xref: /netbsd/lib/libc/sys/rasctl.2 (revision c4a72b64)
1.\"     $NetBSD: rasctl.2,v 1.6 2002/10/23 09:44:37 jdolecek Exp $
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 2002 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
4.\" All rights reserved.
5.\"
6.\" This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
7.\" by Gregory McGarry.
8.\"
9.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
10.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
11.\" are met:
12.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
13.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
14.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
15.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
16.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
17.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
18.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
19.\"        This product includes software developed by the NetBSD
20.\"        Foundation, Inc. and its contributors.
21.\" 4. Neither the name of The NetBSD Foundation nor the names of its
22.\"    contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
23.\"    from this software without specific prior written permission.
24.\"
25.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE NETBSD FOUNDATION, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS
26.\" ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
27.\" TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
28.\" PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS
29.\" BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
30.\" CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
31.\" SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
32.\" INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
33.\" CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
34.\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
35.\" POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
36.\"
37.Dd August 12, 2002
38.Dt RASCTL 2
39.Os
40.Sh NAME
41.Nm rasctl
42.Nd restartable atomic sequences
43.Sh LIBRARY
44.Lb libc
45.Sh SYNOPSIS
46.Fd #include \*[Lt]sys/types.h\*[Gt]
47.Fd #include \*[Lt]sys/ras.h\*[Gt]
48.Ft int
49.Fn rasctl "void *addr" "size_t len" "int op"
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51Restartable atomic sequences are code sequences which are guaranteed
52to execute without preemption.
53This property is assured by the kernel
54by re-executing a preempted sequence from the start.
55This functionality enables applications to build atomic sequences which,
56when executed to completion, will have executed atomically.
57Restartable atomic sequences are intended to be used on systems that
58do not have hardware support for low-overhead atomic primitives.
59.Pp
60The
61.Nm
62function manipulates a process's set of restartable atomic sequences.
63If a restartable atomic sequence is registered and the process is
64preempted within the range
65.Fa addr
66and
67.Fa addr Ns + Ns Fa len ,
68then the process is resumed at
69.Fa addr .
70.Pp
71As the process execution can be rolled-back, the code in the sequence
72should have no side effects other than a final store at
73.Fa addr Ns + Ns Fa len Ns \-1 .
74The kernel does not guarantee that the sequences are successfully
75restartable.
76It assumes that the application knows what it is doing.
77Restartable atomic sequences should adhere to the following guidelines:
78.Pp
79.Bl -bullet -compact
80.It
81have a single entry point and a single exit point;
82.It
83not execute emulated instructions; and
84.It
85not invoke any functions or system calls.
86.El
87.Pp
88Restartable atomic sequences are inherited from the parent by the
89child during the
90.Xr fork 2
91operation.
92Restartable atomic sequences for a process are removed during
93.Xr exec 3 .
94.Pp
95The operations that can be applied to a restartable atomic sequence
96are specified by the
97.Fa op
98argument.
99Possible operations are:
100.Pp
101.Bl -tag -compact -width RAS_PURGE_ALLXXX
102.It RAS_INSTALL
103Install this sequence.
104.It RAS_PURGE
105Remove the specified registered sequences for this process.
106.It RAS_PURGE_ALL
107Remove all registers sequences for this process.
108.El
109.Pp
110The RAS_PURGE and RAS_PURGE_ALL operations should be considered to have
111undefined behaviour if there are any other runnable threads in the
112address space which might be executing within the restartable atomic
113sequence(s) at the time of the purge.
114The caller must be responsible for ensuring that there is some form of
115coordination with other threads to prevent unexpected behaviour.
116.Pp
117To preserve the atomicity of sequences, the kernel attempts to protect
118the sequences from alteration by the
119.Xr ptrace 2
120facility.
121.Sh RETURN VALUES
122Upon successful completion,
123.Fn rasctl
124returns zero.
125Otherwise, \-1 is returned and
126.Va errno
127is set to indicate the error.
128.Sh ERRORS
129The
130.Nm
131function will fail if:
132.Bl -tag -width Er
133.It Bq Er EINVAL
134Invalid input was supplied, such as an invalid operation, an invalid
135address, or an invalid length.
136A process may have a finite number of
137atomic sequences that is defined at compile time.
138.It Bq Er EOPNOTSUPP
139Restartable atomic sequences are not supported by the kernel.
140.It Bq Er ESRCH
141Restartable atomic sequence not registered.
142.El
143.Sh SEE ALSO
144.Xr ptrace 2
145.\" .Xr lock 9
146.Sh HISTORY
147The
148.Nm
149functionality first appeared in
150.\" NEXTRELEASE
151.Nx 2.0
152based on a similar interface that appeared in Mach 2.5.
153