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1 @node System Management, System Configuration, Users and Groups, Top
2 @c %MENU% Controlling the system and getting information about it
3 @chapter System Management
4
5 This chapter describes facilities for controlling the system that
6 underlies a process (including the operating system and hardware) and
7 for getting information about it. Anyone can generally use the
8 informational facilities, but usually only a properly privileged process
9 can make changes.
10
11
12 @menu
13 * Host Identification:: Determining the name of the machine.
14 * Platform Type:: Determining operating system and basic
15 machine type
16 * Filesystem Handling:: Controlling/querying mounts
17 @end menu
18
19 To get information on parameters of the system that are built into the
20 system, such as the maximum length of a filename, @ref{System
21 Configuration}.
22
23 @node Host Identification
24 @section Host Identification
25
26 This section explains how to identify the particular system on which your
27 program is running. First, let's review the various ways computer systems
28 are named, which is a little complicated because of the history of the
29 development of the Internet.
30
31 Every Unix system (also known as a host) has a host name, whether it's
32 connected to a network or not. In its simplest form, as used before
33 computer networks were an issue, it's just a word like @samp{chicken}.
34 @cindex host name
35
36 But any system attached to the Internet or any network like it conforms
37 to a more rigorous naming convention as part of the Domain Name System
38 (DNS). In the DNS, every host name is composed of two parts:
39 @cindex DNS
40 @cindex Domain Name System
41
42 @enumerate
43 @item
44 hostname
45 @cindex hostname
46 @item
47 domain name
48 @cindex domain name
49 @end enumerate
50
51 You will note that ``hostname'' looks a lot like ``host name'', but is
52 not the same thing, and that people often incorrectly refer to entire
53 host names as ``domain names.''
54
55 In the DNS, the full host name is properly called the FQDN (Fully Qualified
56 Domain Name) and consists of the hostname, then a period, then the
57 domain name. The domain name itself usually has multiple components
58 separated by periods. So for example, a system's hostname may be
59 @samp{chicken} and its domain name might be @samp{ai.mit.edu}, so
60 its FQDN (which is its host name) is @samp{chicken.ai.mit.edu}.
61 @cindex FQDN
62
63 Adding to the confusion, though, is that the DNS is not the only name space
64 in which a computer needs to be known. Another name space is the
65 NIS (aka YP) name space. For NIS purposes, there is another domain
66 name, which is called the NIS domain name or the YP domain name. It
67 need not have anything to do with the DNS domain name.
68 @cindex YP
69 @cindex NIS
70 @cindex NIS domain name
71 @cindex YP domain name
72
73 Confusing things even more is the fact that in the DNS, it is possible for
74 multiple FQDNs to refer to the same system. However, there is always
75 exactly one of them that is the true host name, and it is called the
76 canonical FQDN.
77
78 In some contexts, the host name is called a ``node name.''
79
80 For more information on DNS host naming, see @ref{Host Names}.
81
82 @pindex hostname
83 @pindex hostid
84 @pindex unistd.h
85 Prototypes for these functions appear in @file{unistd.h}.
86
87 The programs @code{hostname}, @code{hostid}, and @code{domainname} work
88 by calling these functions.
89
90 @deftypefun int gethostname (char *@var{name}, size_t @var{size})
91 @standards{BSD, unistd.h}
92 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
93 @c Direct syscall on unix; implemented in terms of uname on posix and of
94 @c hurd_get_host_config on hurd.
95 This function returns the host name of the system on which it is called,
96 in the array @var{name}. The @var{size} argument specifies the size of
97 this array, in bytes. Note that this is @emph{not} the DNS hostname.
98 If the system participates in the DNS, this is the FQDN (see above).
99
100 The return value is @code{0} on success and @code{-1} on failure. In
101 @theglibc{}, @code{gethostname} fails if @var{size} is not large
102 enough; then you can try again with a larger array. The following
103 @code{errno} error condition is defined for this function:
104
105 @table @code
106 @item ENAMETOOLONG
107 The @var{size} argument is less than the size of the host name plus one.
108 @end table
109
110 @pindex sys/param.h
111 On some systems, there is a symbol for the maximum possible host name
112 length: @code{MAXHOSTNAMELEN}. It is defined in @file{sys/param.h}.
113 But you can't count on this to exist, so it is cleaner to handle
114 failure and try again.
115
116 @code{gethostname} stores the beginning of the host name in @var{name}
117 even if the host name won't entirely fit. For some purposes, a
118 truncated host name is good enough. If it is, you can ignore the
119 error code.
120 @end deftypefun
121
122 @deftypefun int sethostname (const char *@var{name}, size_t @var{length})
123 @standards{BSD, unistd.h}
124 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
125 @c Direct syscall on unix; implemented in terms of hurd_set_host_config
126 @c on hurd.
127 The @code{sethostname} function sets the host name of the system that
128 calls it to @var{name}, a string with length @var{length}. Only
129 privileged processes are permitted to do this.
130
131 Usually @code{sethostname} gets called just once, at system boot time.
132 Often, the program that calls it sets it to the value it finds in the
133 file @code{/etc/hostname}.
