perf_event_c...rnel_counter(9)

💖 perf_event_c...rnel_counter(9) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual — yes THE kernel API manual, we're in the big leagues now 🎀 this one's about perf_event_create_kernel_counter, and the name is literally truncated in the header but we're not gonna let a lil ... stop us, we're reading the whole thing 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

perf_event_create_kernel_counter —

and that's... it. that's the description. the NAME section gave us a name and then a dash and then nothing, and honestly? iconic minimalism 💀 the manpage said "figure it out bestie" and moved on. the real tea is down in ARGUMENTS, keep scrolling 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

struct perf_event * perf_event_create_kernel_counter (struct
perf_event_attr *attr , int cpu , struct task_struct *task ,
perf_overflow_handler_t overflow_handler , void *context );

so it hands you back a struct perf_event * — that's your shiny new counter, bestie ✨ — and it takes five things to make it happen. let's get into them 👑

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• attr — the attributes of the counter you're creating. this is the whole vibe spec for your event, no cap 🎀
• cpu — the cpu in which the counter is bound. yes, it's bound to a cpu, it's very committed, main character energy fr 🔥
• task — the task to profile. and here's the moment: NULL means percpu 🫶 so if you pass NULL you're profiling per-cpu instead of a specific task. noted.
• overflow_handler — the callback that triggers when we hit the event 💥 this is the one that fires off, don't forget about it
• context — context data that could be used in the overflow_handler callback. lil care package for your handler 🍓

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• the kernel file ./kernel/events/core.c — go read the source if you wanna be that girl 💜
• task_function_call(9)
• cpu_function_call(9)
• sys_perf_event_open(9)

all of these are right there in SEE ALSO, i'm just passing them along bestie, no gatekeeping here 🌈

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lowkey reminder: task being NULL meaning percpu is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this manpage, so don't sleep on it 😭

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! short, sweet, absolutely slayed ✨ this cutie lives in ./kernel/events and the date on the tin is October 2026 — go be iconic with your counters 💖🧚⭐