kthread_stop(9)

💅 kthread_stop(9)

okay so bestie, welcome to the kthread_stop page — straight out of the Kernel API Manual (that's the 9 in the name, iykyk). This is the function that tells a kthread to wrap it up and then actually waits around for it to leave. Iconic behavior, honestly.

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✨ NAME ✨

kthread_stop — stop a thread created by kthread_create(). That's it. That's the whole job. 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int kthread_stop (struct task_struct *k );

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✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

• k — the thread created by kthread_create. yeah, this exact one, no substitutions 🫶

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So here's the vibe: kthread_stop sets kthread_should_stop for k so it returns true, wakes it up, and then waits for it to exit. Like a bestie standing outside the dressing room. 🧚

And lowkey the cool part — you can also call this right after kthread_create instead of calling wake_up_process: the thread will exit without calling threadfn. Not me skipping straight to the exit. 💀

⚠️ real talk though: if threadfn may call kthread_exit itself, the caller must ensure task_struct can't go away. no cap, this one matters.

It returns the result of threadfn, or -EINTR if wake_up_process was never called. 🌸

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• Kernel file ./kernel/kthread.c
• 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_put(9)
• kthread_affine_preferred(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)

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and that's the whole page, bestie — go read some more kthread lore, it's giving main character energy fr fr 💜

source dir ./kernel · version/date October 2026 · slay, you made it to the end, ily 🦋✨