134 @cindex /etc/hostname
135
136 Be sure to set the host name to the full host name, not just the DNS
137 hostname (see above).
138
139 The return value is @code{0} on success and @code{-1} on failure.
140 The following @code{errno} error condition is defined for this function:
141
142 @table @code
143 @item EPERM
144 This process cannot set the host name because it is not privileged.
145 @end table
146 @end deftypefun
147
148 @deftypefun int getdomainnname (char *@var{name}, size_t @var{length})
149 @standards{???, unistd.h}
150 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
151 @c Syscalls uname, then strlen and memcpy.
152 @cindex NIS domain name
153 @cindex YP domain name
154
155 @code{getdomainname} returns the NIS (aka YP) domain name of the system
156 on which it is called. Note that this is not the more popular DNS
157 domain name. Get that with @code{gethostname}.
158
159 The specifics of this function are analogous to @code{gethostname}, above.
160
161 @end deftypefun
162
163 @deftypefun int setdomainname (const char *@var{name}, size_t @var{length})
164 @standards{???, unistd.h}
165 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
166 @c Direct syscall.
167 @cindex NIS domain name
168 @cindex YP domain name
169
170 @code{setdomainname} sets the NIS (aka YP) domain name of the system
171 on which it is called. Note that this is not the more popular DNS
172 domain name. Set that with @code{sethostname}.
173
174 The specifics of this function are analogous to @code{sethostname}, above.
175
176 @end deftypefun
177
178 @deftypefun {long int} gethostid (void)
179 @standards{BSD, unistd.h}
180 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtshostid{} @mtsenv{} @mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@ascudlopen{} @ascuplugin{} @asucorrupt{} @ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@aculock{} @acucorrupt{} @acsmem{} @acsfd{}}}
181 @c On HURD, calls _hurd_get_host_config and strtol. On Linux, open
182 @c HOSTIDFILE, reads an int32_t and closes; if that fails, it calls
183 @c gethostname and gethostbyname_r to use the h_addr.
184 This function returns the ``host ID'' of the machine the program is
185 running on. By convention, this is usually the primary Internet IP address
186 of that machine, converted to a @w{@code{long int}}. However, on some
187 systems it is a meaningless but unique number which is hard-coded for
188 each machine.
189
190 This is not widely used. It arose in BSD 4.2, but was dropped in BSD 4.4.
191 It is not required by POSIX.
192
193 The proper way to query the IP address is to use @code{gethostbyname}
194 on the results of @code{gethostname}. For more information on IP addresses,
195 @xref{Host Addresses}.
196 @end deftypefun
197
198 @deftypefun int sethostid (long int @var{id})
199 @standards{BSD, unistd.h}
200 @safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasuconst{:@mtshostid{}}}@asunsafe{}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @acsfd{}}}
201 The @code{sethostid} function sets the ``host ID'' of the host machine
202 to @var{id}. Only privileged processes are permitted to do this. Usually
203 it happens just once, at system boot time.
204
205 The proper way to establish the primary IP address of a system
206 is to configure the IP address resolver to associate that IP address with
207 the system's host name as returned by @code{gethostname}. For example,
208 put a record for the system in @file{/etc/hosts}.
209
210 See @code{gethostid} above for more information on host ids.
211
212 The return value is @code{0} on success and @code{-1} on failure.
213 The following @code{errno} error conditions are defined for this function:
214
215 @table @code
216 @item EPERM
217 This process cannot set the host name because it is not privileged.
218
219 @item ENOSYS
220 The operating system does not support setting the host ID. On some
221 systems, the host ID is a meaningless but unique number hard-coded for
222 each machine.
223 @end table
224 @end deftypefun
225
226 @node Platform Type
227 @section Platform Type Identification
228
229 You can use the @code{uname} function to find out some information about
230 the type of computer your program is running on. This function and the
231 associated data type are declared in the header file
232 @file{sys/utsname.h}.
233 @pindex sys/utsname.h
234
235 As a bonus, @code{uname} also gives some information identifying the
236 particular system your program is running on. This is the same information
237 which you can get with functions targeted to this purpose described in
238 @ref{Host Identification}.
239
240
241 @deftp {Data Type} {struct utsname}
242 @standards{POSIX.1, sys/utsname.h}
243 The @code{utsname} structure is used to hold information returned
244 by the @code{uname} function. It has the following members:
245
246 @table @code
247 @item char sysname[]
248 This is the name of the operating system in use.
249
250 @item char release[]
251 This is the current release level of the operating system implementation.
252
253 @item char version[]
254 This is the current version level within the release of the operating
255 system.
256
257 @item char machine[]
258 This is a description of the type of hardware that is in use.
259
260 Some systems provide a mechanism to interrogate the kernel directly for
261 this information. On systems without such a mechanism, @theglibc{}
262 fills in this field based on the configuration name that was
263 specified when building and installing the library.
