kthread_affine_preferred(9)

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the kthread_affine_preferred(9) page from the Kernel API Manual 💅 this one is all about defining a kthread’s preferred affinity — not a hard requirement, just the CPU vibe it would love to run on. ✨

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int kthread_affine_preferred (struct task_struct *p , const struct
cpumask *mask );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• p — thread created by kthread_create. 🧵
• mask — preferred mask of CPUs (might not be online, must be possible) for p to run on. 🖥️✨

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so this is similar to kthread_bind_mask except that the affinity is not a requirement but rather a preference that can be constrained by CPU isolation or CPU hotplug. literally preference energy, not a lockdown. 🫶

⚠️ must be called before the first wakeup of the kthread. no cap — timing matters here. ⏰

Returns 0 if the affinity has been applied. ✅

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Kernel file ./kernel/kthread.c — plus the whole kthread bestie roster:

• kthread_should_stop(9)
• kthread_should_park(9)
• kthread_freezable_should_stop(9)
• kthread_func(9)
• kthread_data(9)
• kthread_probe_data(9)
• kthread_complete_and_exit(9)
• kthread_create_on_node(9)
• kthread_bind(9)
• kthread_create_on_cpu(9)
• kthread_unpark(9)
• kthread_park(9)
• kthread_stop(9)
• kthread_stop_put(9)
• kthreads_update_housekeeping(9)
• kthread_worker_fn(9)
• kthread_create_worker_on_node(9)
• kthread_create_worker_on_cpu(9)
• kthread_queue_work(9)
• kthread_delayed_work_timer_fn(9)
• kthread_queue_delayed_work(9)
• kthread_flush_work(9)
• kthread_mod_delayed_work(9)
• kthread_cancel_work_sync(9)
• kthread_cancel_delayed_work_sync(9)
• kthread_flush_worker(9)
• kthread_destroy_worker(9)
• kthread_use_mm(9)
• kthread_unuse_mm(9)
• kthread_associate_blkcg(9)
• kthread_blkcg(9)

sending you off with the ./kernel source/version stamp and the October 2026 date — xoxo, kthread_affine_preferred(9) 🎀💖