xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man3proc/Pcreate.3proc (revision d0b12b660e0741581d18f1f3a7d5268e0a5f1806)
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14.Dd May 11, 2016
15.Dt PCREATE 3PROC
16.Os
17.Sh NAME
18.Nm Pcreate ,
19.Nm Pxcreate ,
20.Nm Pcreate_callback
21.Nd create and control a process
22.Sh SYNOPSIS
23.Lb libproc
24.In libproc.h
25.Ft "struct ps_prochandle *"
26.Fo Pcreate
27.Fa "const char *file"
28.Fa "char *const *argv"
29.Fa "int *perr"
30.Fa "char *path"
31.Fa "size_t len"
32.Fc
33.Ft "struct ps_prochandle *"
34.Fo Pxcreate
35.Fa "const char *file"
36.Fa "char *const *argv"
37.Fa "char *const *envp"
38.Fa "int *perr"
39.Fa "char *path"
40.Fa "size_t len"
41.Fc
42.Ft void
43.Fo Pcreate_callback
44.Fa "struct ps_prochandle *P"
45.Fc
46.Sh DESCRIPTION
47The
48.Fn Pcreate
49function creates a process controlled by the
50.Sy libproc
51library.
52The
53.Fn Pxcreate
54function does the same while also allowing the replacement of the
55environment via
56.Fa envp .
57.Pp
58Both functions cause the caller to
59.Xr fork 2 .
60Followed by the child calling
61.Xr exec 2
62to load the new process image specified by
63.Fa file .
64The
65.Ev PATH
66is searched for
67.Fa file
68if it is not an absolute path, similar to
69.Xr execvp 2 .
70.Pp
71The process image will be invoked with the arguments specified by
72.Fa argv ,
73which should be a
74.Dv NULL Ns -terminated
75array of character strings.
76Each entry in the array is an individual argument.
77The environment of the process image will be inherited from the running process
78if the
79.Fn Pcreate
80function is called or if the
81.Fn Pxcreate
82function is called and the value of
83.Fa envp
84is
85.Dv NULL .
86Otherwise,
87.Fa envp
88should be a
89.Dv NULL Ns -terminated
90array of character strings whose entries are in the form of
91.Em key=value .
92For more on the process environment, see
93.Xr environ 5 .
94.Pp
95The
96.Fn Pcreate_callback
97function allows a way for callers to inject a callback into the child
98process before the call to
99.Xr exec 2 .
100The symbol
101.Sy Pcreate_callback
102is a symbol that may be interposed on by consumers.
103It allows the chance for the modification of signal dispositions or any other
104changes that a caller may wish to make.
105.Pp
106If the caller's real user or group ID is not their effective user or
107group ID, then the child process's user and group IDs will all be reset
108to the real user and group id.
109.Pp
110The
111.Fa perr
112argument must be a
113.Pf non- Dv NULL
114pointer.
115If the
116.Fn Pcreate
117or
118.Fn Pxcreate
119functions fail, the value pointed to will be filled in with a more
120detailed error code listed in
121.Sx ERRORS .
122A human-readable error message is obtained with
123.Xr Pcreate_error 3PROC .
124.Pp
125Multiple executables named
126.Fa file
127may exist on the
128.Fa PATH .
129To determine the full path of the executable pass a non-NULL
130.Fa path
131pointer.
132Upon successful completion of
133.Fn Pcreate
134or
135.Fn Pxcreate
136the
137.Fa path
138pointer will contain the full path up to
139.Fa len
140bytes, including the NUL character.
141.Pp
142Upon successful completion of the
143.Fn Pcreate
144or
145.Fn Pxcreate
146function, a handle to the process is returned.
147This handle is usable with other
148.Sy libproc
149routines and will persist until either
150.Xr Pfree 3PROC
151or
152.Xr Prelease 3PROC
153is called on the resulting handle.
154The process created is stopped just after return from the
155.Xr exec 2
156family of system calls.
157The process will not run, unless the caller sets it running or releases its
158handle to the process.
159.Pp
160A 32-bit process cannot use this interface to launch or control a
16164-bit process.
162However, a 64-bit process can create and control both 32-bit and 64-bit
163processes.
164.Sh RETURN VALUES
165Upon successful completion, both the
166.Fn Pcreate
167and
168.Fn Pxcreate
169functions create a new process and return a
170.Sy libproc
171handle to it.
172Otherwise,
173.Sy NULL
174is returned and
175.Fa perr
176is filled in with the corresponding error.
177.Sh ERRORS
178The
179.Fn Pcreate
180and
181.Fn Pxcreate
182functions will fail if:
183.Bl -tag -width Er
184.It Er C_FORK
185The call to
186.Xr fork 2
187failed.
188.It Er C_INTR
189The operation was interrupted by a signal.
190.It Er C_LP64
191The calling process is 32-bit, but it attempted to control a 64-bit
192process.
193.It Er C_NOEXEC
194The specified
195.Fa file
196or the one found by searching
197.Dv PATH
198cannot be executed.
199.It Er C_NOENT
200The specified
201.Fa file
202does not exist or it could not be found by searching
203.Dv PATH .
204.It Er C_PERM
205The specified
206.Fa file
207or the one found by searching
208.Dv PATH
209is set-id or unreadable.
210.It Er C_STRANGE
211An unanticipated system error occurred while trying to create the
212process and its handle.
213When this occurs, then the value of
214.Sy errno
215is meaningful.
216See
217.Xr errno 3C
218for more information and
219.Xr Intro 2
220for the list of possible errors.
221.El
222.Sh INTERFACE STABILITY
223.Sy Uncommitted
224.Sh MT-LEVEL
225.Sy MT-Safe
226.Sh SEE ALSO
227.Xr exec 2 ,
228.Xr execvp 2 ,
229.Xr fork 2 ,
230.Xr Intro 2 ,
231.Xr errno 3C ,
232.Xr libproc 3LIB ,
233.Xr Pcreate_error 3PROC ,
234.Xr Pfree 3PROC ,
235.Xr Prelease 3PROC
236