264
265 GNU uses a three-part name to describe a system configuration; the three
266 parts are @var{cpu}, @var{manufacturer} and @var{system-type}, and they
267 are separated with dashes. Any possible combination of three names is
268 potentially meaningful, but most such combinations are meaningless in
269 practice and even the meaningful ones are not necessarily supported by
270 any particular GNU program.
271
272 Since the value in @code{machine} is supposed to describe just the
273 hardware, it consists of the first two parts of the configuration name:
274 @samp{@var{cpu}-@var{manufacturer}}. For example, it might be one of these:
275
276 @quotation
277 @code{"sparc-sun"},
278 @code{"i386-@var{anything}"},
279 @code{"m68k-hp"},
280 @code{"m68k-sony"},
281 @code{"m68k-sun"},
282 @code{"mips-dec"}
283 @end quotation
284
285 @item char nodename[]
286 This is the host name of this particular computer. In @theglibc{},
287 the value is the same as that returned by @code{gethostname};
288 see @ref{Host Identification}.
289
290 @code{gethostname} is implemented with a call to @code{uname}.
291
292 @item char domainname[]
293 This is the NIS or YP domain name. It is the same value returned by
294 @code{getdomainname}; see @ref{Host Identification}. This element
295 is a relatively recent invention and use of it is not as portable as
296 use of the rest of the structure.
297
298 @c getdomainname() is implemented with a call to uname().
299
300 @end table
301 @end deftp
302
303 @deftypefun int uname (struct utsname *@var{info})
304 @standards{POSIX.1, sys/utsname.h}
305 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
306 @c Direct syscall on unix; the posix fallback is to call gethostname and
307 @c then fills in the other fields with constants; on HURD, it calls
308 @c proc_uname and then gethostname.
309 The @code{uname} function fills in the structure pointed to by
310 @var{info} with information about the operating system and host machine.
311 A non-negative return value indicates that the data was successfully stored.
312
313 @code{-1} as the return value indicates an error. The only error possible is
314 @code{EFAULT}, which we normally don't mention as it is always a
315 possibility.
316 @end deftypefun
317
318
319 @node Filesystem Handling
320 @section Controlling and Querying Mounts
321
322 All files are in filesystems, and before you can access any file, its
323 filesystem must be mounted. Because of Unix's concept of
324 @emph{Everything is a file}, mounting of filesystems is central to doing
325 almost anything. This section explains how to find out what filesystems
326 are currently mounted and what filesystems are available for mounting,
327 and how to change what is mounted.
328
329 The classic filesystem is the contents of a disk drive. The concept is
330 considerably more abstract, though, and lots of things other than disk
331 drives can be mounted.
332
333 Some block devices don't correspond to traditional devices like disk
334 drives. For example, a loop device is a block device whose driver uses
335 a regular file in another filesystem as its medium. So if that regular
336 file contains appropriate data for a filesystem, you can by mounting the
337 loop device essentially mount a regular file.
338
339 Some filesystems aren't based on a device of any kind. The ``proc''
340 filesystem, for example, contains files whose data is made up by the
341 filesystem driver on the fly whenever you ask for it. And when you
342 write to it, the data you write causes changes in the system. No data
343 gets stored.
344
345 @c It would be good to mention NFS mounts here.
346
347 @menu
348 * Mount Information:: What is or could be mounted?
349 * Mount-Unmount-Remount:: Controlling what is mounted and how
350 @end menu
351
352 @node Mount Information, Mount-Unmount-Remount, , Filesystem Handling
353 @subsection Mount Information
354
355 For some programs it is desirable and necessary to access information
356 about whether a certain filesystem is mounted and, if it is, where, or
357 simply to get lists of all the available filesystems. @Theglibc{}
358 provides some functions to retrieve this information portably.
359
360 Traditionally Unix systems have a file named @file{/etc/fstab} which
361 describes all possibly mounted filesystems. The @code{mount} program
362 uses this file to mount at startup time of the system all the
363 necessary filesystems. The information about all the filesystems
364 actually mounted is normally kept in a file named either
365 @file{/var/run/mtab} or @file{/etc/mtab}. Both files share the same
366 syntax and it is crucial that this syntax is followed all the time.
367 Therefore it is best to never directly write to the files. The functions
368 described in this section can do this and they also provide the
369 functionality to convert the external textual representation to the
370 internal representation.
371
372 Note that the @file{fstab} and @file{mtab} files are maintained on a
373 system by @emph{convention}. It is possible for the files not to exist
374 or not to be consistent with what is really mounted or available to
375 mount, if the system's administration policy allows it. But programs
376 that mount and unmount filesystems typically maintain and use these
377 files as described herein.
378
379 @vindex _PATH_FSTAB
380 @vindex _PATH_MNTTAB
381 @vindex _PATH_MOUNTED
382 @vindex FSTAB
383 @vindex MNTTAB
384 @vindex MOUNTED
385 The filenames given above should never be used directly. The portable
386 way to handle these files is to use the macros @code{_PATH_FSTAB},
387 defined in @file{fstab.h}, or @code{_PATH_MNTTAB}, defined in
388 @file{mntent.h} and @file{paths.h}, for @file{fstab}; and the macro
389 @code{_PATH_MOUNTED}, also defined in @file{mntent.h} and
390 @file{paths.h}, for @file{mtab}. There are also two alternate macro
391 names @code{FSTAB}, @code{MNTTAB}, and @code{MOUNTED} defined but
392 these names are deprecated and kept only for backward compatibility.
