-10: 37 commits · +687 −377 2025-11: 36 commits · +1,354 −425 2025-12: 21 commits · +577 −45 2026-01: 27 commits · +422 −213 2026-02: 27 commits · +1,379 −1,624 2026-03: 12 commits · +115 −105 2026-04: 1 commit · +1 −0

sources

  1. docs.nvidia.com

    NVIDIA's 2026 ConnectX-7 adapter manual lists multiple current SKUs as 'Mass Production', showing the mlx5 hardware family is still sold new.

  2. cateee.net

    LKDDb shows CONFIG_MLX5_CORE is present through current kernels and maps this driver to a wide PCI ID set including ConnectX-4/5/6/7/8/9/10 and BlueField integrated controllers.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local inspection via exec_command confirmed this is a real PCI driver directory with module_init in main.c/dpll.c and Kconfig naming it the ConnectX-series core driver. Upstream activity check via exec_command (`git -c safe.directory=... log`) showed many 2026 fixes plus a 2026-04-07 supported-device update, which is strong evidence against deprecation/removal. A web search against lore.kernel.org for mlx5 remove/deprecate/orphan returned no hits, so I found no active removal discussion. Source 1 was obtained by web search + open; source 2 was obtained by web search + open. No natural replacement driver exists because mlx5_core is the actively maintained upstream driver for this hardware family.