NVME-FEAT-KEEP-AL(1) NVMe Manual NVME-FEAT-KEEP-AL(1)

nvme-feat-keep-alive-timer - Get and set keep alive timer feature

nvme [<global-options>] feat keep-alive-timer <device>
                        [--kato=<kato> | -k <kato>]
                        [--sel=<select> | -S <select>] [--save | -s]

Get and set keep alive timer feature.

The <device> parameter is mandatory and may be either the NVMe character device (ex: /dev/nvme0), or a namespace block device (ex: /dev/nvme0n1).

If the setting option (--kato) is specified, the command will update the keep alive timer configuration. If this option is not specified, it will retrieve and display the current configuration.

The keep alive timeout (KATO) specifies the interval in milliseconds that the host shall send Keep Alive Commands to the controller.

On success it returns 0, error code otherwise.

-k <kato>, --kato=<kato>

Keep Alive Timeout. Specifies the time interval in milliseconds between Keep Alive Commands that the host shall send to the controller. A value of 0 disables the keep alive functionality.

-S <select>, --sel=<select>

Select (SEL): This field specifies which value of the attributes to return in the provided data:

-s, --save

Save the attribute so that it persists through all power states and resets.

The following options are defined at the top-level nvme command and are available to this subcommand:

--dry-run

Print the command that would be executed, but do not actually execute it.

--no-ioctl-probing

Disable probing for 64-bit IOCTL support.

--no-retries

Disable retry logic on transient errors.

-o <fmt>, --output-format=<fmt>

Set the reporting format to normal, tabular, 'json, or binary. Only one output format may be used at a time.

--output-format-version=<version>

Select the output format version. Version 1 uses the original field naming, while version 2 (default) provides more consistent and script-friendly field names.

--timeout=<ms>

Set the timeout for the command in milliseconds.

-v, --verbose

Increase the level of detail in the output. May be specified multiple times to further increase verbosity.

These options can also be set as machine-wide defaults in nvme-cli.conf(5). A command-line flag always overrides the file.

•Has the program issue a feat keep-alive-timer to get the current configuration: 
# nvme feat keep-alive-timer /dev/nvme0
•Has the program issue a feat keep-alive-timer to set the keep alive timeout to 10 seconds: 
# nvme feat keep-alive-timer /dev/nvme0 --kato=10000 --save

Part of the nvme-user suite.

09/18/2026 NVMe