393 The names @code{_PATH_MNTTAB} and @code{_PATH_MOUNTED} should always be used.
394
395 @menu
396 * fstab:: The @file{fstab} file
397 * mtab:: The @file{mtab} file
398 * Other Mount Information:: Other (non-libc) sources of mount information
399 @end menu
400
401 @node fstab
402 @subsubsection The @file{fstab} file
403
404 The internal representation for entries of the file is @w{@code{struct
405 fstab}}, defined in @file{fstab.h}.
406
407 @deftp {Data Type} {struct fstab}
408 @standards{BSD, fstab.h}
409 This structure is used with the @code{getfsent}, @code{getfsspec}, and
410 @code{getfsfile} functions.
411
412 @table @code
413 @item char *fs_spec
414 This element describes the device from which the filesystem is mounted.
415 Normally this is the name of a special device, such as a hard disk
416 partition, but it could also be a more or less generic string. For
417 @dfn{NFS} it would be a hostname and directory name combination.
418
419 Even though the element is not declared @code{const} it shouldn't be
420 modified. The missing @code{const} has historic reasons, since this
421 function predates @w{ISO C}. The same is true for the other string
422 elements of this structure.
423
424 @item char *fs_file
425 This describes the mount point on the local system. I.e., accessing any
426 file in this filesystem has implicitly or explicitly this string as a
427 prefix.
428
429 @item char *fs_vfstype
430 This is the type of the filesystem. Depending on what the underlying
431 kernel understands it can be any string.
432
433 @item char *fs_mntops
434 This is a string containing options passed to the kernel with the
435 @code{mount} call. Again, this can be almost anything. There can be
436 more than one option, separated from the others by a comma. Each option
437 consists of a name and an optional value part, introduced by an @code{=}
438 character.
439
440 If the value of this element must be processed it should ideally be done
441 using the @code{getsubopt} function; see @ref{Suboptions}.
442
443 @item const char *fs_type
444 This name is poorly chosen. This element points to a string (possibly
445 in the @code{fs_mntops} string) which describes the modes with which the
446 filesystem is mounted. @file{fstab} defines five macros to describe the
447 possible values:
448
449 @vtable @code
450 @item FSTAB_RW
451 The filesystem gets mounted with read and write enabled.
452 @item FSTAB_RQ
453 The filesystem gets mounted with read and write enabled. Write access
454 is restricted by quotas.
455 @item FSTAB_RO
456 The filesystem gets mounted read-only.
457 @item FSTAB_SW
458 This is not a real filesystem, it is a swap device.
459 @item FSTAB_XX
460 This entry from the @file{fstab} file is totally ignored.
461 @end vtable
462
463 Testing for equality with these values must happen using @code{strcmp}
464 since these are all strings. Comparing the pointer will probably always
465 fail.
466
467 @item int fs_freq
468 This element describes the dump frequency in days.
469
470 @item int fs_passno
471 This element describes the pass number on parallel dumps. It is closely
472 related to the @code{dump} utility used on Unix systems.
473 @end table
474 @end deftp
475
476
477 To read the entire content of the of the @file{fstab} file @theglibc{}
478 contains a set of three functions which are designed in the usual way.
479
480 @deftypefun int setfsent (void)
481 @standards{BSD, fstab.h}
482 @safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:fsent}}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{} @asucorrupt{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsmem{} @acsfd{}}}
483 @c setfsent @mtasurace:fsent @ascuheap @asucorrupt @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
484 @c fstab_init(1) @mtasurace:fsent @ascuheap @asucorrupt @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
485 @c malloc dup @ascuheap @acsmem
486 @c rewind dup @asucorrupt @acucorrupt [no @aculock]
487 @c setmntent dup @ascuheap @asulock @acsmem @acsfd @aculock
488 This function makes sure that the internal read pointer for the
489 @file{fstab} file is at the beginning of the file. This is done by
490 either opening the file or resetting the read pointer.
491
492 Since the file handle is internal to the libc this function is not
493 thread-safe.
494
495 This function returns a non-zero value if the operation was successful
496 and the @code{getfs*} functions can be used to read the entries of the
497 file.
498 @end deftypefun
499
500 @deftypefun void endfsent (void)
501 @standards{BSD, fstab.h}
502 @safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:fsent}}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{} @asucorrupt{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsmem{} @acsfd{}}}
503 @c endfsent @mtasurace:fsent @ascuheap @asucorrupt @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
504 @c endmntent dup @ascuheap @asulock @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
505 This function makes sure that all resources acquired by a prior call to
506 @code{setfsent} (explicitly or implicitly by calling @code{getfsent}) are
507 freed.
