xref: /freebsd/lib/libsys/getrandom.2 (revision 1edb7116f450c1a1793f2fd25f6bdc16735ef888)
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24.Dd January 12, 2020
25.Dt GETRANDOM 2
26.Os
27.Sh NAME
28.Nm getrandom
29.Nd get random data
30.Sh LIBRARY
31.Lb libc
32.Sh SYNOPSIS
33.In sys/random.h
34.Ft ssize_t
35.Fn getrandom "void *buf" "size_t buflen" "unsigned int flags"
36.Sh DESCRIPTION
37.Fn getrandom
38fills
39.Fa buf
40with up to
41.Fa buflen
42bytes of random data.
43.Pp
44The
45.Fa flags
46argument may include zero or more of the following:
47.Bl -tag -width _GRND_NONBLOCK_
48.It Ql GRND_NONBLOCK
49Return
50.Er EAGAIN
51instead of blocking, if the
52.Xr random 4
53device has not yet been seeded.
54By default,
55.Fn getrandom
56will block until the device is seeded.
57.It Ql GRND_RANDOM
58This flag does nothing on
59.Fx .
60.Pa /dev/random
61and
62.Pa /dev/urandom
63are identical.
64.It Ql GRND_INSECURE
65This flag is treated as an alternative name for
66.Dv GRND_NONBLOCK .
67It is provided solely for API compatibility with Linux.
68.El
69.Pp
70If the
71.Xr random 4
72device has been seeded, reads of up to 256 bytes will always return as many
73bytes as requested and will not be interrupted by signals.
74.Sh RETURN VALUES
75Upon successful completion, the number of bytes which were actually read is
76returned.
77For requests larger than 256 bytes, this can be fewer bytes than were
78requested.
79Otherwise, -1 is returned and the global variable
80.Va errno
81is set to indicate the error.
82.Sh ERRORS
83The
84.Fn getrandom
85operation returns the following errors:
86.Bl -tag -width Er
87.It Bq Er EAGAIN
88The
89.Ql GRND_NONBLOCK
90(or
91.Ql GRND_INSECURE )
92flag was set and the
93.Xr random 4
94device was not yet seeded.
95.It Bq Er EFAULT
96The
97.Fa buf
98parameter points to an invalid address.
99.It Bq Er EINTR
100The sleep was interrupted by a signal.
101.It Bq Er EINVAL
102An invalid
103.Fa flags
104was specified.
105.It Bq Er EINVAL
106The requested
107.Fa buflen
108was larger than
109.Dv IOSIZE_MAX .
110.El
111.Sh SEE ALSO
112.Xr arc4random 3 ,
113.Xr getentropy 3 ,
114.Xr random 4
115.Sh STANDARDS
116.Fn getrandom
117is non-standard.
118It is present in Linux.
119.Sh HISTORY
120The
121.Fn getrandom
122system call first appeared in
123.Fx 12.0 .
124.Sh CAVEATS
125Unlike Linux, the
126.Dv GRND_INSECURE
127flag on
128.Fx
129does not produce any output before the
130.Xr random 4
131device is seeded.
132