VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo(3)

# VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo(3) Manual Page

## Name

VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo - Specify that a buffer may be backed by external memory

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## C Specification

To define a set of external memory handle types that may be used as backing store for a buffer, add a VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo structure to the `pNext` chain of the VkBufferCreateInfo structure. The `VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo` structure is defined as:

    // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
    typedef struct VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo {
        VkStructureType                    sType;
        const void*                        pNext;
        VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlags    handleTypes;
    } VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo;

    // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory
    // Equivalent to VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo
    typedef VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfoKHR;

## Members

Note | A `VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo` structure with a non-zero `handleTypes` field must be included in the creation parameters for a buffer that will be bound to memory that is either exported or imported.

## Description

- `sType` is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

- `pNext` is `NULL` or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

- `handleTypes` is zero or a bitmask of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits specifying one or more external memory handle types.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

- VUID-VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo-sType-sType
  `sType` must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_EXTERNAL_MEMORY_BUFFER_CREATE_INFO

- VUID-VkExternalMemoryBufferCreateInfo-handleTypes-parameter
  `handleTypes` must be a valid combination of VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlagBits values

## See Also

VK_KHR_external_memory, VK_VERSION_1_1, VkExternalMemoryHandleTypeFlags, VkStructureType

## Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification.

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

## Copyright

Copyright 2014-2026 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0