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8f0aff2a 1.\" Page by b.hubert
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2.\" and Copyright (C) 2015, Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
3.\" and Copyright (C) 2015, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
2297bf0e 4.\"
2e46a6e7 5.\" %%%LICENSE_START(FREELY_REDISTRIBUTABLE)
8f0aff2a 6.\" may be freely modified and distributed
8ff7380d 7.\" %%%LICENSE_END
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8.\"
9.\" Niki A. Rahimi (LTC Security Development, narahimi@us.ibm.com)
10.\" added ERRORS section.
11.\"
12.\" Modified 2004-06-17 mtk
13.\" Modified 2004-10-07 aeb, added FUTEX_REQUEUE, FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
14.\"
4f58b197
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15.\" 2.6.31 adds FUTEX_WAIT_REQUEUE_PI, FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI
16.\" commit 52400ba946759af28442dee6265c5c0180ac7122
17.\" Author: Darren Hart <dvhltc@us.ibm.com>
18.\" Date: Fri Apr 3 13:40:49 2009 -0700
19.\"
20.\" commit ba9c22f2c01cf5c88beed5a6b9e07d42e10bd358
21.\" Author: Darren Hart <dvhltc@us.ibm.com>
22.\" Date: Mon Apr 20 22:22:22 2009 -0700
23.\"
24.\" See Documentation/futex-requeue-pi.txt
34f7665a 25.\"
3d155313 26.TH FUTEX 2 2014-05-21 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
fea681da 27.SH NAME
ce154705 28futex \- fast user-space locking
fea681da 29.SH SYNOPSIS
9d9dc1e8 30.nf
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31.sp
32.B "#include <linux/futex.h>"
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33.B "#include <sys/time.h>"
34.sp
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35.BI "int futex(int *" uaddr ", int " futex_op ", int " val ,
36.BI " const struct timespec *" timeout ,
9d9dc1e8 37.BI " int *" uaddr2 ", int " val3 );
fea681da 38.\" int *? void *? u32 *?
9d9dc1e8 39.fi
409f08b0 40
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41.IR Note :
42There is no glibc wrapper for this system call; see NOTES.
47297adb 43.SH DESCRIPTION
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44.PP
45The
e511ffb6 46.BR futex ()
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47system call provides a method for
48a program to wait for a value at a given address to change, and a
49method to wake up anyone waiting on a particular address (while the
50addresses for the same memory in separate processes may not be
51equal, the kernel maps them internally so the same memory mapped in
52different locations will correspond for
e511ffb6 53.BR futex ()
c13182ef 54calls).
fd3fa7ef 55This system call is typically used to
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56implement the contended case of a lock in shared memory, as
57described in
a8bda636 58.BR futex (7).
fea681da 59.PP
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60When a futex operation did not finish uncontended in user space, a
61.BR futex ()
62call needs to be made to the kernel to arbitrate.
c13182ef 63Arbitration can either mean putting the calling
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64process to sleep or, conversely, waking a waiting process.
65.PP
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66Callers of
67.BR futex ()
68are expected to adhere to the semantics described in
a8bda636 69.BR futex (7).
fea681da 70As these
d603cc27 71semantics involve writing nonportable assembly instructions, this in turn
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72probably means that most users will in fact be library authors and not
73general application developers.
74.PP
75The
76.I uaddr
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77argument points to an integer which stores the counter (futex).
78On all platforms, futexes are four-byte integers that
79must be aligned on a four-byte boundary.
80The operation to perform on the futex is specified in the
81.I futex_op
82argument;
83.IR val
84is a value whose meaning and purpose depends on
85.IR futex_op .
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86
87The remaining arguments
88.RI ( timeout ,
89.IR uaddr2 ,
90and
91.IR val3 )
92are required only for certain of the futex operations described below.
93Where one of these arguments is not required, it is ignored.
94For several blocking operations, the
95.I timeout
96argument is a pointer to a
97.IR timespec
98structure that specifies a timeout for the operation.
99However, notwithstanding the prototype shown above, for some operations,
100this argument is instead a four-byte integer whose meaning
101is determined by the operation.
102Where it is required,
103.IR uaddr2
104is a pointer to a second futex that is employed by the operation.
105The interpretation of the final integer argument,
106.IR val3 ,
107depends on the operation.
108
6be4bad7 109The
d33602c4 110.I futex_op
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111argument consists of two parts:
112a command that specifies the operation to be performed,
113bit-wise ORed with zero or or more options that
114modify the behaviour of the operation.
fc30eb79 115The options that may be included in
d33602c4 116.I futex_op
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TG
117are as follows:
118.TP
119.BR FUTEX_PRIVATE_FLAG " (since Linux 2.6.22)"
120.\" commit 34f01cc1f512fa783302982776895c73714ebbc2
121This option bit can be employed with all futex operations.
122It tells the kernel that the futex is process private and not shared
123with another process.
124This allows the kernel to choose the fast path for validating
125the user-space address and avoids expensive VMA lookups,
126taking reference counts on file backing store, and so on.
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127
128As a convenience,
129.IR <linux/futex.h>
130defines a set of constants with the suffix
131.BR _PRIVATE
132that are equivalents of all of the operations listed below,
dcdfde26 133.\" except the obsolete FUTEX_FD, for which the "private" flag was
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134.\" meaningless
135but with the
136.BR FUTEX_PRIVATE_FLAG
137ORed into the constant value.
138Thus, there are
139.BR FUTEX_WAIT_PRIVATE ,
140.BR FUTEX_WAKE_PRIVATE ,
141and so on.
