xref: /netbsd-src/share/man/man9/intro.9 (revision 466a16a118933bd295a8a104f095714fadf9cf68) 
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30.Dd February 17, 2007
31.Dt INTRO 9
32.Sh NAME
33.Nm intro
34.Nd introduction to kernel internals
35.Sh DESCRIPTION
36This section contains information related to the internal operation of the
37system kernel.
38It describes function interfaces and variables of use to the systems and device
39driver programmer.
40.Pp
41In addition to the normal man page format, the kernel pages include an
42additional section:
43.Bl -tag -width "CODE REFERENCES"
44.It "CODE REFERENCES"
45Contains the pathname(s) of the source file(s) which contain the definition
46and/or source code of the variables or functions being documented.
47.El
48.Sh MEMORY MANAGEMENT
49Machine-dependent swap interface.
50See
51.Xr cpu_swapout 9 .
52.Pp
53Introduction to kernel memory allocators.
54See
55.Xr memoryallocators 9 .
56.Pp
57Machine-dependent portion of the virtual memory system.
58See
59.Xr pmap 9 .
60.Pp
61Virtual memory system external interface.
62See
63.Xr uvm 9 .
64.Sh I/O SUBSYSTEM
65Buffer cache interfaces.
66See
67.Xr buffercache 9 .
68.Pp
69Device buffer queues.
70See
71.Xr bufq 9 .
72.Pp
73Initiate I/O on raw devices.
74See
75.Xr physio 9 .
76.Pp
77I/O descriptor allocation interface.
78See
79.Xr getiobuf 9 .
80.Sh PROCESS CONTROL
81Machine-dependent process exit.
82See
83.Xr cpu_exit 9 .
84.Pp
85Idle CPU while waiting for work.
86See
87.Xr cpu_idle 9 .
88.Pp
89Finish a fork operation.
90See
91.Xr cpu_lwp_fork 9 .
92.Pp
93Switch to another light weight process.
94See
95.Xr ctxsw 9 .
96.Pp
97Current process and processor.
98See
99.Xr curproc 9 .
100.Pp
101Set process uid and gid.
102See
103.Xr do_setresuid 9 .
104.Pp
105New processes and kernel threads.
106See
107.Xr fork1 9 ,
108.Xr kthread 9 .
109.Pp
110Context switch notification.
111See
112.Xr cpu_need_resched 9 .
113.Pp
114Process scheduling subsystem.
115See
116.Xr scheduler 9 .
117.Pp
118Software signal facilities.
119See
120.Xr signal 9 .
121.Pp
122Suspend the scheduler.
123See
124.Xr suspendsched 9 .
125.Pp
126Return path to user-mode execution.
127See
128.Xr userret 9 .
129.Sh FILE SYSTEM
130High-level file operations.
131See
132.Xr dofileread 9 .
133.Pp
134Convert an extended attribute namespace identifier to a string and
135vice versa.
136See
137.Xr extattr 9 .
138.Pp
139Operations on file entries.
140See
141.Xr file 9 .
142.Pp
143In-kernel, file-system independent, file-meta data association.
144See
145.Xr fileassoc 9 .
146.Pp
147File descriptor tables and operations.
148See
149.Xr filedesc 9 .
150.Pp
151File descriptor owner handling functions.
152See
153.Xr fsetown 9 .
154.Pp
155File system suspension helper subsystem.
156See
157.Xr fstrans 9 .
158.Pp
159Pathname lookup, cache and management.
160See
161.Xr namei 9 ,
162.Xr namecache 9 ,
163.Xr pathname 9 .
164.Pp
165Kernel interface to file systems.
166See
167.Xr vfs 9 .
168.Pp
169Kernel representation of a file or directory and vnode attributes.
170See
171.Xr vnode 9 ,
172.Xr vattr 9 .
173.Sh NETWORKING
174Kernel interfaces for manipulating output queues on network interfaces.
175See
176.Xr altq 9 .
