linux-drivers/
drivers/vfio/pci/mlx5

NVIDIA/Mellanox ConnectX-7 and BlueField-3 VFIO live-migration support

Enables live migration of virtual machines that have been assigned a virtual function from an NVIDIA/Mellanox mlx5 network adapter, such as the ConnectX-7 Ethernet NIC or the BlueField-3 DPU. It plugs into the kernel's VFIO framework so a hypervisor can save and restore the device state of a passed-through SR-IOV VF when moving a guest between hosts.

keep conf=0.92 last_sold=2025 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=vfio category=virtualization
92%

recommendation

It should stay because the underlying hardware is current NVIDIA datacenter networking gear still being sold in 2025, the code is actively maintained upstream (with patches reviewed on the kernel list as recently as July 2025), and NVIDIA's own SR-IOV live-migration documentation explicitly tells customers to enable this module. Removing it would break a supported feature on shipping ConnectX-7 and BlueField-3 deployments.

repository signals

5 files
3,480 source lines
76 commits, 5y
+4,700 / −1,205 lines added / removed, 5y
16 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 76 total · active in 24/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-02: 3 commits · +987 −2 2022-03: 1 commit · +2 −2 2022-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-05: 5 commits · +294 −146 2022-06: 2 commits · +23 −6 2022-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-09: 7 commits · +1,091 −43 2022-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-11: 3 commits · +23 −2 2022-12: 14 commits · +1,102 −264 2023-01: 5 commits · +303 −63 2023-02: 1 commit · +2 −2 2023-03: 1 commit · +4 −10 2023-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-06: 3 commits · +3 −3 2023-07: 1 commit · +1 −0 2023-08: 1 commit · +1 −47 2023-09: 8 commits · +320 −112 2023-10: 2 commits · +2 −0 2023-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-02: 4 commits · +105 −13 2024-03: 1 commit · +71 −127 2024-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-09: 1 commit · +0 −2 2024-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-11: 2 commits · +22 −19 2024-12: 3 commits · +43 −20 2025-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-05: 3 commits · +291 −314 2025-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-07: 2 commits · +3 −2 2025-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-11: 2 commits · +2 −1 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-02: 1 commit · +5 −5 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. spinics.net

    July 2025 LKML review thread for "[PATCH v2] vfio/mlx5: fix possible overflow in tracking max message size" shows active upstream maintenance of this driver.

  2. docs.nvidia.com

    NVIDIA's MLX5 VF live-migration documentation explicitly requires CONFIG_MLX5_VFIO_PCI / mlx5_vfio_pci and lists ConnectX-7 ETH and BlueField-3 ETH as supported adapter families.

  3. docs.nvidia.com

    Recent NVIDIA ConnectX-7 firmware release notes list multiple current ConnectX-7 SKUs, supporting that the hardware family was still an actively shipped product line into 2025.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Not a removal candidate. Shell inspection (`rg`, local source read) confirmed this is a real PCI driver module (`module_pci_driver(mlx5vf_pci_driver)`) for mlx5 VFIO live migration, not helper-only code. Local `git -c safe.directory=... log` showed nontrivial 2024-2025 activity in the directory, consistent with the provided commit stats. All cited URLs were obtained via `web.search_query`: Spinics/LKML thread for 2025 maintenance evidence, and NVIDIA docs for supported MLX5 VF live-migration deployments and current ConnectX-7 product availability. No removal/deprecation thread was found in the lore-targeted web searches, so active maintenance plus current supported hardware points to `keep` rather than deprecate/remove.