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142.TP
143.BR FUTEX_CLOCK_REALTIME " (since Linux 2.6.28)"
144.\" commit 1acdac104668a0834cfa267de9946fac7764d486
4a7e5b05 145This option bit can be employed only with the
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146.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET
147and
148.BR FUTEX_WAIT_REQUEUE_PI
149operations (described below).
150
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151If this option is set, the kernel treats
152.I timeout
153as an absolute time based on
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154.BR CLOCK_REALTIME .
155
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156If this option is not set, the kernel treats
157.I timeout
158as relative time,
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159.\" FIXME I added CLOCK_MONOTONIC here. Is it correct?
160measured against the
161.BR CLOCK_MONOTONIC
162clock.
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163.PP
164The operation specified in
d33602c4 165.I futex_op
6be4bad7 166is one of the following:
fea681da 167.TP
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168.BR FUTEX_WAIT " (since Linux 2.6.0)"
169.\" Strictly speaking, since some time in 2.5.x
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170This operation tests that the value at the
171location pointed to by the futex address
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172.I uaddr
173still contains the value
174.IR val ,
f065673c 175and then sleeps awaiting
682edefb 176.B FUTEX_WAKE
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177on the futex address.
178The test and sleep steps are performed atomically.
179If the futex value does not match
180.IR val ,
4710334a 181then the call fails immediately with the error
badbf70c 182.BR EAGAIN .
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183.\" FIXME I added the following sentence. Please confirm that it is correct.
184The purpose of the test step is to detect races where
185another process changes that value of the futex between
186the time it was last checked and the time of the
187.BR FUTEX_WAIT
63d3f911 188operation.
1909e523 189
c13182ef 190If the
fea681da 191.I timeout
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192argument is non-NULL, its contents specify a relative timeout for the wait
193.\" FIXME I added CLOCK_MONOTONIC here. Is it correct?
194measured according to the
195.BR CLOCK_MONOTONIC
196clock.
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197(This interval will be rounded up to the system clock granularity,
198and kernel scheduling delays mean that the
199blocking interval may overrun by a small amount.)
200If
201.I timeout
202is NULL, the call blocks indefinitely.
4798a7f3 203
c13182ef 204The arguments
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205.I uaddr2
206and
207.I val3
208are ignored.
209
210For
a8bda636 211.BR futex (7),
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212this call is executed if decrementing the count gave a negative value
213(indicating contention), and will sleep until another process releases
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214the futex and executes the
215.B FUTEX_WAKE
216operation.
fea681da 217.TP
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218.BR FUTEX_WAKE " (since Linux 2.6.0)"
219.\" Strictly speaking, since Linux 2.5.x
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220This operation wakes at most
221.I val
222processes waiting (i.e., inside
223.BR FUTEX_WAIT )
224on the futex at the address
225.IR uaddr .
226Most commonly,
227.I val
228is specified as either 1 (wake up a single waiter) or
229.BR INT_MAX
230(wake up all waiters).
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231.\" FIXME Please confirm that the following is correct:
232No guarantee is provided about which waiters are awoken
233(e.g., a waiter with a higher scheduling priority is not guaranteed
234to be awoken in preference to a waiter with a lower priority).
4798a7f3 235
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236The arguments
237.IR timeout ,
238.I uaddr2
239and
240.I val3
241are ignored.
242
243For
a8bda636 244.BR futex (7),
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245this is executed if incrementing
246the count showed that there were waiters, once the futex value has been set
247to 1 (indicating that it is available).
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248.TP
249.BR FUTEX_FD " (from Linux 2.6.0 up to and including Linux 2.6.25)"
250.\" Strictly speaking, from Linux 2.5.x to 2.6.25
251This operation creates a file descriptor that is associated with the futex at
252.IR uaddr .
253.\" , suitable for .BR poll (2).
254The calling process must close the returned file descriptor after use.
255When another process performs a
256.BR FUTEX_WAKE
257on the futex, the file descriptor indicates as being readable with
258.BR select (2),
259.BR poll (2),
260and
261.BR epoll (7)
262
263The file descriptor can be used to obtain asynchronous notifications:
264if
265.I val
266is nonzero, then when another process executes a
267.BR FUTEX_WAKE ,
268the caller will receive the signal number that was passed in
269.IR val .
270
271The arguments
272.IR timeout ,
273.I uaddr2
274and
275.I val3
276are ignored.
277
278To prevent race conditions, the caller should test if the futex has
279been upped after
280.B FUTEX_FD
281returns.
282
283Because it was inherently racy,
284.B FUTEX_FD
285has been removed
286.\" commit 82af7aca56c67061420d618cc5a30f0fd4106b80
287from Linux 2.6.26 onward.
288.TP
289.BR FUTEX_REQUEUE " (since Linux 2.6.0)"
290.\" Strictly speaking: from Linux 2.5.70
291.\"
292.\" FIXME I added this warning. Okay?
293.IR "Avoid using this operation" .
294It is broken (unavoidably racy) for its intended purpose.
295Use
296.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
297instead.
298
299This operation performs the same task as
300.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE ,
301except that no check is made using the value in
302.IR val3 .
303(The argument
304.I val3
305is ignored.)
306.TP
307.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE " (since Linux 2.6.7)"
308This operation was added as a replacement for the earlier
309.BR FUTEX_REQUEUE ,
310because that operation was racy for its intended use.
311
312As with
313.BR FUTEX_REQUEUE ,
314the
315.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
316operation is used to avoid a "thundering herd" effect when
317.B FUTEX_WAKE
318is used and all processes woken up need to acquire another futex.
319It differs from
320.BR FUTEX_REQUEUE
321in that it first checks whether the location
322.I uaddr
323still contains the value
324.IR val3 .
325If not, the operation fails with the error
326.BR EAGAIN .
327.\" FIXME I added the following sentence on rational for FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE.
