__kmem_cache_create_args(9)

✨ __KMEM_CACHE_CREATE_ARGS (9) ✨

okay so real talk, this is from the Kernel API Manual bestie, and it's about making a kmem cache. which, yes, sounds like a snooze but it's literally the thing that hands out memory objects to half the kernel, so 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

__kmem_cache_create_args — the function that creates a kmem cache. that's it, that's the vibe. ✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

struct kmem_cache * __kmem_cache_create_args (const char *name ,
unsigned int object_size , struct kmem_cache_args *args , slab_flags_t
flags );

it returns a struct kmem_cache *, periodt. 🔥

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• name — a string, and it's the one that shows up in /proc/slabinfo to identify this cache. so like, name it something you'd be proud of, iykyk. 👑
• object_size — the size of the objects being created in this cache. how big is each lil guy? this tells you. 📏
• args — extra arguments for the cache creation. peep struct kmem_cache_args for the full tea. 🫖
• flags — okay so these are the flags. the descriptions of each individual flag live in their own spots, and the common ones are listed down in DESCRIPTION. no cap. 🚩

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

not to be called directly, bestie!! 😭 use the kmem_cache_create wrapper with the same parameters. it's giving "the real one is behind the curtain". ✨

the commonly used flags, aka the main characters:

• SLAB_ACCOUNT — account allocations to memcg. 🧾
• SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN — align objects on cache line boundaries. so clean, so aligned. 🎯
• SLAB_RECLAIM_ACCOUNT — objects are reclaimable. ♻️
• SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU — slab page (and, important, not individual objects) freeing is delayed by a grace period. and like, for real, read the full description before using this one — the manpage literally says "see the full description before using" so we're saying it too. 💀

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🧚 CONTEXT 🧚

cannot be called within a interrupt. but it can be interrupted. that's the whole rule, slay. 🌈

okay but the grammar there is not mine, that's straight from the source. interrupt: forbidden. interruption: allowed. 🫶

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

a pointer to the cache on success, and NULL on failure. so like… check it, bestie. 🙈

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

kernel file ./mm/slab_common.c, plus these iconic siblings:

• kmem_buckets_create(9)
• kmem_cache_shrink(9)
• kmem_dump_obj(9)
• kfree_sensitive(9)
• struct kvfree_rcu_bulk_data(9)
• struct kfree_rcu_cpu_work(9)
• struct kfree_rcu_cpu(9)
• kvfree_rcu_barrier(9)
• kvfree_rcu_barrier_on_cache(9)

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<div align="center">🌸 🦋 🎀</div>

and that's the whole page!! this one's served up from ./mm in the Kernel API Manual, dated October 2026, and it's __kmem_cache_create_args(9) all the way down. go create a cache, you absolute icon. 💜✨