How do I retrieve the number of processors on C /

Question

I am writing a small C application that use some threads for processing data. I want to be able to know the number of processors on a certain machine, without using system() & in combination to a small script.

The only way i can think of is to parse /proc/cpuinfo. Any other useful suggestions ?

Answer 1

As others have mentioned in comments, this answer is useful:

numCPU = sysconf( _SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN );

Leaving as a solution for folks that might skip over comments...

Answer 2

The following was the code that I used to figure number of cores.....it might help you

//Finding the number of cores(logical processor) using cpuid instruction.....
    __asm
    {
        mov eax,01h //01h is for getting number of cores present in the processor
        cpuid
        mov t,ebx
    }

(t>>16)&0xff contains the number cores........

I guess this could help you http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/autoconf/2002-08/msg00126.html

Answer 3

Why not use sys/sysinfo.h?

#include <sys/sysinfo.h>
#include <stdio.h>
void main () {
   printf ("You have %d processors.\n", get_nprocs ());
}

Way more information can be found on the man page

$ man 3 get_nprocs

Answer 4

#include <stdio.h>

void getPSN(char *PSN)
{int varEAX, varEBX, varECX, varEDX;
   char str[9];
   //%eax=1 gives most significant 32 bits in eax 
   __asm__ __volatile__ ("cpuid": "=a" (varEAX), "=b" (varEBX), "=c" (varECX), "=d" (varEDX) : "a" (1));
   sprintf(str, "%08X", varEAX); //i.e. XXXX-XXXX-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
   sprintf(PSN, "%C%C%C%C-%C%C%C%C", str[0], str[1], str[2], str[3], str[4], str[5], str[6], str[7]);
   //%eax=3 gives least significant 64 bits in edx and ecx [if PN is enabled]
   __asm__ __volatile__ ("cpuid": "=a" (varEAX), "=b" (varEBX), "=c" (varECX), "=d" (varEDX) : "a" (3));
   sprintf(str, "%08X", varEDX); //i.e. xxxx-xxxx-XXXX-XXXX-xxxx-xxxx
   sprintf(PSN, "%s-%C%C%C%C-%C%C%C%C", PSN, str[0], str[1], str[2], str[3], str[4], str[5], str[6], str[7]);
   sprintf(str, "%08X", varECX); //i.e. xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-XXXX-XXXX
   sprintf(PSN, "%s-%C%C%C%C-%C%C%C%C", PSN, str[0], str[1], str[2], str[3], str[4], str[5], str[6], str[7]);
}

int main()
{
    char PSN[30]; //24 Hex digits, 5 '-' separators, and a '\0'
    getPSN(PSN);
    printf("%s\n", PSN); //compare with: lshw | grep serial:
    return 0;
}

Answer 5

machine:/sys/devices/system/cpu$ ls
cpu0  cpu3  cpu6     kernel_max  perf_counters  sched_mc_power_savings
cpu1  cpu4  cpu7     offline     possible
cpu2  cpu5  cpuidle  online      present

If you have a machine with sysfs, take a look in /sys/devices/system/cpu.

Make sure you're asking for what you want -- CPUs, cores, hyperthreads, etc.