328.\" Is it correct? SHould it be expanded?
329This additional feature of
330.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
331can be used by the caller to (atomically) detect changes
332in the value of the target futex at
333.IR uaddr2 .
334
335The operation wakes up a maximum of
336.I val
337waiters that are waiting on the futex at
338.IR uaddr .
339If there are more than
340.I val
341waiters, then the remaining waiters are removed
342from the wait queue of the source futex at
343.I uaddr
344and added to the wait queue of the target futex at
345.IR uaddr2 .
346The
347.I timeout
348argument is (ab)used to specify a cap on the number of waiters
349that are requeued to the futex at
350.IR uaddr2 ;
351the kernel casts the
352.I timeout
353value to
354.IR u32 .
355
356.\" FIXME Please review the following new paragraph to see if it is
357.\" accurate.
358Typical values to specify for
359.I val
360are 0 or or 1.
361(Specifying
362.BR INT_MAX
363is not useful, because it would make the
364.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
365operation equivalent to
366.BR FUTEX_WAKE .)
367The cap value specified via the (abused)
368.I timeout
369argument is typically either 1 or
370.BR INT_MAX .
371(Specifying the argument as 0 is not useful, because it would make the
372.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
373operation equivalent to
374.BR FUTEX_WAIT .)
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375.\"
376.\" FIXME I added some FUTEX_WAKE_OP text, and I'd be happy if someone
377.\" checked it.
fea681da 378.TP
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379.BR FUTEX_WAKE_OP " (since Linux 2.6.14)"
380.\" commit 4732efbeb997189d9f9b04708dc26bf8613ed721
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381.\" Author: Jakub Jelinek <jakub@redhat.com>
382.\" Date: Tue Sep 6 15:16:25 2005 -0700
383This operation was added to support some user-space use cases
384where more than one futex must be handled at the same time.
385The most notable example is the implementation of
386.BR pthread_cond_signal (3),
387which requires operations on two futexes,
388the one used to implement the mutex and the one used in the implementation
389of the wait queue associated with the condition variable.
390.BR FUTEX_WAKE_OP
391allows such cases to be implemented without leading to
392high rates of contention and context switching.
393
394The
395.BR FUTEX_WAIT_OP
396operation is equivalent to atomically executing the following code:
397
398.in +4n
399.nf
400int oldval = *(int *) uaddr2;
401*(int *) uaddr2 = oldval \fIop\fP \fIoparg\fP;
402futex(uaddr, FUTEX_WAKE, val, 0, 0, 0);
403if (oldval \fIcmp\fP \fIcmparg\fP)
404 futex(uaddr2, FUTEX_WAKE, nr_wake2, 0, 0, 0);
405.fi
406.in
407
408In other words,
409.BR FUTEX_WAIT_OP
410does the following:
411.RS
412.IP * 3
413saves the original value of the futex at
414.IR uaddr2 ;
415.IP *
416performs an operation to modify the value of the futex at
417.IR uaddr2 ;
418.IP *
419wakes up a maximum of
420.I val
421waiters on the futex
422.IR uaddr ;
423and
424.IP *
425dependent on the results of a test of the original value of the futex at
426.IR uaddr2 ,
427wakes up a maximum of
428.I nr_wake2
429waiters on the futex
430.IR uaddr2 .
431.RE
432.IP
433The
434.I nr_wake2
435value is actually the
436.BR futex ()
437.I timeout
438argument (ab)used to specify how many of the waiters on the futex at
439.IR uaddr2
440are to be woken up;
441the kernel casts the
442.I timeout
443value to
444.IR u32 .
445
446The operation and comparison that are to be performed are encoded
447in the bits of the argument
448.IR val3 .
449Pictorially, the encoding is:
450
451.in +4n
452.nf
453 +-----+-----+---------------+---------------+
454 | op | cmp | oparg | cmparg |
455 +-----+-----+---------------+---------------+
456# of bits: 4 4 12 12
457
458.fi
459.in
460
461Expressed in code, the encoding is:
462
463.in +4n
464.nf
465#define FUTEX_OP(op, oparg, cmp, cmparg) \\
466 (((op & 0xf) << 28) | \\
467 ((cmp & 0xf) << 24) | \\
468 ((oparg & 0xfff) << 12) | \\
469 (cmparg & 0xfff))
470.fi
471.in
472
473In the above,
474.I op
475and
476.I cmp
477are each one of the codes listed below.
478The
479.I oparg
480and
481.I cmparg
482components are literal numeric values, except as noted below.
483
484The
485.I op
486component has one of the following values:
487
488.in +4n
489.nf
490FUTEX_OP_SET 0 /* uaddr2 = oparg; */
491FUTEX_OP_ADD 1 /* uaddr2 += oparg; */
492FUTEX_OP_OR 2 /* uaddr2 |= oparg; */
493FUTEX_OP_ANDN 3 /* uaddr2 &= ~oparg; */
494FUTEX_OP_XOR 4 /* uaddr2 ^= oparg; */
495.fi
496.in
497
498In addition, bit-wise ORing the following value into
499.I op
500causes
501.IR "(1\ <<\ oparg)"
502to be used as the operand:
503
504.in +4n
505.nf
506FUTEX_OP_ARG_SHIFT 8 /* Use (1 << oparg) as operand */
507.fi
508.in
509
510The
511.I cmp
512field is one of the following:
513
514.in +4n
515.nf
516FUTEX_OP_CMP_EQ 0 /* if (oldval == cmparg) wake */
517FUTEX_OP_CMP_NE 1 /* if (oldval != cmparg) wake */
518FUTEX_OP_CMP_LT 2 /* if (oldval < cmparg) wake */
519FUTEX_OP_CMP_LE 3 /* if (oldval <= cmparg) wake */
520FUTEX_OP_CMP_GT 4 /* if (oldval > cmparg) wake */
521FUTEX_OP_CMP_GE 5 /* if (oldval >= cmparg) wake */
522.fi
523.in
524
525The return value of
526.BR FUTEX_WAKE_OP
527is the sum of the number of waiters woken on the futex
528.IR uaddr
529plus the number of waiters woken on the futex
530.IR uaddr2 .
d67e21f5 531.TP
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532.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET " (since Linux 2.6.25)"
533.\" commit cd689985cf49f6ff5c8eddc48d98b9d581d9475d
fd9e59d4 534This operation is like
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535.BR FUTEX_WAIT
536except that
537.I val3
538is used to provide a 32-bit bitset to the kernel.
