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f50f6cb5 1.\" Copyright (C) 2006, Janak Desai <janak@us.ibm.com>
f919b6e4 2.\" and Copyright (C) 2006, 2012 Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
2297bf0e 3.\"
b55e2bb3 4.\" %%%LICENSE_START(GPL_NOVERSION_ONELINE)
5cc01e9c 5.\" Licensed under the GPL
b55e2bb3 6.\" %%%LICENSE_END
5cc01e9c 7.\"
d44c4bf3 8.\" Patch Justification:
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9.\" unshare system call is needed to implement, using PAM,
10.\" per-security_context and/or per-user namespace to provide
11.\" polyinstantiated directories. Using unshare and bind mounts, a
12.\" PAM module can create private namespace with appropriate
13.\" directories(based on user's security context) bind mounted on
14.\" public directories such as /tmp, thus providing an instance of
15.\" /tmp that is based on user's security context. Without the
16.\" unshare system call, namespace separation can only be achieved
17.\" by clone, which would require porting and maintaining all commands
18.\" such as login, and su, that establish a user session.
d44c4bf3 19.\"
734882f4 20.TH UNSHARE 2 2017-05-03 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
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21.SH NAME
22unshare \- disassociate parts of the process execution context
23.SH SYNOPSIS
24.nf
4f71ba5d 25.B #define _GNU_SOURCE
5cc01e9c 26.B #include <sched.h>
68e4db0a 27.PP
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28.BI "int unshare(int " flags );
29.fi
30.SH DESCRIPTION
c13182ef 31.BR unshare ()
15784e0a 32allows a process (or thread) to disassociate parts of its execution
f0d0f68d 33context that are currently being shared with other processes (or threads).
732e54dd 34Part of the execution context, such as the mount namespace, is shared
c13182ef 35implicitly when a new process is created using
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36.BR fork (2)
37or
c13182ef 38.BR vfork (2),
5cc01e9c 39while other parts, such as virtual memory, may be
15784e0a 40shared by explicit request when creating a process or thread using
5cc01e9c 41.BR clone (2).
efeece04 42.PP
c13182ef 43The main use of
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44.BR unshare ()
45is to allow a process to control its
46shared execution context without creating a new process.
efeece04 47.PP
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48The
49.I flags
50argument is a bit mask that specifies which parts of
51the execution context should be unshared.
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52This argument is specified by ORing together zero or more
53of the following constants:
54.TP
55.B CLONE_FILES
56Reverse the effect of the
57.BR clone (2)
58.B CLONE_FILES
59flag.
c13182ef 60Unshare the file descriptor table, so that the calling process
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61no longer shares its file descriptors with any other process.
62.TP
63.B CLONE_FS
64Reverse the effect of the
65.BR clone (2)
c13182ef 66.B CLONE_FS
5cc01e9c 67flag.
9ee4a2b6 68Unshare filesystem attributes, so that the calling process
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69no longer shares its root directory
70.RB ( chroot (2)),
71current directory
72.RB ( chdir (2)),
73or umask
74.RB ( umask (2))
75attributes with any other process.
5cc01e9c 76.TP
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77.BR CLONE_NEWCGROUP " (since Linux 4.6)"
78This flag has the same effect as the
79.BR clone (2)
80.B CLONE_NEWCGROUP
81flag.
82Unshare the cgroup namespace.
83Use of
84.BR CLONE_NEWCGROUP
85requires the
86.BR CAP_SYS_ADMIN
87capability.
88.TP
6881dc47 89.BR CLONE_NEWIPC " (since Linux 2.6.19)"
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90This flag has the same effect as the
91.BR clone (2)
92.B CLONE_NEWIPC
93flag.
1024e8ff 94Unshare the IPC namespace,
25539b1b 95so that the calling process has a private copy of the
1024e8ff 96IPC namespace which is not shared with any other process.
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97Specifying this flag automatically implies
98.BR CLONE_SYSVSEM
99as well.
100Use of
101.BR CLONE_NEWIPC
102requires the
103.BR CAP_SYS_ADMIN
104capability.
105.TP
6881dc47 106.BR CLONE_NEWNET " (since Linux 2.6.24)"
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107This flag has the same effect as the
108.BR clone (2)
109.B CLONE_NEWNET
110flag.
111Unshare the network namespace,
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112so that the calling process is moved into a
113new network namespace which is not shared
114with any previously existing process.
6f2b4a65 115Use of
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116.BR CLONE_NEWNET
117requires the
118.BR CAP_SYS_ADMIN
119capability.
