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KTHREAD(9)		    Kernel Developer's Manual		      KTHREAD(9)

NAME
     kthread_start, kthread_shutdown, kthread_add, kthread_exit, kthread_resume,
     kthread_suspend, kthread_suspend_check -- kernel threads

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/kthread.h>

     void
     kthread_start(const void *udata);

     void
     kthread_shutdown(void *arg, int howto);

     void
     kthread_exit(void);

     int
     kthread_resume(struct thread *td);

     int
     kthread_suspend(struct thread *td, int timo);

     void
     kthread_suspend_check(void);

     #include <sys/unistd.h>

     int
     kthread_add(void (*func)(void *), void *arg, struct proc *procp,
	 struct thread **newtdpp, int flags, int pages, const char *fmt, ...);

     int
     kproc_kthread_add(void (*func)(void *), void *arg, struct proc **procptr,
	 struct thread **tdptr, int flags, int pages, char * procname,
	 const char *fmt, ...);

DESCRIPTION
     In  FreeBSD  8.0, the older family of kthread_*(9) functions was renamed to
     be the kproc_*(9) family of functions, as they were previously misnamed and
     actually produced kernel processes.  This new family of kthread_*(9)  func-
     tions  was added to produce real kernel threads.  See the kproc(9) man page
     for  more	information  on  the  renamed  calls.	Also   note   that   the
     kproc_kthread_add(9) function appears in both pages as its functionality is
     split.

     The  function  kthread_start()  is used to start "internal" daemons such as
     bufdaemon, pagedaemon, vmdaemon, and the  syncer  and  is	intended  to  be
     called  from  SYSINIT(9).	 The  udata  argument is actually a pointer to a
     struct kthread_desc which describes the kernel thread that should	be  cre-
     ated:

	   struct kthread_desc {
		   char 	   *arg0;
		   void 	   (*func)(void);
		   struct thread   **global_threadpp;
	   };

     The structure members are used by kthread_start() as follows:

	   arg0 	    String  to be used for the name of the thread.  This
			    string will be copied into the td_name member of the
			    new threads' struct thread.

	   func 	    The main function for this kernel thread to run.

	   global_threadpp  A pointer to a struct thread pointer that should  be
			    updated  to  point	to  the  newly	created thread's
			    thread structure.  If this variable is NULL, then it
			    is ignored.  The thread will be a subthread of proc0
			    (PID 0).

     The kthread_add() function is used to create  a  kernel  thread.	The  new
     thread  runs  in kernel mode only.  It is added to the process specified by
     the procp argument, or if that is NULL, to proc0.	The func argument speci-
     fies the function that the thread should execute.	The arg argument  is  an
     arbitrary pointer that is passed in as the only argument to func when it is
     called  by  the  new thread.  The newtdpp pointer points to a struct thread
     pointer that is to be updated to point to the  newly  created  thread.   If
     this  argument  is NULL, then it is ignored.  The flags argument may be set
     to RFSTOPPED to leave the thread in a stopped state.  The caller must  call
     sched_add()  to start the thread.	The pages argument specifies the size of
     the new kernel thread's stack in pages.  If 0 is used, the  default  kernel
     stack  size is allocated.	The rest of the arguments form a printf(9) argu-
     ment list that is used to build the name of the new thread and is stored in
     the td_name member of the new thread's struct thread.

     The kproc_kthread_add() function is much like  the  kthread_add()	function
     above except that if the kproc does not already exist, it is created.  This
     function is better documented in the kproc(9) manual page.

     The kthread_exit() function is used to terminate kernel threads.  It should
     be called by the main function of the kernel thread rather than letting the
     main function return to its caller.

     The  kthread_resume(), kthread_suspend(), and kthread_suspend_check() func-
     tions are used to suspend and resume a kernel thread.  During the main loop
     of its execution, a kernel thread that wishes to allow itself  to	be  sus-
     pended  should call kthread_suspend_check() in order to check if the it has
     been asked to suspend.  If it has, it will msleep(9) until it  is	told  to
     resume.   Once it has been told to resume it will return allowing execution
     of the kernel thread to continue.	The other two functions are used to  no-
     tify  a  kernel  thread  of  a  suspend or resume request.  The td argument
     points to the struct thread of the kernel thread to suspend or resume.  For
     kthread_suspend(), the timo argument specifies a timeout to  wait	for  the
     kernel thread to acknowledge the suspend request and suspend itself.

     The  kthread_shutdown()  function	is  meant to be registered as a shutdown
     event for kernel threads that need to be suspended voluntarily during  sys-
     tem  shutdown  so as not to interfere with system shutdown activities.  The
     actual suspension of the kernel thread is done with kthread_suspend().

RETURN VALUES
     The kthread_add(), kthread_resume(), and kthread_suspend() functions return
     zero on success and non-zero on failure.

EXAMPLES
     This example demonstrates the use of a struct kthread_desc  and  the  func-
     tions  kthread_start(),  kthread_shutdown(), and kthread_suspend_check() to
     run the bufdaemon process.

	   static struct thread *bufdaemonthread;

	   static struct kthread_desc buf_kp = {
		   "bufdaemon",
		   buf_daemon,
		   &bufdaemonthread
	   };
	   SYSINIT(bufdaemon, SI_SUB_KTHREAD_BUF, SI_ORDER_FIRST, kthread_start,
	       &buf_kp)

	   static void
	   buf_daemon()
	   {
		   ...
		   /*
		    * This process needs to be suspended prior to shutdown sync.
		    */
		   EVENTHANDLER_REGISTER(shutdown_pre_sync, kthread_shutdown,
		       bufdaemonthread, SHUTDOWN_PRI_LAST);
		   ...
		   for (;;) {
			   kthread_suspend_check();
			   ...
		   }
	   }

ERRORS
     The kthread_resume() and kthread_suspend() functions will fail if:

     [EINVAL]		The td argument does not reference a kernel thread.

     The kthread_add() function will fail if:

     [ENOMEM]		Memory for a thread's stack could not be allocated.

SEE ALSO
     kproc(9), SYSINIT(9), wakeup(9)

HISTORY
     The kthread_start() function first appeared in FreeBSD 2.2 where it created
     a whole process.  It was converted to create threads in FreeBSD  8.0.   The
     kthread_shutdown(),  kthread_exit(),  kthread_resume(),  kthread_suspend(),
     and kthread_suspend_check() functions were introduced in  FreeBSD	4.0  and
     were  converted  to  threads in FreeBSD 8.0.  The kthread_create() call was
     renamed to kthread_add() in FreeBSD 8.0.  The old functionality of creating
     a kernel process was renamed to kproc_create(9).  Prior to FreeBSD 5.0, the
     kthread_shutdown(), kthread_resume(), kthread_suspend(),  and  kthread_sus-
     pend_check()  functions  were named shutdown_kproc(), resume_kproc(), shut-
     down_kproc(), and kproc_suspend_loop(), respectively.

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	  July 15, 2014 		      KTHREAD(9)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
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