539This bitset is stored in the kernel-internal state of the waiter.
540See the description of
541.BR FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET
542for further details.
543
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544The
545.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET
546also interprets the
547.I timeout
548argument differently from
549.BR FUTEX_WAIT .
550See the discussion of
551.BR FUTEX_CLOCK_REALTIME ,
552above.
553
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554The
555.I uaddr2
556argument is ignored.
557.TP
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558.BR FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET " (since Linux 2.6.25)"
559.\" commit cd689985cf49f6ff5c8eddc48d98b9d581d9475d
55cc422d
TG
560This operation is the same as
561.BR FUTEX_WAKE
562except that the
563.I val3
564argument is used to provide a 32-bit bitset to the kernel.
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565This bitset is used to select which waiters should be woken up.
566The selection is done by a bit-wise AND of the "wake" bitset
567(i.e., the value in
568.IR val3 )
569and the bitset which is stored in the kernel-internal
09cb4ce7 570state of the waiter (the "wait" bitset that is set using
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571.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET ).
572All of the waiters for which the result of the AND is nonzero are woken up;
573the remaining waiters are left sleeping.
574
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575.\" FIXME please review this paragraph that I added
576The effect of
577.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET
578and
579.BR FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET
580is to allow selective wake-ups among multiple waiters that are waiting
581on the same futex;
582since a futex has a size of 32 bits,
583these operations provide 32 wakeup "channels".
584(The
585.BR FUTEX_WAIT
586and
587.BR FUTEX_WAKE
588operations correspond to
589.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET
590and
591.BR FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET
592operations where the bitsets are all ones.)
09cb4ce7 593Note, however, that using this bitset multiplexing feature on a
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594futex is less efficient than simply using multiple futexes,
595because employing bitset multiplexing requires the kernel
596to check all waiters on a futex,
597including those that are not interested in being woken up
598(i.e., they do not have the relevant bit set in their "wait" bitset).
599.\" According to http://locklessinc.com/articles/futex_cheat_sheet/:
600.\"
601.\" "The original reason for the addition of these extensions
602.\" was to improve the performance of pthread read-write locks
603.\" in glibc. However, the pthreads library no longer uses the
604.\" same locking algorithm, and these extensions are not used
605.\" without the bitset parameter being all ones.
606.\"
607.\" The page goes on to note that the FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET operation
608.\" is nevertheless used (with a bitset of all ones) in order to
609.\" obtain the absolute timeout functionality that is useful
610.\" for efficiently implementing Pthreads APIs (which use absolute
611.\" timeouts); FUTEX_WAIT provides only relative timeouts.
612
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613The
614.I uaddr2
615and
616.I timeout
617arguments are ignored.
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618.\"
619.\"
620.SS Priority-inheritance futexes
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621Linux supports priority-inheritance (PI) futexes in order to handle
622priority-inversion problems that can be encountered with
623normal futex locks.
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624.\"
625.\" FIXME ===== Start of adapted Hart/Guniguntala text =====
626.\" The following text is drawn from the Hart/Guniguntala paper,
627.\" but I have reworded some pieces significantly. Please check it.
628.\"
629The PI futex operations described below differ from the other
630futex operations in that they impose policy on the use of the futex value:
631.IP * 3
7c16fbff 632If the lock is unowned, the futex value shall be 0.
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633.IP *
634If the lock is owned, the futex value shall be the thread ID (TID; see
635.BR gettid (2))
636of the owning thread.
637.IP *
638.\" FIXME In the following line, I added "the lock is owned and". Okay?
639If the lock is owned and there are threads contending for the lock,
640then the
641.B FUTEX_WAITERS
642bit shall be set in the futex value; in other words, the futex value is:
643
644 FUTEX_WAITERS | TID
645.PP
646With this policy in place,
647a user-space application can acquire an unowned
b52e1cd4 648lock or release an uncontended lock using a atomic
79d918c7 649.\" FIXME In the following line, I added "user-space". Okay?
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650user-space instructions (e.g.,
651.I cmpxchg
652on the x86 architecture).
653Locking an unowned lock simply consists of setting
654the futex value to the caller's TID.
655Releasing an uncontended lock simply requires setting the futex value to 0.
656
657If a futex is currently owned (i.e., has a nonzero value),
658waiters must employ the
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659.B FUTEX_LOCK_PI
660operation to acquire the lock.
b52e1cd4 661If a lock is contended (i.e., the
79d918c7 662.B FUTEX_WAITERS
b52e1cd4 663bit is set in the futex value), the lock owner must employ the
79d918c7 664.B FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI
b52e1cd4
MK
665operation to release the lock.
666
79d918c7
MK
667In the cases where callers are forced into the kernel
668(i.e., required to perform a
669.BR futex ()
670operation),
671they then deal directly with a so-called RT-mutex,
672a kernel locking mechanism which implements the required
673priority-inheritance semantics.