177.Pp
178Externally visible ARP functions.
179See
180.Xr arp 9 .
181.Pp
182Ethernet and FDDI driver support functions and macros.
183See
184.Xr ethersubr 9 .
185.Pp
186Core 802.11 network stack functions and rate adaptation based on
187received signal strength.
188See
189.Xr ieee80211 9 ,
190.Xr rssadapt 9 .
191.Pp
192Compute Internet checksum.
193See
194.Xr in_cksum 9 .
195.Pp
196Look up the IPv4 source address best matching an IPv4 destination.
197See
198.Xr in_getifa 9 .
199.Pp
200Functions and macros for managing memory used by networking code.
201See
202.Xr mbuf 9 .
203.Pp
204Packet filter interface.
205See
206.Xr pfil 9 .
207.Pp
208Route callout functions.
209See
210.Xr rt_timer 9 .
211.Pp
212TCP congestion control API.
213See
214.Xr tcp_congctl 9 .
215.Sh LOCKING AND INTERRUPT CONTROL
216Condition variables.
217See
218.Xr condvar 9 .
219.Pp
220Kernel lock functions.
221See
222.Xr lock 9 .
223.Pp
224Memory barriers.
225See
226.Xr mb 9 .
227.Pp
228Mutual exclusion primitives.
229See
230.Xr mutex 9 .
231.Pp
232Restartable atomic sequences.
233See
234.Xr ras 9 .
235.Pp
236Reader / writer lock primitives.
237See
238.Xr rwlock 9 .
239.Pp
240Machine-independent software interrupt framework.
241See
242.Xr softintr 9 .
243.Pp
244Functions to modify system interrupt priority level.
245See
246.Xr spl 9 .
247.Pp
248Functions ro raise the system priority level.
249See
250.Xr splraiseipl 9 .
251.Sh SECURITY
252Kernel authorization framework.
253See
254.Xr kauth 9 .
255.Pp
256API for cryptographic services in the kernel.
257See
258.Xr opencrypto 9 .
259.Pp
260Security model development guidelines.
261See
262.Xr secmodel 9 .
263.Sh SYSTEM TIME CONTROL
264Execute a function after a specified length of time.
265See
266.Xr callout 9 .
267.Pp
268Microsecond delay.
269See
270.Xr delay 9 .
271.Pp
272Real-time timer.
273See
274.Xr hardclock 9 .
275.Pp
276System clock frequency.
277See
278.Xr hz 9 .
279.Pp
280Initialization of system time and time-of-day clock support.
281See
282.Xr inittodr 9 ,
283.Xr todr 9 .
284.Pp
285Check that a timeval value is valid, and correct.
286See
287.Xr itimerfix 9 .
288.Pp
289System time variables.
290See
291.Xr timecounter 9 .
292.Pp
293Realtime system clock.
294See
295.Xr microtime 9 .
296.Pp
297Get the time elapsed since boot.
298See
299.Xr microuptime 9 .
300.Pp
301Convert milliseconds to system clock ticks.
302See
303.Xr mstohz 9 .
304.Pp
305Function to help implement rate-limited actions.
306See
307.Xr ppsratecheck 9 .
308.Pp
309Function to help implement rate-limited actions.
310See
311.Xr ratecheck 9 .
312.Pp
313Set battery-backed clock from system time.
314See
315.Xr resettodr 9 .
316.Pp
317System time variables.
318See
319.Xr time_second 9 .
320.Sh KERNEL AND USER SPACE DATA COPY FUNCTIONS
321Kernel space to/from user space copy functions.
322See
323.Xr copy 9 .
324.Pp
325Store data to user-space.
326See
327.Xr store 9 .
328.Pp
329Fetch data from user-space.
330See
331.Xr fetch 9 .
332.Pp
333Move data described by a struct uio.
334See
335.Xr uiomove 9 .
336.Sh MACHINE DEPENDENT KERNEL FUNCTIONS
337Machine-dependent clock setup interface.