120.TP
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121.B CLONE_NEWNS
122.\" These flag name are inconsistent:
c13182ef 123.\" CLONE_NEWNS does the same thing in clone(), but CLONE_VM,
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124.\" CLONE_FS, and CLONE_FILES reverse the action of the clone()
125.\" flags of the same name.
c8e4c1bd 126This flag has the same effect as the
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127.BR clone (2)
128.B CLONE_NEWNS
129flag.
732e54dd 130Unshare the mount namespace,
4df2eb09 131so that the calling process has a private copy of
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132its namespace which is not shared with any other process.
133Specifying this flag automatically implies
134.B CLONE_FS
135as well.
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136Use of
137.BR CLONE_NEWNS
138requires the
139.BR CAP_SYS_ADMIN
140capability.
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141For further information, see
142.BR mount_namespaces (7).
a948ae52 143.TP
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144.BR CLONE_NEWPID " (since Linux 3.8)"
145This flag has the same effect as the
146.BR clone (2)
147.B CLONE_NEWPID
148flag.
149Unshare the PID namespace,
37ee2d61 150so that the calling process has a new PID namespace for its children
8f141c5e 151which is not shared with any previously existing process.
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152The calling process is
153.I not
154moved into the new namespace.
155The first child created by the calling process will have
156the process ID 1 and will assume the role of
157.BR init (1)
158in the new namespace.
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159.BR CLONE_NEWPID
160automatically implies
161.BR CLONE_THREAD
162as well.
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163Use of
164.BR CLONE_NEWPID
165requires the
166.BR CAP_SYS_ADMIN
167capability.
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168For further information, see
169.BR pid_namespaces (7).
8f141c5e 170.TP
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171.BR CLONE_NEWUSER " (since Linux 3.8)"
172This flag has the same effect as the
173.BR clone (2)
174.B CLONE_NEWUSER
175flag.
176Unshare the user namespace,
177so that the calling process is moved into a new user namespace
178which is not shared with any previously existing process.
5afd65d1 179As with the child process created by
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180.BR clone (2)
181with the
182.B CLONE_NEWUSER
183flag, the caller obtains a full set of capabilities in the new namespace.
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184.IP
185.BR CLONE_NEWUSER
186requires that the calling process is not threaded; specifying
187.BR CLONE_NEWUSER
188automatically implies
4c3d7431 189.BR CLONE_THREAD .
6bab36f8 190Since Linux 3.9,
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191.\" commit e66eded8309ebf679d3d3c1f5820d1f2ca332c71
192.\" https://lwn.net/Articles/543273/
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193.BR CLONE_NEWUSER
194also automatically implies
195.BR CLONE_FS .
37ee2d61 196.BR CLONE_NEWUSER
88f48716 197requires that the user ID and group ID
6f6808f9 198of the calling process are mapped to user IDs and group IDs in the
37ee2d61 199user namespace of the calling process at the time of the call.
efeece04 200.IP
f647dc5e 201For further information on user namespaces, see
333446b9 202.BR user_namespaces (7).
c2cd5a7f 203.TP
667f4c78 204.BR CLONE_NEWUTS " (since Linux 2.6.19)"
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205This flag has the same effect as the
206.BR clone (2)
207.B CLONE_NEWUTS
208flag.
209Unshare the UTS IPC namespace,
210so that the calling process has a private copy of the
211UTS namespace which is not shared with any other process.
212Use of
213.BR CLONE_NEWUTS
214requires the
215.BR CAP_SYS_ADMIN
216capability.
217.TP
a948ae52 218.BR CLONE_SYSVSEM " (since Linux 2.6.26)
29015225 219.\" commit 9edff4ab1f8d82675277a04e359d0ed8bf14a7b7
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220This flag reverses the effect of the
221.BR clone (2)
222.B CLONE_SYSVSEM
223flag.
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224Unshare System\ V semaphore adjustment
225.RI ( semadj )
226values,
227so that the calling process has a new empty
228.I semadj
229list that is not shared with any other process.
230If this is the last process that has a reference to the process's current
231.I semadj
232list, then the adjustments in that list are applied
233to the corresponding semaphores, as described in
234.BR semop (2).
eb359a09 235.\" CLONE_NEWNS If CLONE_SIGHAND is set and signals are also being shared
5cc01e9c 236.\" (i.e., current->signal->count > 1), force CLONE_THREAD.