674After the RT-mutex is acquired, the futex value is updated accordingly,
675before the calling thread returns to user space.
676.\" FIXME ===== End of adapted Hart/Guniguntala text =====
677
678It is important
679.\" FIXME We need some explanation here of why it is important to note this
680to note that the kernel will update the futex value prior
681to returning to user space.
682Unlike the other futex operations described above,
683the PI futex operations are designed
7c16fbff 684for the implementation of very specific IPC mechanisms).
bd90a5f9
MK
685
686PI futexes are operated on by specifying one of the following values in
687.IR futex_op :
d67e21f5
MK
688.TP
689.BR FUTEX_LOCK_PI " (since Linux 2.6.18)"
690.\" commit c87e2837be82df479a6bae9f155c43516d2feebc
67833bec
MK
691.\"
692.\" FIXME I did some significant rewording of tglx's text.
693.\" Please check, in case I injected errors.
694.\"
695This operation is used after after an attempt to acquire
696the futex lock via an atomic user-space instruction failed
697because the futex has a nonzero value\(emspecifically,
698because it contained the namespace-specific TID of the lock owner.
67259526 699.\" FIXME In the preceding line, what does "namespace-specific" mean?
67833bec 700.\" (I kept those words from tglx.)
67259526 701.\" That is, what kind of namespace are we talking about?
67833bec
MK
702.\" (I suppose we are talking PID namespaces here, but I want to
703.\" be sure.)
704
705The operation checks the value of the futex at the address
706.IR uaddr .
707If the value is 0, then the kernel tries to atomically set the futex value to
708the caller's TID.
709If that fails,
710.\" FIXME What would be the cause of failure?
711or the futex value is nonzero,
712the kernel atomically sets the
e0547e70 713.B FUTEX_WAITERS
67833bec
MK
714bit, which signals the futex owner that it cannot unlock the futex in
715user space atomically by setting the futex value to 0.
716After that, the kernel tries to find the thread which is
717associated with the owner TID,
718.\" FIXME Could I get a bit more detail on the next two lines?
719.\" What is "creates or reuses kernel state" about?
720creates or reuses kernel state on behalf of the owner
721and attaches the waiter to it.
67259526
MK
722.\" FIXME In the next line, what type of "priority" are we talking about?
723.\" Realtime priorities for SCHED_FIFO and SCHED_RR?
724.\" Or something else?
e0547e70
TG
725The enqueing of the waiter is in descending priority order if more
726than one waiter exists.
67259526 727.\" FIXME What does "bandwidth" refer to in the next line?
e0547e70 728The owner inherits either the priority or the bandwidth of the waiter.
67259526
MK
729.\" FIXME In the preceding line, what determines whether the
730.\" owner inherits the priority versus the bandwidth?
67833bec
MK
731.\"
732.\" FIXME Could I get some help translating the next sentence into
733.\" something that user-space developers (and I) can understand?
734.\" In particular, what are "nexted locks" in this context?
e0547e70
TG
735This inheritance follows the lock chain in the case of
736nested locking and performs deadlock detection.
737
9ce19cf1
MK
738.\" FIXME tglx says "The timeout argument is handled as described in
739.\" FUTEX_WAIT." However, it appears to me that this is not right.
740.\" Is the following formulation correct.
e0547e70
TG
741The
742.I timeout
9ce19cf1
MK
743argument provides a timeout for the lock attempt.
744It is interpreted as an absolute time, measured against the
745.BR CLOCK_REALTIME
746clock.
747If
748.I timeout
749is NULL, the operation will block indefinitely.
e0547e70 750
a449c634 751The
e0547e70
TG
752.IR uaddr2 ,
753.IR val ,
754and
755.IR val3
a449c634 756arguments are ignored.
fedaeaf3 757.\" FIXME
a9dcb4d1
MK
758.\" tglx noted the following "ERROR" case for FUTEX_LOCK_PI and
759.\" FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI
760.\" > [EOWNERDIED] The owner of the futex died and the kernel made the
761.\" > caller the new owner. The kernel sets the FUTEX_OWNER_DIED bit
762.\" > in the futex userspace value. Caller is responsible for cleanup
fedaeaf3 763.\"
a9dcb4d1 764.\" However, there is no such thing as an EOWNERDIED error. I had a look
fedaeaf3
MK
765.\" through the kernel source for the FUTEX_OWNER_DIED cases and didn't
766.\" see an obvious error associated with them. Can you clarify? (I think
767.\" the point is that this condition, which is described in
768.\" Documentation/robust-futexes.txt, is not an error as such. However,
769.\" I'm not yet sure of how to describe it in the man page.)
67833bec 770.\"
d67e21f5 771.TP
12fdbe23 772.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI " (since Linux 2.6.18)"
d67e21f5 773.\" commit c87e2837be82df479a6bae9f155c43516d2feebc
12fdbe23
MK
774This operation tries to acquire the futex at
775.IR uaddr .
0b761826
MK
776.\" FIXME I think it would be helpful here to say a few more words about
777.\" the difference(s) between FUTEX_LOCK_PI and FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI
fa0388c3 778It deals with the situation where the TID value at
12fdbe23
MK
779.I uaddr
780is 0, but the
b52e1cd4 781.B FUTEX_WAITERS
12fdbe23 782bit is set.
fa0388c3
MK
783.\" FIXME How does the situation in the previous sentence come about?
784.\" Probably it would be helpful to say something about that in
785.\" the man page.
badbf70c 786.\" FIXME And *how* does FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI deal with this situation?
12fdbe23 787User space cannot handle this race free.
