sys_acct(9)

💅 sys_acct(9) — the kernel API manual, bestie edition 💅

okay so you're here for sys_acct(9), and honestly? iconic of you. this is the kernel API manual page, and it's about to be your new hyperfixation. let's get into it ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

sys_acct — turn process accounting on or off. that's the whole vibe. enable/disable, on/off, light switch energy 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

long sys_acct (const char __user * name );

that's it. that's the signature. look at her go 👑

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💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

• name — the file name where the accounting records go ✨ or NULL to shut accounting all the way down. like, closing the group chat. NULL means shutdown, no cap.

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🧚 DESCRIPTION 🧚

so sys_acct is literally the only system call you need to implement process accounting. one call. main character energy fr fr 💅

it takes the name of the file where the accounting records should be written. you hand it a filename, the kernel writes the records there, done. slay.

but if the filename is NULL? accounting gets shutdown. that's it, that's the deal 🫶

bestie pay attention: name being NULL is not "oops no filename" — it is the documented way to shut accounting down. that's a feature, not a bug 💜

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🔥 RETURN 🔥

0 for success, or negative errno values for failure. that's the whole mood: zero means we ate, negative means something went sideways 😭

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• Kernel file ./kernel/acct.c
• acct_collect(9)
• acct_process(9)

go read those next, iykyk 📚✨

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and that's the page, bestie 🎀 this one came from ./kernel, dated October 2026, and honestly it ate. go forth and account for your processes 💖🦋⭐