508 @end deftypefun
509
510 @deftypefun {struct fstab *} getfsent (void)
511 @standards{BSD, fstab.h}
512 @safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:fsent} @mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@asucorrupt{} @ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsmem{}}}
513 @c getfsent @mtasurace:fsent @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
514 @c fstab_init(0) dup @mtasurace:fsent @ascuheap @asucorrupt @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
515 @c fstab_fetch @mtasurace:fsent @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
516 @c getmntent_r dup @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
517 @c fstab_convert @mtasurace:fsent
518 @c hasmntopt dup ok
519 This function returns the next entry of the @file{fstab} file. If this
520 is the first call to any of the functions handling @file{fstab} since
521 program start or the last call of @code{endfsent}, the file will be
522 opened.
523
524 The function returns a pointer to a variable of type @code{struct
525 fstab}. This variable is shared by all threads and therefore this
526 function is not thread-safe. If an error occurred @code{getfsent}
527 returns a @code{NULL} pointer.
528 @end deftypefun
529
530 @deftypefun {struct fstab *} getfsspec (const char *@var{name})
531 @standards{BSD, fstab.h}
532 @safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:fsent} @mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@asucorrupt{} @ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsmem{}}}
533 @c getffsspec @mtasurace:fsent @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
534 @c fstab_init(1) dup @mtasurace:fsent @ascuheap @asucorrupt @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
535 @c fstab_fetch dup @mtasurace:fsent @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
536 @c strcmp dup ok
537 @c fstab_convert dup @mtasurace:fsent
538 This function returns the next entry of the @file{fstab} file which has
539 a string equal to @var{name} pointed to by the @code{fs_spec} element.
540 Since there is normally exactly one entry for each special device it
541 makes no sense to call this function more than once for the same
542 argument. If this is the first call to any of the functions handling
543 @file{fstab} since program start or the last call of @code{endfsent},
544 the file will be opened.
545
546 The function returns a pointer to a variable of type @code{struct
547 fstab}. This variable is shared by all threads and therefore this
548 function is not thread-safe. If an error occurred @code{getfsent}
549 returns a @code{NULL} pointer.
550 @end deftypefun
551
552 @deftypefun {struct fstab *} getfsfile (const char *@var{name})
553 @standards{BSD, fstab.h}
554 @safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:fsent} @mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@asucorrupt{} @ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsmem{}}}
555 @c getffsfile @mtasurace:fsent @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
556 @c fstab_init(1) dup @mtasurace:fsent @ascuheap @asucorrupt @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
557 @c fstab_fetch dup @mtasurace:fsent @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
558 @c strcmp dup ok
559 @c fstab_convert dup @mtasurace:fsent
560 This function returns the next entry of the @file{fstab} file which has
561 a string equal to @var{name} pointed to by the @code{fs_file} element.
562 Since there is normally exactly one entry for each mount point it
563 makes no sense to call this function more than once for the same
564 argument. If this is the first call to any of the functions handling
565 @file{fstab} since program start or the last call of @code{endfsent},
566 the file will be opened.
567
568 The function returns a pointer to a variable of type @code{struct
569 fstab}. This variable is shared by all threads and therefore this
570 function is not thread-safe. If an error occurred @code{getfsent}
571 returns a @code{NULL} pointer.
572 @end deftypefun
573
574
575 @node mtab
576 @subsubsection The @file{mtab} file
577 The following functions and data structure access the @file{mtab} file.
578
579 @deftp {Data Type} {struct mntent}
580 @standards{BSD, mntent.h}
581 This structure is used with the @code{getmntent}, @code{getmntent_r},
582 @code{addmntent}, and @code{hasmntopt} functions.
583
584 @table @code
585 @item char *mnt_fsname
586 This element contains a pointer to a string describing the name of the
587 special device from which the filesystem is mounted. It corresponds to
588 the @code{fs_spec} element in @code{struct fstab}.
589
590 @item char *mnt_dir
591 This element points to a string describing the mount point of the
592 filesystem. It corresponds to the @code{fs_file} element in
593 @code{struct fstab}.
594
595 @item char *mnt_type
596 @code{mnt_type} describes the filesystem type and is therefore
597 equivalent to @code{fs_vfstype} in @code{struct fstab}. @file{mntent.h}
598 defines a few symbolic names for some of the values this string can have.
599 But since the kernel can support arbitrary filesystems it does not
600 make much sense to give them symbolic names. If one knows the symbol
601 name one also knows the filesystem name. Nevertheless here follows the
602 list of the symbols provided in @file{mntent.h}.
603
604 @vtable @code
605 @item MNTTYPE_IGNORE
606 This symbol expands to @code{"ignore"}. The value is sometimes used in
607 @file{fstab} files to make sure entries are not used without removing them.
608 @item MNTTYPE_NFS
609 Expands to @code{"nfs"}. Using this macro sometimes could make sense
610 since it names the default NFS implementation, in case both version 2
611 and 3 are supported.
612 @item MNTTYPE_SWAP
613 This symbol expands to @code{"swap"}. It names the special @file{fstab}
614 entry which names one of the possibly multiple swap partitions.