3d5f4595 237.PP
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238In addition,
239.BR CLONE_THREAD ,
240.BR CLONE_SIGHAND ,
241and
242.BR CLONE_VM
243can be specified in
244.I flags
245if the caller is single threaded (i.e., it is not sharing
246its address space with another process or thread).
247In this case, these flags have no effect.
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248(Note also that specifying
249.BR CLONE_THREAD
250automatically implies
251.BR CLONE_VM ,
252and specifying
253.BR CLONE_VM
254automatically implies
255.BR CLONE_SIGHAND .)
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256.\" As at 3.9, the following forced implications also apply,
257.\" although the relevant flags are not yet implemented.
258.\" If CLONE_THREAD is set force CLONE_VM.
259.\" If CLONE_VM is set, force CLONE_SIGHAND.
260.\"
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261If the process is multithreaded, then
262the use of these flags results in an error.
263.\" See kernel/fork.c::check_unshare_flags()
264.PP
c13182ef 265If
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266.I flags
267is specified as zero, then
268.BR unshare ()
269is a no-op;
270no changes are made to the calling process's execution context.
271.SH RETURN VALUE
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272On success, zero returned.
273On failure, \-1 is returned and
274.I errno
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275is set to indicate the error.
276.SH ERRORS
277.TP
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278.B EINVAL
279An invalid bit was specified in
280.IR flags .
281.TP
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282.B EINVAL
283.BR CLONE_THREAD ,
284.BR CLONE_SIGHAND ,
285or
286.BR CLONE_VM
287was specified in
288.IR flags ,
289and the caller is multithreaded.
290.TP
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291.B ENOMEM
292Cannot allocate sufficient memory to copy parts of caller's
293context that need to be unshared.
294.TP
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295.BR ENOSPC " (since Linux 3.7)"
296.\" commit f2302505775fd13ba93f034206f1e2a587017929
297.B CLONE_NEWPID
298was specified in flags,
299but the limit on the nesting depth of PID namespaces
300would have been exceeded; see
301.BR pid_namespaces (7).
302.TP
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303.BR ENOSPC " (since Linux 4.9; beforehand " EUSERS )
304.B CLONE_NEWUSER
305was specified in
306.IR flags ,
307and the call would cause the limit on the number of
308nested user namespaces to be exceeded.
309See
310.BR user_namespaces (7).
efeece04 311.IP
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312From Linux 3.11 to Linux 4.8, the error diagnosed in this case was
313.BR EUSERS .
314.TP
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315.BR ENOSPC " (since Linux 4.9)"
316One of the values in
317.I flags
318specified the creation of a new user namespace,
319but doing so would have caused the limit defined by the corresponding file in
320.IR /proc/sys/user
321to be exceeded.
322For further details, see
323.BR namespaces (7).
324.TP
5cc01e9c 325.B EPERM
486d4e9b 326The calling process did not have the required privileges for this operation.
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327.TP
328.B EPERM
329.BR CLONE_NEWUSER
330was specified in
331.IR flags ,
332but either the effective user ID or the effective group ID of the caller
333does not have a mapping in the parent namespace (see
f58fb24f 334.BR user_namespaces (7)).
cdd25f2e 335.TP
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336.BR EPERM " (since Linux 3.9)"
337.\" commit 3151527ee007b73a0ebd296010f1c0454a919c7d
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AM
338.B CLONE_NEWUSER
339was specified in
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340.I flags
341and the caller is in a chroot environment
342.\" FIXME What is the rationale for this restriction?
343(i.e., the caller's root directory does not match the root directory
344of the mount namespace in which it resides).
345.TP
346.BR EUSERS " (since Linux 3.11)"
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347.B CLONE_NEWUSER
348was specified in
349.IR flags ,
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350and the limit on the number of nested user namespaces would be exceeded.
351See the discussion of the
352.BR ENOSPC
353error above.
ff457ccb 354.SH VERSIONS
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355The
356.BR unshare ()
357system call was added to Linux in kernel 2.6.16.
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358.SH CONFORMING TO
359The
360.BR unshare ()
8382f16d 361system call is Linux-specific.
ff457ccb 362.SH NOTES
c13182ef 363Not all of the process attributes that can be shared when
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364a new process is created using
365.BR clone (2)
366can be unshared using
367.BR unshare ().
