NAME

kmem_alloc − allocate space from kernel free memory

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/kmem.h>
void ∗kmem_alloc(size_t size, int flag);

ARGUMENTS

size Number of bytes to allocate. 

flag Determines if caller will sleep to wait for free space.  Possible flags are KM_SLEEP to sleep while waiting for free space, and KM_NOSLEEP to return NULL if space is not available. 

INTERFACE LEVEL

Architecture independent level 1 (DDI/DKI). 

DESCRIPTION

kmem_alloc() allocates a specified amount of kernel memory in bytes and returns a pointer to the allocated memory.  The flag argument determines whether the function will sleep while waiting for free space to be released.  If flag has KM_SLEEP set, the caller may sleep until free space is available.  If flag has KM_NOSLEEP set and space is not available, NULL will be returned. 

RETURN VALUES

If successful, kmem_alloc() returns a pointer to the allocated space.  NULL is returned if KM_NOSLEEP is set and memory cannot be allocated. 

CONTEXT

kmem_alloc() can be called from interrupt context only if the KM_NOSLEEP flag is set. It can be called from user context with any valid flag.

SEE ALSO

freerbuf(9F), getrbuf(9F), kmem_free(9F), kmem_zalloc(9F)

WARNINGS

Memory allocated by kmem_alloc() is not paged.  Available memory is therefore limited.  Excessive use of this memory is likely to affect overall system performance. 

SunOS 5.2  —  Last change: 11 Apr 1991