615 @end vtable
616
617 @item char *mnt_opts
618 The element contains a string describing the options used while mounting
619 the filesystem. As for the equivalent element @code{fs_mntops} of
620 @code{struct fstab} it is best to use the function @code{getsubopt}
621 (@pxref{Suboptions}) to access the parts of this string.
622
623 The @file{mntent.h} file defines a number of macros with string values
624 which correspond to some of the options understood by the kernel. There
625 might be many more options which are possible so it doesn't make much sense
626 to rely on these macros but to be consistent here is the list:
627
628 @vtable @code
629 @item MNTOPT_DEFAULTS
630 Expands to @code{"defaults"}. This option should be used alone since it
631 indicates all values for the customizable values are chosen to be the
632 default.
633 @item MNTOPT_RO
634 Expands to @code{"ro"}. See the @code{FSTAB_RO} value, it means the
635 filesystem is mounted read-only.
636 @item MNTOPT_RW
637 Expands to @code{"rw"}. See the @code{FSTAB_RW} value, it means the
638 filesystem is mounted with read and write permissions.
639 @item MNTOPT_SUID
640 Expands to @code{"suid"}. This means that the SUID bit (@pxref{How
641 Change Persona}) is respected when a program from the filesystem is
642 started.
643 @item MNTOPT_NOSUID
644 Expands to @code{"nosuid"}. This is the opposite of @code{MNTOPT_SUID},
645 the SUID bit for all files from the filesystem is ignored.
646 @item MNTOPT_NOAUTO
647 Expands to @code{"noauto"}. At startup time the @code{mount} program
648 will ignore this entry if it is started with the @code{-a} option to
649 mount all filesystems mentioned in the @file{fstab} file.
650 @end vtable
651
652 As for the @code{FSTAB_*} entries introduced above it is important to
653 use @code{strcmp} to check for equality.
654
655 @item mnt_freq
656 This elements corresponds to @code{fs_freq} and also specifies the
657 frequency in days in which dumps are made.
658
659 @item mnt_passno
660 This element is equivalent to @code{fs_passno} with the same meaning
661 which is uninteresting for all programs beside @code{dump}.
662 @end table
663 @end deftp
664
665 For accessing the @file{mtab} file there is again a set of three
666 functions to access all entries in a row. Unlike the functions to
667 handle @file{fstab} these functions do not access a fixed file and there
668 is even a thread safe variant of the get function. Besides this @theglibc{}
669 contains functions to alter the file and test for specific options.
670
671 @deftypefun {FILE *} setmntent (const char *@var{file}, const char *@var{mode})
672 @standards{BSD, mntent.h}
673 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acsmem{} @acsfd{} @aculock{}}}
674 @c setmntent @ascuheap @asulock @acsmem @acsfd @aculock
675 @c strlen dup ok
676 @c mempcpy dup ok
677 @c memcpy dup ok
678 @c fopen dup @ascuheap @asulock @acsmem @acsfd @aculock
679 @c fsetlocking dup ok [no @mtasurace:stream @asulock: exclusive stream]
680 The @code{setmntent} function prepares the file named @var{FILE} which
681 must be in the format of a @file{fstab} and @file{mtab} file for the
682 upcoming processing through the other functions of the family. The
683 @var{mode} parameter can be chosen in the way the @var{opentype}
684 parameter for @code{fopen} (@pxref{Opening Streams}) can be chosen. If
685 the file is opened for writing the file is also allowed to be empty.
686
687 If the file was successfully opened @code{setmntent} returns a file
688 handle for future use. Otherwise the return value is @code{NULL}
689 and @code{errno} is set accordingly.
690 @end deftypefun
691
692 @deftypefun int endmntent (FILE *@var{stream})
693 @standards{BSD, mntent.h}
694 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@aculock{} @acsmem{} @acsfd{}}}
695 @c endmntent @ascuheap @asulock @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
696 @c fclose dup @ascuheap @asulock @aculock @acsmem @acsfd
697 This function takes for the @var{stream} parameter a file handle which
698 previously was returned from the @code{setmntent} call.
699 @code{endmntent} closes the stream and frees all resources.
700
701 The return value is @math{1} unless an error occurred in which case it
702 is @math{0}.
703 @end deftypefun
704
705 @deftypefun {struct mntent *} getmntent (FILE *@var{stream})
706 @standards{BSD, mntent.h}
707 @safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:mntentbuf} @mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@asucorrupt{} @ascuheap{} @asuinit{}}@acunsafe{@acuinit{} @acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsmem{}}}
708 @c getmntent @mtasurace:mntentbuf @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @asuinit @acuinit @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
709 @c libc_once @ascuheap @asuinit @acuinit @acsmem
710 @c allocate @ascuheap @acsmem
711 @c malloc dup @ascuheap @acsmem
712 @c getmntent_r dup @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
713 The @code{getmntent} function takes as the parameter a file handle
714 previously returned by a successful call to @code{setmntent}. It returns
715 a pointer to a static variable of type @code{struct mntent} which is
716 filled with the information from the next entry from the file currently
717 read.
