xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/unix.4 (revision 05c7a37afb48ddd5ee1bd921a5d46fe59cc70b15)
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32.\"     @(#)unix.4	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/9/93
33.\"
34.Dd June 9, 1993
35.Dt UNIX 4
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm unix
39.Nd UNIX-domain protocol family
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.Fd #include <sys/types.h>
42.Fd #include <sys/un.h>
43.Sh DESCRIPTION
44The
45.Tn UNIX Ns -domain
46protocol family is a collection of protocols
47that provides local (on-machine) interprocess
48communication through the normal
49.Xr socket 2
50mechanisms.
51The
52.Tn UNIX Ns -domain
53family supports the
54.Dv SOCK_STREAM
55and
56.Dv SOCK_DGRAM
57socket types and uses
58filesystem pathnames for addressing.
59.Sh ADDRESSING
60.Tn UNIX Ns -domain
61addresses are variable-length filesystem pathnames of
62at most 104 characters.
63The include file
64.Aq Pa sys/un.h
65defines this address:
66.Bd -literal -offset indent
67struct sockaddr_un {
68u_char	sun_len;
69u_char	sun_family;
70char	sun_path[104];
71};
72.Ed
73.Pp
74Binding a name to a
75.Tn UNIX Ns -domain
76socket with
77.Xr bind 2
78causes a socket file to be created in the filesystem.
79This file is
80.Em not
81removed when the socket is closed\(em\c
82.Xr unlink 2
83must be used to remove the file.
84.Pp
85The
86.Tn UNIX Ns -domain
87protocol family does not support broadcast addressing or any form
88of
89.Dq wildcard
90matching on incoming messages.
91All addresses are absolute- or relative-pathnames
92of other
93.Tn UNIX Ns -domain
94sockets.
95Normal filesystem access-control mechanisms are also
96applied when referencing pathnames; e.g., the destination
97of a
98.Xr connect 2
99or
100.Xr sendto 2
101must be writable.
102.Sh PROTOCOLS
103The
104.Tn UNIX Ns -domain
105protocol family is comprised of simple
106transport protocols that support the
107.Dv SOCK_STREAM
108and
109.Dv SOCK_DGRAM
110abstractions.
111.Dv SOCK_STREAM
112sockets also support the communication of
113.Ux
114file descriptors through the use of the
115.Ar msg_control
116field in the
117.Ar msg
118argument to
119.Xr sendmsg 2
120and
121.Xr recvmsg 2 .
122.Pp
123Any valid descriptor may be sent in a message.
124The file descriptor(s) to be passed are described using a
125.Ar struct cmsghdr
126that is defined in the include file
127.Aq Pa sys/socket.h .
128The type of the message is
129.Dv SCM_RIGHTS ,
130and the data portion of the messages is an array of integers
131representing the file descriptors to be passed.
132The number of descriptors being passed is defined
133by the length field of the message;
134the length field is the sum of the size of the header
135plus the size of the array of file descriptors.
136.Pp
137The received descriptor is a
138.Em duplicate
139of the sender's descriptor, as if it were created with a call to
140.Xr dup 2 .
141Per-process descriptor flags, set with
142.Xr fcntl 2 ,
143are
144.Em not
145passed to a receiver.
146Descriptors that are awaiting delivery, or that are
147purposely not received, are automatically closed by the system
148when the destination socket is closed.
149.Sh SEE ALSO
150.Xr socket 2 ,
151.Xr intro 4
152.Rs
153.%T "An Introductory 4.3 BSD Interprocess Communication Tutorial"
154.%B PS1
155.%N 7
156.Re
157.Rs
158.%T "An Advanced 4.3 BSD Interprocess Communication Tutorial"
159.%B PS1
160.%N 8
161.Re
162