084744ef
MK
788
789The
790.IR uaddr2 ,
791.IR val ,
792.IR timeout ,
793and
794.IR val3
795arguments are ignored.
d67e21f5 796.TP
12fdbe23 797.BR FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI " (since Linux 2.6.18)"
d67e21f5 798.\" commit c87e2837be82df479a6bae9f155c43516d2feebc
ecae2099
TG
799This operation wakes the top priority waiter which is waiting in
800.B FUTEX_LOCK_PI
801on the futex address provided by the
802.I uaddr
803argument.
804
805This is called when the user space value at
806.I uaddr
807cannot be changed atomically from a TID (of the owner) to 0.
808
809The
810.IR uaddr2 ,
811.IR val ,
812.IR timeout ,
813and
814.IR val3
11a194bf 815arguments are ignored.
d67e21f5 816.TP
d67e21f5
MK
817.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI " (since Linux 2.6.31)"
818.\" commit 52400ba946759af28442dee6265c5c0180ac7122
819.\" FIXME to complete
f812a08b
DH
820This operation is a PI-aware variant of
821.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE .
822It requeues waiters that are blocked via
823.B FUTEX_WAIT_REQUEUE_PI
824on
825.I uaddr
826from a non-PI source futex
827.RI ( uaddr )
828to a PI target futex
829.RI ( uaddr2 ).
830
9e54d26d
MK
831As with
832.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE ,
833this operation wakes up a maximum of
834.I val
835waiters that are waiting on the futex at
836.IR uaddr .
837However, for
838.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI ,
839.I val
840is required to be 1.
841The remaining waiters are removed from the wait queue of the source futex at
842.I uaddr
843and added to the wait queue of the target futex at
844.IR uaddr2 .
f812a08b 845
9e54d26d
MK
846The
847.I val3
848and
849.I timeout
850arguments serve the same purposes as for
851.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE .
d67e21f5
MK
852.TP
853.BR FUTEX_WAIT_REQUEUE_PI " (since Linux 2.6.31)"
854.\" commit 52400ba946759af28442dee6265c5c0180ac7122
855.\" FIXME to complete
dd218aaa
MK
856.\"
857.\" FIXME Employs 'timeout' argument, supports FUTEX_CLOCK_REALTIME
858.\" 'timeout' can be NULL
859.\"
d67e21f5 860[As yet undocumented]
47297adb 861.SH RETURN VALUE
fea681da 862.PP
6f147f79 863In the event of an error, all operations return \-1 and set
e808bba0 864.I errno
6f147f79 865to indicate the cause of the error.
e808bba0
MK
866The return value on success depends on the operation,
867as described in the following list:
fea681da
MK
868.TP
869.B FUTEX_WAIT
682edefb
MK
870Returns 0 if the process was woken by a
871.B FUTEX_WAKE
7446a837
MK
872or
873.B FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET
682edefb 874call.
fea681da
MK
875.TP
876.B FUTEX_WAKE
877Returns the number of processes woken up.
878.TP
879.B FUTEX_FD
880Returns the new file descriptor associated with the futex.
881.TP
882.B FUTEX_REQUEUE
883Returns the number of processes woken up.
884.TP
885.B FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
3dfcc11d
MK
886Returns the total number of processes woken up or requeued to the futex at
887.IR uaddr2 .
888If this value is greater than
889.IR val ,
890then difference is the number of waiters requeued to the futex at
891.IR uaddr2 .
519f2c3d
MK
892.\"
893.\" FIXME Add success returns for other operations
dcad19c0
MK
894.TP
895.B FUTEX_WAKE_OP
a8b5b324
MK
896.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
897Returns the total number of waiters that were woken up.
898This is the sum of the woken waiters on the two futexes at
899.I uaddr
900and
901.IR uaddr2 .
dcad19c0
MK
902.TP
903.B FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET
7bcc5351
MK
904.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
905Returns 0 if the process was woken by a
906.B FUTEX_WAKE
907or
908.B FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET
909call.
dcad19c0
MK
910.TP
911.B FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET
b884566b
MK
912.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
913Returns the number of processes woken up.
dcad19c0
MK
914.TP
915.B FUTEX_LOCK_PI
bf02a260
MK
916.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
917Returns 0 if the futex was successfully locked.
dcad19c0
MK
918.TP
919.B FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI
5c716eef
MK
920.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
921Returns 0 if the futex was successfully locked.
dcad19c0
MK
922.TP
923.B FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI
52bb928f
MK
924.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
925Returns 0 if the futex was successfully unlocked.
dcad19c0
MK
926.TP
927.B FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI
dddd395a
MK
928.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
929Returns the total number of processes woken up or requeued to the futex at
930.IR uaddr2 .
931If this value is greater than
932.IR val ,
933then difference is the number of waiters requeued to the futex at
934.IR uaddr2 .
dcad19c0
MK
935.TP
936.B FUTEX_WAIT_REQUEUE_PI
22c15de9
MK
937.\" FIXME Is the following correct?
938Returns 0 if the caller was successfully requeued to the futex at
939.IR uaddr2 .
fea681da
MK
940.SH ERRORS
941.TP
942.B EACCES
943No read access to futex memory.
944.TP
945.B EAGAIN
badbf70c
MK
946.RB ( FUTEX_WAIT )
947The value pointed to by
948.I uaddr
949was not equal to the expected value
950.I val
951at the time of the call.
952.TP
953.B EAGAIN
682edefb 954.B FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE
e808bba0 955detected that the value pointed to by
9f6c40c0
МК
956.I uaddr
957is not equal to the expected value
958.IR val3 .
fd1dc4c2 959.\" FIXME: Is the following sentence correct?
fea681da 960(This probably indicates a race;
682edefb
MK
961use the safe
962.B FUTEX_WAKE
963now.)
c0091dd3
MK
964.\"
965.\" FIXME Should there be an EAGAIN case for FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI?