3c4e652d 368In particular, as at kernel 3.8,
f26fe082 369.\" FIXME all of the following needs to be reviewed for the current kernel
c13182ef 370.BR unshare ()
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371does not implement flags that reverse the effects of
372.BR CLONE_SIGHAND ,
3d5f4595 373.\" However, we can do unshare(CLONE_SIGHAND) if CLONE_SIGHAND
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374.\" was not specified when doing clone(); i.e., unsharing
375.\" signal handlers is permitted if we are not actually
376.\" sharing signal handlers. mtk
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377.BR CLONE_THREAD ,
378or
3d5f4595 379.BR CLONE_VM .
3c4e652d 380.\" However, we can do unshare(CLONE_VM) if CLONE_VM
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381.\" was not specified when doing clone(); i.e., unsharing
382.\" virtual memory is permitted if we are not actually
383.\" sharing virtual memory. mtk
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384Such functionality may be added in the future, if required.
385.\"
386.\"9) Future Work
387.\"--------------
388.\"The current implementation of unshare does not allow unsharing of
389.\"signals and signal handlers. Signals are complex to begin with and
390.\"to unshare signals and/or signal handlers of a currently running
391.\"process is even more complex. If in the future there is a specific
392.\"need to allow unsharing of signals and/or signal handlers, it can
393.\"be incrementally added to unshare without affecting legacy
394.\"applications using unshare.
395.\"
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396.SH EXAMPLE
397The program below provides a simple implementation of the
398.BR unshare (1)
399command, which unshares one or more namespaces and executes the
08e54e51 400command supplied in its command-line arguments.
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401Here's an example of the use of this program,
402running a shell in a new mount namespace,
403and verifying that the original shell and the
404new shell are in separate mount namespaces:
405.in +4n
406.nf
407
408$ \fBreadlink /proc/$$/ns/mnt\fP
409mnt:[4026531840]
410$ \fBsudo ./unshare -m /bin/bash\fP
411[sudo] password for cecilia:
412# \fBreadlink /proc/$$/ns/mnt\fP
413mnt:[4026532325]
414.fi
415.in
efeece04 416.PP
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417The differing output of the two
418.BR readlink (1)
419commands shows that the two shells are in different mount namespaces.
420.SS Program source
421\&
422.nf
f5d401dd 423/* unshare.c
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424
425 A simple implementation of the unshare(1) command: unshare
426 namespaces and execute a command.
427*/
428#define _GNU_SOURCE
429#include <sched.h>
430#include <unistd.h>
431#include <stdlib.h>
432#include <stdio.h>
433
434/* A simple error\-handling function: print an error message based
435 on the value in \(aqerrno\(aq and terminate the calling process */
436
437#define errExit(msg) do { perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); \\
438 } while (0)
439
440static void
441usage(char *pname)
442{
443 fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [options] program [arg...]\\n", pname);
444 fprintf(stderr, "Options can be:\\n");
445 fprintf(stderr, " \-i unshare IPC namespace\\n");
446 fprintf(stderr, " \-m unshare mount namespace\\n");
447 fprintf(stderr, " \-n unshare network namespace\\n");
448 fprintf(stderr, " \-p unshare PID namespace\\n");
449 fprintf(stderr, " \-u unshare UTS namespace\\n");
450 fprintf(stderr, " \-U unshare user namespace\\n");
451 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
452}
453
454int
455main(int argc, char *argv[])
456{
457 int flags, opt;
458
459 flags = 0;
460
461 while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "imnpuU")) != \-1) {
462 switch (opt) {
463 case \(aqi\(aq: flags |= CLONE_NEWIPC; break;
464 case \(aqm\(aq: flags |= CLONE_NEWNS; break;
465 case \(aqn\(aq: flags |= CLONE_NEWNET; break;
466 case \(aqp\(aq: flags |= CLONE_NEWPID; break;
467 case \(aqu\(aq: flags |= CLONE_NEWUTS; break;
468 case \(aqU\(aq: flags |= CLONE_NEWUSER; break;
469 default: usage(argv[0]);
470 }
471 }
472
473 if (optind >= argc)
474 usage(argv[0]);
475
476 if (unshare(flags) == \-1)
477 errExit("unshare");
478
f5d401dd 479 execvp(argv[optind], &argv[optind]);
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480 errExit("execvp");
481}
482.fi
5cc01e9c 483.SH SEE ALSO
e939d607 484.BR unshare (1),
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485.BR clone (2),
486.BR fork (2),
19a98048 487.BR kcmp (2),
47b0eb1e 488.BR setns (2),
3d02560d 489.BR vfork (2),
41096af1 490.BR namespaces (7)
efeece04 491.PP
173fe7e7
DP
492.I Documentation/unshare.txt
493in the Linux kernel source tree