xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man3proc/Pcreate.3proc (revision bbf215553c7233fbab8a0afdf1fac74c44781867)

.\"
.\" This file and its contents are supplied under the terms of the
.\" Common Development and Distribution License ("CDDL"), version 1.0.
.\" You may only use this file in accordance with the terms of version
.\" 1.0 of the CDDL.
.\"
.\" A full copy of the text of the CDDL should have accompanied this
.\" source.  A copy of the CDDL is also available via the Internet at
.\" http://www.illumos.org/license/CDDL.
.\"
.\"
.\" Copyright 2015 Joyent, Inc.
.\"
.Dd May 11, 2016
.Dt PCREATE 3PROC
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm Pcreate ,
.Nm Pxcreate ,
.Nm Pcreate_callback
.Nd create and control a process
.Sh LIBRARY
.Lb libproc
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In libproc.h
.Ft "struct ps_prochandle *"
.Fo Pcreate
.Fa "const char *file"
.Fa "char *const *argv"
.Fa "int *perr"
.Fa "char *path"
.Fa "size_t len"
.Fc
.Ft "struct ps_prochandle *"
.Fo Pxcreate
.Fa "const char *file"
.Fa "char *const *argv"
.Fa "char *const *envp"
.Fa "int *perr"
.Fa "char *path"
.Fa "size_t len"
.Fc
.Ft void
.Fo Pcreate_callback
.Fa "struct ps_prochandle *P"
.Fc
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn Pcreate
function creates a process controlled by the
.Sy libproc
library.
The
.Fn Pxcreate
function does the same while also allowing the replacement of the
environment via
.Fa envp .
.Pp
Both functions cause the caller to
.Xr fork 2 .
Followed by the child calling
.Xr exec 2
to load the new process image specified by
.Fa file .
The
.Ev PATH
is searched for
.Fa file
if it is not an absolute path, similar to
.Xr execvp 2 .
.Pp
The process image will be invoked with the arguments specified by
.Fa argv ,
which should be a
.Dv NULL Ns -terminated
array of character strings.
Each entry in the array is an individual argument.
The environment of the process image will be inherited from the running process
if the
.Fn Pcreate
function is called or if the
.Fn Pxcreate
function is called and the value of
.Fa envp
is
.Dv NULL .
Otherwise,
.Fa envp
should be a
.Dv NULL Ns -terminated
array of character strings whose entries are in the form of
.Em key=value .
For more on the process environment, see
.Xr environ 7 .
.Pp
The
.Fn Pcreate_callback
function allows a way for callers to inject a callback into the child
process before the call to
.Xr exec 2 .
The symbol
.Sy Pcreate_callback
is a symbol that may be interposed on by consumers.
It allows the chance for the modification of signal dispositions or any other
changes that a caller may wish to make.
.Pp
If the caller's real user or group ID is not their effective user or
group ID, then the child process's user and group IDs will all be reset
to the real user and group id.
.Pp
The
.Fa perr
argument must be a
.Pf non- Dv NULL
pointer.
If the
.Fn Pcreate
or
.Fn Pxcreate
functions fail, the value pointed to will be filled in with a more
detailed error code listed in
.Sx ERRORS .
A human-readable error message is obtained with
.Xr Pcreate_error 3PROC .
.Pp
Multiple executables named
.Fa file
may exist on the
.Fa PATH .
To determine the full path of the executable pass a non-NULL
.Fa path
pointer.
Upon successful completion of
.Fn Pcreate
or
.Fn Pxcreate
the
.Fa path
pointer will contain the full path up to
.Fa len
bytes, including the NUL character.
.Pp
Upon successful completion of the
.Fn Pcreate
or
.Fn Pxcreate
function, a handle to the process is returned.
This handle is usable with other
.Sy libproc
routines and will persist until either
.Xr Pfree 3PROC
or
.Xr Prelease 3PROC
is called on the resulting handle.
The process created is stopped just after return from the
.Xr exec 2
family of system calls.
The process will not run, unless the caller sets it running or releases its
handle to the process.
.Pp
A 32-bit process cannot use this interface to launch or control a
64-bit process.
However, a 64-bit process can create and control both 32-bit and 64-bit
processes.
.Sh RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, both the
.Fn Pcreate
and
.Fn Pxcreate
functions create a new process and return a
.Sy libproc
handle to it.
Otherwise,
.Sy NULL
is returned and
.Fa perr
is filled in with the corresponding error.
.Sh ERRORS
The
.Fn Pcreate
and
.Fn Pxcreate
functions will fail if:
.Bl -tag -width Er
.It Er C_FORK
The call to
.Xr fork 2
failed.
.It Er C_INTR
The operation was interrupted by a signal.
.It Er C_LP64
The calling process is 32-bit, but it attempted to control a 64-bit
process.
.It Er C_NOEXEC
The specified
.Fa file
or the one found by searching
.Dv PATH
cannot be executed.
.It Er C_NOENT
The specified
.Fa file
does not exist or it could not be found by searching
.Dv PATH .
.It Er C_PERM
The specified
.Fa file
or the one found by searching
.Dv PATH
is set-id or unreadable.
.It Er C_STRANGE
An unanticipated system error occurred while trying to create the
process and its handle.
When this occurs, then the value of
.Sy errno
is meaningful.
See
.Xr errno 3C
for more information and
.Xr Intro 2
for the list of possible errors.
.El
.Sh INTERFACE STABILITY
.Sy Uncommitted
.Sh MT-LEVEL
.Sy MT-Safe
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr exec 2 ,
.Xr execvp 2 ,
.Xr fork 2 ,
.Xr Intro 2 ,
.Xr errno 3C ,
.Xr libproc 3LIB ,
.Xr Pcreate_error 3PROC ,
.Xr Pfree 3PROC ,
.Xr Prelease 3PROC