Creation and usage of Kernel Threads
Introduction#
This topic discusses how to create and use kernel threads.
Creation of kernel threads
kern_thread.c
#include <linux/module.h>
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/init.h>
#include <linux/kthread.h>
#include <linux/sched.h>
#define AUTHOR "Nachiket Kulkarni"
#define DESCRIPTION "Simple module that demonstrates creation of 2 kernel threads"
static int kthread_func(void *arg)
{
/* Every kthread has a struct task_struct associated with it which is it's identifier.
* Whenever a thread is schedule for execution, the kernel sets "current" pointer to
* it's struct task_struct.
* current->comm is the name of the command that caused creation of this thread
* current->pid is the process of currently executing thread
*/
printk(KERN_INFO "I am thread: %s[PID = %d]\n", current->comm, current->pid);
return 0;
}
static int __init init_func(void)
{
struct task_struct *ts1;
struct task_struct *ts2;
int err;
printk(KERN_INFO "Starting 2 threads\n");
/*struct task_struct *kthread_create(int (*threadfn)(void *data), void *data, \
* const char *namefmt, ...);
* This function creates a kernel thread and starts the thread.
*/
ts1 = kthread_run(kthread_func, NULL, "thread-1");
if (IS_ERR(ts1)) {
printk(KERN_INFO "ERROR: Cannot create thread ts1\n");
err = PTR_ERR(ts1);
ts1 = NULL;
return err;
}
ts1 = kthread_run(kthread_func, NULL, "thread-1");
if (IS_ERR(ts1)) {
printk(KERN_INFO "ERROR: Cannot create thread ts1\n");
err = PTR_ERR(ts1);
ts1 = NULL;
return err;
}
printk(KERN_INFO "I am thread: %s[PID = %d]\n", current->comm, current->pid);
return 0;
}
static void __exit exit_func(void)
{
printk(KERN_INFO "Exiting the module\n");
}
module_init(init_func);
module_exit(exit_func);
MODULE_AUTHOR(AUTHOR);
MODULE_DESCRIPTION(MODULE_AUTHOR);
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
Makefile
obj-m += kern_thread.o
all:
make -C /lib/module/$(shell uname -r)/build M=$(PWD) modules
clean:
make -C /lib/module/$(shell uname -r)/build M=$(PWD) clean
Upon inserting the .ko, it printed:
Starting 2 threads
I am thread: thread-1[PID = 6786]
I am thread: insmod[PID = 6785]
I am thread: thread-2[PID = 6788]