718
719 The file format used prescribes the use of spaces or tab characters to
720 separate the fields. This makes it harder to use names containing one
721 of these characters (e.g., mount points using spaces). Therefore
722 these characters are encoded in the files and the @code{getmntent}
723 function takes care of the decoding while reading the entries back in.
724 @code{'\040'} is used to encode a space character, @code{'\011'} to
725 encode a tab character, @code{'\012'} to encode a newline character,
726 and @code{'\\'} to encode a backslash.
727
728 If there was an error or the end of the file is reached the return value
729 is @code{NULL}.
730
731 This function is not thread-safe since all calls to this function return
732 a pointer to the same static variable. @code{getmntent_r} should be
733 used in situations where multiple threads access the file.
734 @end deftypefun
735
736 @deftypefun {struct mntent *} getmntent_r (FILE *@var{stream}, struct mntent *@var{result}, char *@var{buffer}, int @var{bufsize})
737 @standards{BSD, mntent.h}
738 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@asucorrupt{} @ascuheap{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsmem{}}}
739 @c getmntent_r @mtslocale @asucorrupt @ascuheap @acucorrupt @aculock @acsmem
740 @c flockfile dup @aculock
741 @c fgets_unlocked dup @asucorrupt @acucorrupt [locked, so no @mtsrace:stream]
742 @c funlockfile dup @aculock
743 @c strchr dup ok
744 @c strspn dup ok
745 @c strsep dup ok
746 @c decode_name ok
747 @c sscanf dup @mtslocale @ascuheap @acsmem
748 The @code{getmntent_r} function is the reentrant variant of
749 @code{getmntent}. It also returns the next entry from the file and
750 returns a pointer. The actual variable the values are stored in is not
751 static, though. Instead the function stores the values in the variable
752 pointed to by the @var{result} parameter. Additional information (e.g.,
753 the strings pointed to by the elements of the result) are kept in the
754 buffer of size @var{bufsize} pointed to by @var{buffer}.
755
756 Escaped characters (space, tab, backslash) are converted back in the
757 same way as it happens for @code{getmentent}.
758
759 The function returns a @code{NULL} pointer in error cases. Errors could be:
760 @itemize @bullet
761 @item
762 error while reading the file,
763 @item
764 end of file reached,
765 @item
766 @var{bufsize} is too small for reading a complete new entry.
767 @end itemize
768 @end deftypefun
769
770 @deftypefun int addmntent (FILE *@var{stream}, const struct mntent *@var{mnt})
771 @standards{BSD, mntent.h}
772 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtsrace{:stream} @mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@asucorrupt{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{}}}
773 @c addmntent @mtasurace:stream @mtslocale @asucorrupt @acucorrupt
774 @c fseek dup @asucorrupt @acucorrupt [no @aculock]
775 @c encode_name ok
776 @c fprintf dup @mtslocale @asucorrupt @acucorrupt [no @ascuheap @acsmem, no @aculock]
777 @c fflush dup @asucorrupt @acucorrupt [no @aculock]
778 The @code{addmntent} function allows adding a new entry to the file
779 previously opened with @code{setmntent}. The new entries are always
780 appended. I.e., even if the position of the file descriptor is not at
781 the end of the file this function does not overwrite an existing entry
782 following the current position.
783
784 The implication of this is that to remove an entry from a file one has
785 to create a new file while leaving out the entry to be removed and after
786 closing the file remove the old one and rename the new file to the
787 chosen name.
788
789 This function takes care of spaces and tab characters in the names to be
790 written to the file. It converts them and the backslash character into
791 the format described in the @code{getmntent} description above.
792
793 This function returns @math{0} in case the operation was successful.
794 Otherwise the return value is @math{1} and @code{errno} is set
795 appropriately.
796 @end deftypefun
797
798 @deftypefun {char *} hasmntopt (const struct mntent *@var{mnt}, const char *@var{opt})
799 @standards{BSD, mntent.h}
800 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
801 @c hasmntopt ok
802 @c strlen dup ok
803 @c strstr dup ok
804 @c strchr dup ok
805 This function can be used to check whether the string pointed to by the
806 @code{mnt_opts} element of the variable pointed to by @var{mnt} contains
807 the option @var{opt}. If this is true a pointer to the beginning of the
808 option in the @code{mnt_opts} element is returned. If no such option
809 exists the function returns @code{NULL}.
810
811 This function is useful to test whether a specific option is present but
812 when all options have to be processed one is better off with using the
813 @code{getsubopt} function to iterate over all options in the string.
814 @end deftypefun
815
816 @node Other Mount Information
817 @subsubsection Other (Non-libc) Sources of Mount Information
818
819 On a system with a Linux kernel and the @code{proc} filesystem, you can
820 get information on currently mounted filesystems from the file
821 @file{mounts} in the @code{proc} filesystem. Its format is similar to
822 that of the @file{mtab} file, but represents what is truly mounted
823 without relying on facilities outside the kernel to keep @file{mtab} up
824 to date.
825
826
827 @node Mount-Unmount-Remount, , Mount Information, Filesystem Handling
828 @subsection Mount, Unmount, Remount
829
830 This section describes the functions for mounting, unmounting, and
831 remounting filesystems.