338See
339.Xr cpu_initclocks 9 .
340.Pp
341Machine-dependent process core dump interface.
342See
343.Xr cpu_coredump 9 .
344.Pp
345Machine-dependent kernel core dumps.
346See
347.Xr cpu_dumpconf 9 .
348.Pp
349Unique CPU identification number
350See
351.Xr cpu_number 9 .
352.Pp
353Halt or reboot the system
354See
355.Xr cpu_reboot 9 .
356.Pp
357Machine-dependent root file system setup
358See
359.Xr cpu_rootconf 9 .
360.Pp
361Machine-dependent CPU startup
362See
363.Xr cpu_startup 9 .
364.Pp
365Disk label management routines.
366See
367.Xr disklabel 9 .
368.Sh DEVICE CONFIGURATION
369Autoconfiguration frame-work.
370See
371.Xr autoconf 9 .
372.Pp
373Description of a device driver.
374See
375.Xr driver 9 .
376.Pp
377The autoconfiguration framework ``device definition'' language.
378See
379.Xr config 9 .
380.Pp
381Machine-dependent device autoconfiguration.
382See
383.Xr cpu_configure 9 .
384.Sh MI DEVICE DRIVER API
385Bus and Machine Independent DMA Mapping Interface.
386See
387.Xr bus_dma 9 .
388.Pp
389Bus space manipulation functions.
390See
391.Xr bus_space 9 .
392.Pp
393Generic disk framework.
394See
395.Xr disk 9 .
396.Pp
397Hardware-assisted data mover interface.
398See
399.Xr dmover 9 .
400Generic event counter framework.
401See
402.Xr evcnt 9 .
403.Pp
404Firmware loader API for device drivers.
405See
406.Xr firmload 9 .
407.Pp
408How to implement a new ioctl call to access device drivers.
409See
410.Xr ioctl 9 .
411.Pp
412Extensible line discipline framework.
413See
414.Xr linedisc 9 .
415.Sh CONSOLE DEVICES
416Console magic key sequence management.
417See
418.Xr cnmagic 9 .
419.Pp
420Console access interface.
421See
422.Xr cons 9 .
423.Pp
424Raster display operations.
425See
426.Xr rasops 9 .
427.Pp
428Generic virtual console framework.
429See
430.Xr vcons 9 .
431.Pp
432Machine-independent console support.
433See
434.Xr wscons 9 .
435.Sh DEVICE SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTATION
436Interface between low and high level audio drivers.
437See
438.Xr audio 9 .
439.Pp
440Bluetooth Device/Protocol API.
441See
442.Xr bluetooth 9 .
443.Pp
444Support for CardBus PC-Card devices.
445See
446.Xr cardbus 9 .
447.Pp
448VESA Display Data Channel V2.
449See
450.Xr ddc 9 .
451.Pp
452VESA Extended Display Identification Data.
453See
454.Xr edid 9 .
455.Pp
456Inter IC (I2C) bus.
457See
458.Xr iic 9 .
459.Pp
460Baseboard I/O control ASIC for DEC TURBOchannel systems.
461See
462.Xr ioasic 9 .
463.Pp
464Industry-standard Architecture.
465See
466.Xr isa 9 .
467.Pp
468Introduction to ISA Plug-and-Play support.
469See
470.Xr isapnp 9 .
471.Pp
472MicroChannel Architecture bus.
473See
474.Xr mca 9 .
475.Pp
476PPBUS microseqencer developer's guide.
477See
478.Xr microseq 9 .
479.Pp
480Peripheral Component Interconnect.
481See
482.Xr pci 9 .
483.Pp
484Perform PCI bus configuration.
485See
486.Xr pci_configure_bus 9 .
487.Pp
488PCI bus interrupt manipulation functions.
489See
490.Xr pci_intr 9 .
491.Pp
492PC keyboard port interface.
493See
494.Xr pckbport 9 .