966.\" It seems so, looking at the handling of the rt_mutex_trylock()
967.\" call in futex_lock_pi()
968.\"
fea681da 969.TP
5662f56a
MK
970.BR EAGAIN
971.RB ( FUTEX_LOCK_PI ,
972.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI )
973The futex owner thread ID is about to exit,
974but has not yet handled the internal state cleanup.
975Try again.
61f8c1d1
MK
976.\"
977.\" FIXME Is there not also an EAGAIN error case on 'uaddr2' for
978.\" FUTEX_REQUEUE and FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE via
979.\" futex_requeue() ==> futex_proxy_trylock_atomic() ==>
980.\" futex_lock_pi_atomic() ==> attach_to_pi_owner() ==> EAGAIN?
5662f56a 981.TP
7a39e745
MK
982.BR EDEADLK
983.RB ( FUTEX_LOCK_PI ,
984.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI )
985The futex at
986.I uaddr
987is already locked by the caller.
d08ce5dd
MK
988.\"
989.\" FIXME Is there not also an EDEADLK error case on 'uaddr2' for
990.\" FUTEX_REQUEUE and FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE via
991.\" futex_requeue() ==> futex_proxy_trylock_atomic() ==>
992.\" futex_lock_pi_atomic() ==> attach_to_pi_owner() ==> EDEADLK?
7a39e745 993.TP
fea681da 994.B EFAULT
1ea901e8
MK
995A required pointer argument (i.e.,
996.IR uaddr ,
997.IR uaddr2 ,
998or
999.IR timeout )
496df304 1000did not point to a valid user-space address.
fea681da 1001.TP
9f6c40c0 1002.B EINTR
e808bba0 1003A
9f6c40c0 1004.B FUTEX_WAIT
2674f781
MK
1005or
1006.B FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET
e808bba0
MK
1007operation was interrupted by a signal (see
1008.BR signal (7))
1009or a spurious wakeup.
9f6c40c0 1010.TP
fea681da 1011.B EINVAL
180f97b7
MK
1012The operation in
1013.IR futex_op
1014is one of those that employs a timeout, but the supplied
fb2f4c27
MK
1015.I timeout
1016argument was invalid
1017.RI ( tv_sec
1018was less than zero, or
1019.IR tv_nsec
1020was not less than 1000,000,000).
1021.TP
1022.B EINVAL
0c74df0b
MK
1023The operation specified in
1024.BR futex_op
1025employs one or both of the pointers
51ee94be 1026.I uaddr
a1f47699 1027and
0c74df0b
MK
1028.IR uaddr2 ,
1029but one of these does not point to a valid object\(emthat is,
1030the address is not four-byte-aligned.
51ee94be
MK
1031.TP
1032.B EINVAL
bae14b6c 1033.RB ( FUTEX_WAKE ,
5447735d 1034.BR FUTEX_WAKE_OP ,
98d769c0 1035.BR FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET ,
e169277f
MK
1036.BR FUTEX_REQUEUE ,
1037.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE )
496df304 1038The kernel detected an inconsistency between the user-space state at
9534086b
TG
1039.I uaddr
1040and the kernel state\(emthat is, it detected a waiter which waits in
5447735d
MK
1041.BR FUTEX_LOCK_PI
1042on
1043.IR uaddr .
9534086b
TG
1044.TP
1045.B EINVAL
55cc422d
TG
1046.RB ( FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET ,
1047.BR FUTEX_WAKE_BITSET )
79c9b436
TG
1048The bitset supplied in
1049.IR val3
1050is zero.
1051.TP
1052.B EINVAL
add875c0
MK
1053.RB ( FUTEX_REQUEUE )
1054.\" FIXME tglx suggested adding this, but does this error really
1055.\" occur for FUTEX_REQUEUE?
1056.I uaddr
1057equals
1058.IR uaddr2
1059(i.e., an attempt was made to requeue to the same futex).
1060.TP
ff597681
MK
1061.BR EINVAL
1062.RB ( FUTEX_FD )
1063The signal number supplied in
1064.I val
1065is invalid.
1066.TP
6bac3b85 1067.B EINVAL
a218ef20 1068.RB ( FUTEX_LOCK_PI ,
ce022f18
MK
1069.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI ,
1070.BR FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI )
a218ef20
MK
1071The kernel detected an inconsistency between the user-space state at
1072.I uaddr
1073and the kernel state.
ce022f18
MK
1074This indicates either state corruption
1075.\" FIXME tglx did not mention the "state corruption" for FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI.
1076.\" Does that case also apply for FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI?
1077or that the kernel found a waiter on
a218ef20
MK
1078.I uaddr
1079which is waiting via
1080.BR FUTEX_WAIT
1081or
1082.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET .
1083.TP
1084.B EINVAL
4832b48a 1085Invalid argument.
fea681da 1086.TP
a449c634
MK
1087.BR ENOMEM
1088.RB ( FUTEX_LOCK_PI ,
e34a8fb6
MK
1089.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI ,
1090.BR FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI )
a449c634
MK
1091The kernel could not allocate memory to hold state information.
1092.TP
fea681da 1093.B ENFILE
ff597681 1094.RB ( FUTEX_FD )
fea681da 1095The system limit on the total number of open files has been reached.
4701fc28
MK
1096.TP
1097.B ENOSYS
1098Invalid operation specified in
d33602c4 1099.IR futex_op .
9f6c40c0 1100.TP
4a7e5b05
MK
1101.B ENOSYS
1102The
1103.BR FUTEX_CLOCK_REALTIME
1104option was specified in
1afcee7c 1105.IR futex_op ,
4a7e5b05
MK
1106but the accompanying operation was neither
1107.BR FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET
1108nor
1109.BR FUTEX_WAIT_REQUEUE_PI .
