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NAME |SYNOPSIS |DESCRIPTION |CANCELLATION |ASYNC-SIGNAL SAFETY |RETURN VALUE |ERRORS |SEE ALSO |EXAMPLE |COLOPHON | |
pthread_mutex_init(3) Library Functions Manualpthread_mutex_init(3)pthread_mutex_init, pthread_mutex_lock, pthread_mutex_trylock, pthread_mutex_unlock, pthread_mutex_destroy - operations on mutexes
#include <pthread.h>pthread_mutex_tfastmutex= PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;pthread_mutex_trecmutex= PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP;pthread_mutex_terrchkmutex= PTHREAD_ERRORCHECK_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP;int pthread_mutex_init(pthread_mutex_t *mutex,const pthread_mutexattr_t *mutexattr);int pthread_mutex_lock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex);int pthread_mutex_trylock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex);int pthread_mutex_unlock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex);int pthread_mutex_destroy(pthread_mutex_t *mutex);
A mutex is a MUTual EXclusion device, and is useful for protecting shared data structures from concurrent modifications, and implementing critical sections and monitors. A mutex has two possible states: unlocked (not owned by any thread), and locked (owned by one thread). A mutex can never be owned by two different threads simultaneously. A thread attempting to lock a mutex that is already locked by another thread is suspended until the owning thread unlocks the mutex first.pthread_mutex_init() initializes the mutex object pointed to bymutex according to the mutex attributes specified inmutexattr. Ifmutexattr is NULL, default attributes are used instead. The LinuxThreads implementation supports only one mutex attributes, themutex kind, which is either "fast", "recursive", or "error checking". The kind of a mutex determines whether it can be locked again by a thread that already owns it. The default kind is "fast". Seepthread_mutexattr_init(3) for more information on mutex attributes. Variables of typepthread_mutex_t can also be initialized statically, using the constantsPTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER(for fast mutexes),PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP(for recursive mutexes), andPTHREAD_ERRORCHECK_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP (for error checking mutexes).pthread_mutex_lock() locks the given mutex. If the mutex is currently unlocked, it becomes locked and owned by the calling thread, andpthread_mutex_lock() returns immediately. If the mutex is already locked by another thread,pthread_mutex_lock() suspends the calling thread until the mutex is unlocked. If the mutex is already locked by the calling thread, the behavior ofpthread_mutex_lock() depends on the kind of the mutex. If the mutex is of the "fast" kind, the calling thread is suspended until the mutex is unlocked, thus effectively causing the calling thread to deadlock. If the mutex is of the "error checking" kind,pthread_mutex_lock() returns immediately with the error codeEDEADLK. If the mutex is of the "recursive" kind,pthread_mutex_lock() succeeds and returns immediately, recording the number of times the calling thread has locked the mutex. An equal number ofpthread_mutex_unlock() operations must be performed before the mutex returns to the unlocked state.pthread_mutex_trylock() behaves identically topthread_mutex_lock(), except that it does not block the calling thread if the mutex is already locked by another thread (or by the calling thread in the case of a "fast" mutex). Instead,pthread_mutex_trylock() returns immediately with the error codeEBUSY.pthread_mutex_unlock() unlocks the given mutex. The mutex is assumed to be locked and owned by the calling thread on entrance topthread_mutex_unlock(). If the mutex is of the "fast" kind,pthread_mutex_unlock() always returns it to the unlocked state. If it is of the "recursive" kind, it decrements the locking count of the mutex (number ofpthread_mutex_lock() operations performed on it by the calling thread), and only when this count reaches zero is the mutex actually unlocked. On "error checking" and "recursive" mutexes,pthread_mutex_unlock() actually checks at run-time that the mutex is locked on entrance, and that it was locked by the same thread that is now callingpthread_mutex_unlock(). If these conditions are not met, an error code is returned and the mutex remains unchanged. "Fast" mutexes perform no such checks, thus allowing a locked mutex to be unlocked by a thread other than its owner. This is non-portable behavior and must not be relied upon.pthread_mutex_destroy() destroys a mutex object, freeing the resources it might hold. The mutex must be unlocked on entrance. In the LinuxThreads implementation, no resources are associated with mutex objects, thuspthread_mutex_destroy() actually does nothing except checking that the mutex is unlocked.
None of the mutex functions is a cancelation point, not evenpthread_mutex_lock(), in spite of the fact that it can suspend a thread for arbitrary durations. This way, the status of mutexes at cancelation points is predictable, allowing cancelation handlers to unlock precisely those mutexes that need to be unlocked before the thread stops executing. Consequently, threads using deferred cancelation should never hold a mutex for extended periods of time.
The mutex functions are not async-signal safe. What this means is that they should not be called from a signal handler. In particular, callingpthread_mutex_lock() orpthread_mutex_unlock() from a signal handler may deadlock the calling thread.
pthread_mutex_init() always returns 0. The other mutex functions return 0 on success and a non-zero error code on error.
Thepthread_mutex_lock() function returns the following error code on error:EINVALThe mutex has not been properly initialized.EDEADLK The mutex is already locked by the calling thread ("error checking" mutexes only). Thepthread_mutex_trylock() function returns the following error codes on error:EBUSYThe mutex could not be acquired because it was currently locked.EINVALThe mutex has not been properly initialized. Thepthread_mutex_unlock() function returns the following error code on error:EINVALThe mutex has not been properly initialized.EPERMThe calling thread does not own the mutex ("error checking" mutexes only). Thepthread_mutex_destroy() function returns the following error code on error:EBUSYThe mutex is currently locked.pthread_mutexattr_init(3),pthread_mutexattr_setkind_np(3),pthread_cancel(3).
A shared global variablex can be protected by a mutex as follows:int x;pthread_mutex_t mut = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER; All accesses and modifications tox should be bracketed by calls topthread_mutex_lock() andpthread_mutex_unlock() as follows:pthread_mutex_lock(&mut);/* operate on x */pthread_mutex_unlock(&mut);
This page is part of theman-pages (Linux kernel and C library user-space interface documentation) project. Information about the project can be found at ⟨https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/⟩. If you have a bug report for this manual page, see ⟨https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/docs/man-pages/man-pages.git/tree/CONTRIBUTING⟩. This page was obtained from the tarball man-pages-6.15.tar.gz fetched from ⟨https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/man-pages/⟩ on 2025-08-11. If you discover any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is a better or more up- to-date source for the page, or you have corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON (which isnot part of the original manual page), send a mail to man-pages@man7.orgLinux man-pages 6.15 2025-05-17pthread_mutex_init(3)Pages that refer to this page:pthread_cond_init(3), pthread_mutexattr_init(3), pthread_mutexattr_setrobust(3), pthread_mutex_consistent(3), pthread_spin_init(3), pthreads(7), signal-safety(7)
HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 byMichael Kerrisk, author ofThe Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depthLinux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, lookhere. Hosting byjambit GmbH. | |