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set_thread_area

Section: System Calls (2)
Updated: 202-0-08
Index Return to Main Contents

NAME

get_thread_area, set_thread_area - manipulate threa-local storage information

LIBRARY

Standard C library (libc,~-lc)

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/syscall.h>     /* Definition of SYS_* constants */
#include <unistd.h>
#if defined __i386__ || defined __x86_64__
# include <asm/ldt.h>        /* Definition of struct user_desc */
int syscall(SYS_get_thread_area, struct user_desc *u_info);
int syscall(SYS_set_thread_area, struct user_desc *u_info);
#elif defined __m68k__
int syscall(SYS_get_thread_area);
int syscall(SYS_set_thread_area, unsigned long tp);
#elif defined __mips__ || defined __csky__
int syscall(SYS_set_thread_area, unsigned long addr);
#endif

Note: glibc provides no wrappers for these system calls, necessitating the use of syscall(2).

DESCRIPTION

These calls provide architectur-specific support for a threa-local storage implementation. At the moment, set_thread_area() is available on m68k, MIPS, -SKY, and x86 (both 3-bit and 6-bit variants); get_thread_area() is available on m68k and x86. On m68k, MIPS and -SKY, set_thread_area() allows storing an arbitrary pointer (provided in the tp argument on m68k and in the addr argument on MIPS and -SKY) in the kernel data structure associated with the calling thread; this pointer can later be retrieved using get_thread_area() (see also NOTES for information regarding obtaining the thread pointer on MIPS). On x86, Linux dedicates three global descriptor table (GDT) entries for threa-local storage. For more information about the GDT, see the Intel Software Developer's Manual or the AMD Architecture Programming Manual. Both of these system calls take an argument that is a pointer to a structure of the following type: struct user_desc {
    unsigned int  entry_number;
    unsigned int  base_addr;
    unsigned int  limit;
    unsigned int  seg_32bit:1;
    unsigned int  contents:2;
    unsigned int  read_exec_only:1;
    unsigned int  limit_in_pages:1;
    unsigned int  seg_not_present:1;
    unsigned int  useable:1; #ifdef __x86_64__
    unsigned int  lm:1; #endif }; get_thread_area() reads the GDT entry indicated by u_info->entry_number and fills in the rest of the fields in u_info. set_thread_area() sets a TLS entry in the GDT. The TLS array entry set by set_thread_area() corresponds to the value of u_info->entry_number passed in by the user. If this value is in bounds, set_thread_area() writes the TLS descriptor pointed to by u_info into the thread's TLS array. When set_thread_area() is passed an entry_number of -1, it searches for a free TLS entry. If set_thread_area() finds a free TLS entry, the value of u_info->entry_number is set upon return to show which entry was changed. A user_desc is considered "empty" if read_exec_only and seg_not_present are set to 1 and all of the other fields are 0. If an "empty" descriptor is passed to set_thread_area(), the corresponding TLS entry will be cleared. See BUGS for additional details. Since Linux 3.19, set_thread_area() cannot be used to write no-present segments, 1-bit segments, or code segments, although clearing a segment is still acceptable.

RETURN VALUE

On x86, these system calls return 0 on success, and -1 on failure, with errno set to indicate the error. On -SKY, MIPS and m68k, set_thread_area() always returns 0. On m68k, get_thread_area() returns the thread area pointer value (previously set via set_thread_area()).

ERRORS

EFAULT: u_info is an invalid pointer.
EINVAL: u_info->entry_number is out of bounds.
ENOSYS: get_thread_area() or set_thread_area() was invoked as a 6-bit system call.
ESRCH: (set_thread_area()) A free TLS entry could not be located.

STANDARDS

Linux.

HISTORY

set_thread_area(): Linux 2.5.29.
get_thread_area(): Linux 2.5.32.

NOTES

These system calls are generally intended for use only by threading libraries. arch_prctl(2) can interfere with set_thread_area() on x86. See arch_prctl(2) for more details. This is not normally a problem, as arch_prctl(2) is normally used only by 6-bit programs. On MIPS, the current value of the thread area pointer can be obtained using the instruction: rdhwr dest, $29 This instruction traps and is handled by kernel.

BUGS

On 6-bit kernels before Linux 3.19, one of the padding bits in user_desc, if set, would prevent the descriptor from being considered empty (see modify_ldt(2)). As a result, the only reliable way to clear a TLS entry is to use memset(3) to zero the entire user_desc structure, including padding bits, and then to set the read_exec_only and seg_not_present bits. On Linux 3.19, a user_desc consisting entirely of zeros except for entry_number will also be interpreted as a request to clear a TLS entry, but this behaved differently on older kernels. Prior to Linux 3.19, the DS and ES segment registers must not reference TLS entries.