495.Pp
496Support for PCMCIA PC-Card devices.
497See
498.Xr pcmcia 9 .
499.Pp
500User-space interface to ppbus parallel port.
501See
502.Xr ppi 9 .
503.Pp
504Interface between low and high level radio drivers.
505See
506.Xr radio 9 .
507.Pp
508Functions to make a device available for entropy collection.
509See
510.Xr rnd 9 .
511.Pp
512SCSI/ATAPI middle-layer interface.
513See
514.Xr scsipi 9 .
515.Pp
516TURBOchannel bus.
517See
518.Xr tc 9 .
519.Pp
520USB tty support.
521See
522.Xr ucom 9 .
523.Pp
524USB device drivers interface.
525See
526.Xr usbdi 9 .
527.Pp
528Versa Module Euroboard bus.
529See
530.Xr vme 9 .
531.Pp
532Machine-independent IDE/ATAPI driver.
533See
534.Xr wdc 9 .
535.Sh KERNEL EVENT
536Functions to add or remove kernel event filters.
537See
538.Xr kfilter_register 9 .
539.Pp
540Functions to raise kernel event.
541See
542.Xr knote 9 .
543.Pp
544Record and wakeup select requests.
545See
546.Xr selrecord 9 .
547.Pp
548Simple do-it-in-thread-context framework.
549See
550.Xr workqueue 9 .
551.Sh KERNEL HELPER FUNCTIONS
552Kernel expression verification macros.
553See
554.Xr KASSERT 9 .
555.Pp
556Convert a single byte between (unsigned) packed bcd and binary.
557See
558.Xr bcdtobin 9 .
559.Pp
560Bitmask output conversion.
561See
562.Xr snprintb 3 .
563.Pp
564General purpose extent manager.
565See
566.Xr extent 9 .
567.Pp
568Compare integers.
569See
570.Xr imax 9 .
571.Pp
572Kernel formatted output conversion.
573See
574.Xr kprintf 9 .
575.Pp
576Data comparing, moving, copying, setting and cleaning.
577See
578.Xr memcmp 9 ,
579.Xr memmove 9 ,
580.Xr memcpy 9 ,
581.Xr memset 9 ,
582.Xr bcmp 9 ,
583.Xr bcopy 9 ,
584.Xr bzero 9 ,
585.Xr kcopy 9 .
586.Pp
587Log a message from the kernel through the /dev/klog device.
588See
589.Xr log 9 .
590.Pp
591Bring down system on fatal error.
592See
593.Xr panic 9 .
594.Sh MISC
595Run all power hooks.
596See
597.Xr dopowerhooks 9 .
598.Pp
599Run all shutdown hooks.
600See
601.Xr doshutdownhooks 9 .
602.Pp
603Kernel internal error numbers.
604See
605.Xr errno 9 .
606.Pp
607Kernel hash functions, hash table construction and destruction.
608See
609.Xr hash 9 ,
610.Xr hashinit 9 .
611.Pp
612Format a number into a human readable form.
613See
614.Xr humanize_number 9 .
615.Pp
616Machine-dependent interface to ipkdb.
617See
618.Xr ipkdb 9 .
619.Pp
620Options string management.
621See
622.Xr optstr 9 .
623.Pp
624Performs pattern matching on strings.
625See
626.Xr pmatch 9 .
627.Pp
628Hardware Performance Monitoring Interface.
629See
630.Xr pmc 9 .
631.Pp
632Add or remove a power change hook.
633See
634.Xr powerhook_establish 9 .
635.Pp
636Add or remove a shutdown hook.
637See
638.Xr shutdownhook_establish 9 .
639.Pp
640Non-local jumps.
641See
642.Xr setjmp 9 .
643.Pp
644System variable control interfaces.
645See
646.Xr sysctl 9 .
647.Sh HISTORY
648The
649.Nx
650kernel internals section first appeared in
651.Nx 1.2 .
652