1110.TP
a9dcb4d1
MK
1111.BR ENOSYS
1112.RB ( FUTEX_LOCK_PI ,
f2424fae
MK
1113.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI ,
1114.BR FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI )
a9dcb4d1
MK
1115A run-time check determined that the operation not available.
1116.BR FUTEX_LOCK_PI
1117and
1118.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI
1119are not implemented on all architectures and
1120not supported on some CPU variants.
1121.TP
c7589177
MK
1122.BR EPERM
1123.RB ( FUTEX_LOCK_PI ,
1124.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI )
1125The caller is not allowed to attach itself to the futex.
1126(This may be caused by a state corruption in user space.)
61f8c1d1
MK
1127.\"
1128.\" FIXME Is there not also an EPERM error case on 'uaddr2' for
1129.\" FUTEX_REQUEUE and FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE via
1130.\" futex_requeue() ==> futex_proxy_trylock_atomic() ==>
1131.\" futex_lock_pi_atomic() ==> attach_to_pi_owner() ==> EPERM?
c7589177 1132.TP
76f347ba
MK
1133.BR EPERM
1134.BR FUTEX_UNLOCK_PI
1135The caller does not own the futex.
1136.TP
0b0e4934
MK
1137.BR ESRCH
1138.RB ( FUTEX_LOCK_PI ,
1139.BR FUTEX_TRYLOCK_PI )
1140.\" FIXME I reworded the following sentence a bit differently from
1141.\" tglx's formulation. Is it okay?
1142The thread ID in the futex at
1143.I uaddr
1144does not exist.
61f8c1d1
MK
1145.\"
1146.\" FIXME Is there not also an ESRCH error case on 'uaddr2' for
1147.\" FUTEX_REQUEUE and FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE via
1148.\" futex_requeue() ==> futex_proxy_trylock_atomic() ==>
1149.\" futex_lock_pi_atomic() ==> attach_to_pi_owner() ==> ESRCH?
0b0e4934 1150.TP
9f6c40c0 1151.B ETIMEDOUT
4d85047f
MK
1152The operation in
1153.IR futex_op
1154employed the timeout specified in
1155.IR timeout ,
1156and the timeout expired before the operation completed.
47297adb 1157.SH VERSIONS
a1d5f77c 1158.PP
81c9d87e
MK
1159Futexes were first made available in a stable kernel release
1160with Linux 2.6.0.
1161
a1d5f77c
MK
1162Initial futex support was merged in Linux 2.5.7 but with different semantics
1163from what was described above.
52dee70e 1164A four-argument system call with the semantics
fd3fa7ef 1165described in this page was introduced in Linux 2.5.40.
11b520ed 1166In Linux 2.5.70, one argument
a1d5f77c 1167was added.
11b520ed 1168In Linux 2.6.7, a sixth argument was added\(emmessy, especially
a1d5f77c 1169on the s390 architecture.
47297adb 1170.SH CONFORMING TO
8382f16d 1171This system call is Linux-specific.
47297adb 1172.SH NOTES
fea681da 1173.PP
fcdad7d6 1174To reiterate, bare futexes are not intended as an easy-to-use abstraction
c13182ef 1175for end-users.
fcdad7d6 1176(There is no wrapper function for this system call in glibc.)
c13182ef 1177Implementors are expected to be assembly literate and to have
7fac88a9 1178read the sources of the futex user-space library referenced below.
d282bb24 1179.\" .SH AUTHORS
fea681da
MK
1180.\" .PP
1181.\" Futexes were designed and worked on by
1182.\" Hubertus Franke (IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center),
1183.\" Matthew Kirkwood, Ingo Molnar (Red Hat)
1184.\" and Rusty Russell (IBM Linux Technology Center).
1185.\" This page written by bert hubert.
47297adb 1186.SH SEE ALSO
9913033c 1187.BR get_robust_list (2),
d806bc05 1188.BR restart_syscall (2),
14d8dd3b 1189.BR futex (7)
fea681da 1190.PP
f5ad572f
MK
1191The following kernel source files:
1192.IP * 2
1193.I Documentation/pi-futex.txt
1194.IP *
1195.I Documentation/futex-requeue-pi.txt
1196.IP *
1197.I Documentation/locking/rt-mutex.txt
1198.IP *
1199.I Documentation/locking/rt-mutex-design.txt
43b99089 1200.PP
52087dd3 1201\fIFuss, Futexes and Furwocks: Fast Userlevel Locking in Linux\fP
9b936e9e
MK
1202(proceedings of the Ottawa Linux Symposium 2002), online at
1203.br
608bf950
SK
1204.UR http://kernel.org\:/doc\:/ols\:/2002\:/ols2002-pages-479-495.pdf
1205.UE
f42eb21b 1206
0483b6cc
MK
1207\fIRequeue-PI: Making Glibc Condvars PI-Aware\fP
1208(2009 Real-Time Linux Workshop)
1209.UR http://lwn.net/images/conf/rtlws11/papers/proc/p10.pdf
1210.UE
1211
f42eb21b
MK
1212\fIFutexes Are Tricky\fP (updated in 2011), Ulrich Drepper
1213.UR http://www.akkadia.org/drepper/futex.pdf
1214.UE
9b936e9e
MK
1215.PP
1216Futex example library, futex-*.tar.bz2 at
1217.br
a605264d 1218.UR ftp://ftp.kernel.org\:/pub\:/linux\:/kernel\:/people\:/rusty/
608bf950 1219.UE
34f14794
MK
1220.\"
1221.\" FIXME Are there any other resources that should be listed
1222.\" in the SEE ALSO section?