.\" $OpenBSD: kthread.9,v 1.3 2000/10/12 18:06:00 aaron Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Marc Espie .\" All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software .\" must display the following acknowledgement: .\" This product includes software developed by Marc Espie .\" for the OpenBSD Project. .\" 3. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products .\" derived from this software without specific prior written permission .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES .\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. .\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, .\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT .\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, .\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY .\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT .\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF .\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .Dd September 1, 1999 .Dt KTHREAD 9 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm kthread_create , .Nm kthread_exit , .Nm kthread_create_deferred .Nd kernel threads. .Sh SYNOPSIS .Fd #include <sys/kthread.h> .Ft int .Fn kthread_create "void (*func)(void)" "void *arg" "struct proc **newpp" "const char *fmt" ... .Ft void .Fn kthread_exit "int ecode" .Ft void .Fn kthread_create_deferred "void (*func)(void)" "void *arg" .Sh DESCRIPTION Kernel threads are system light-weight processes: cloned from process 0 (the swapper), sharing its memory map and limits, but with a copy of its file descriptor table. They don't receive broadcast nor group signals and they can't be swapped. .Pp Any process can call .Fn kthread_create to create a kernel thread. The new process starts up executing .Fa func with argument .Fa arg . If .Fa newpp is not .Dv NULL , it is filled with the address of the new process. .Fa fmt and the remaining arguments are used to name the process. .Pp A kernel thread will terminate by calling .Fn kthread_exit , with exit code .Fa ecode . .Pp Since the system has to be up and running for creating new processes, device drivers that want to create kernel threads early (e.g., at attach time) may use .Fn kthread_create_deferred instead. The system will call back the function .Fa func with argument .Fa arg when it can create threads, so it is up to .Fa func to call .Fn kthread_create at that point. .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr fork1 9 .Sh BUGS There is currently no way to use .Va ecode to any sensible purpose from .Fn kthread_exit .