832
833 Only the superuser can mount, unmount, or remount a filesystem.
834
835 These functions do not access the @file{fstab} and @file{mtab} files. You
836 should maintain and use these separately. @xref{Mount Information}.
837
838 The symbols in this section are declared in @file{sys/mount.h}.
839
840 @deftypefun {int} mount (const char *@var{special_file}, const char *@var{dir}, const char *@var{fstype}, unsigned long int @var{options}, const void *@var{data})
841 @standards{SVID, sys/mount.h}
842 @standards{BSD, sys/mount.h}
843 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
844 @c Direct syscall.
845
846 @code{mount} mounts or remounts a filesystem. The two operations are
847 quite different and are merged rather unnaturally into this one function.
848 The @code{MS_REMOUNT} option, explained below, determines whether
849 @code{mount} mounts or remounts.
850
851 For a mount, the filesystem on the block device represented by the
852 device special file named @var{special_file} gets mounted over the mount
853 point @var{dir}. This means that the directory @var{dir} (along with any
854 files in it) is no longer visible; in its place (and still with the name
855 @var{dir}) is the root directory of the filesystem on the device.
856
857 As an exception, if the filesystem type (see below) is one which is not
858 based on a device (e.g. ``proc''), @code{mount} instantiates a
859 filesystem and mounts it over @var{dir} and ignores @var{special_file}.
860
861 For a remount, @var{dir} specifies the mount point where the filesystem
862 to be remounted is (and remains) mounted and @var{special_file} is
863 ignored. Remounting a filesystem means changing the options that control
864 operations on the filesystem while it is mounted. It does not mean
865 unmounting and mounting again.
866
867 For a mount, you must identify the type of the filesystem with
868 @var{fstype}. This type tells the kernel how to access the filesystem
869 and can be thought of as the name of a filesystem driver. The
870 acceptable values are system dependent. On a system with a Linux kernel
871 and the @code{proc} filesystem, the list of possible values is in the
872 file @file{filesystems} in the @code{proc} filesystem (e.g. type
873 @kbd{cat /proc/filesystems} to see the list). With a Linux kernel, the
874 types of filesystems that @code{mount} can mount, and their type names,
875 depends on what filesystem drivers are configured into the kernel or
876 loaded as loadable kernel modules. An example of a common value for
877 @var{fstype} is @code{ext2}.
878
879 For a remount, @code{mount} ignores @var{fstype}.
880
881 @c This is traditionally called "rwflag" for historical reasons.
882 @c No point in confusing people today, though.
883 @var{options} specifies a variety of options that apply until the
884 filesystem is unmounted or remounted. The precise meaning of an option
885 depends on the filesystem and with some filesystems, an option may have
886 no effect at all. Furthermore, for some filesystems, some of these
887 options (but never @code{MS_RDONLY}) can be overridden for individual
888 file accesses via @code{ioctl}.
889
890 @var{options} is a bit string with bit fields defined using the
891 following mask and masked value macros:
892
893 @vtable @code
894 @item MS_MGC_MASK
895 This multibit field contains a magic number. If it does not have the value
896 @code{MS_MGC_VAL}, @code{mount} assumes all the following bits are zero and
897 the @var{data} argument is a null string, regardless of their actual values.
898
899 @item MS_REMOUNT
900 This bit on means to remount the filesystem. Off means to mount it.
901 @c There is a mask MS_RMT_MASK in mount.h that says only two of the options
902 @c can be reset by remount. But the Linux kernel has its own version of
903 @c MS_RMT_MASK that says they all can be reset. As far as I can tell,
904 @c libc just passes the arguments straight through to the kernel.
905
906 @item MS_RDONLY
907 This bit on specifies that no writing to the filesystem shall be allowed
908 while it is mounted. This cannot be overridden by @code{ioctl}. This
909 option is available on nearly all filesystems.
910
911 @item MS_NOSUID
912 This bit on specifies that Setuid and Setgid permissions on files in the
913 filesystem shall be ignored while it is mounted.
914
915 @item MS_NOEXEC
916 This bit on specifies that no files in the filesystem shall be executed
917 while the filesystem is mounted.
918
919 @item MS_NODEV
920 This bit on specifies that no device special files in the filesystem
921 shall be accessible while the filesystem is mounted.
922
923 @item MS_SYNCHRONOUS
924 This bit on specifies that all writes to the filesystem while it is
925 mounted shall be synchronous; i.e., data shall be synced before each
926 write completes rather than held in the buffer cache.
927
928 @item MS_MANDLOCK
929 This bit on specifies that mandatory locks on files shall be permitted while
930 the filesystem is mounted.
931
932 @item MS_NOATIME
933 This bit on specifies that access times of files shall not be updated when
934 the files are accessed while the filesystem is mounted.
935
936 @item MS_NODIRATIME
937 This bit on specifies that access times of directories shall not be updated
938 when the directories are accessed while the filesystem in mounted.
939
940 @c there is also S_QUOTA Linux fs.h (mount.h still uses its former name
941 @c S_WRITE), but I can't see what it does. Turns on quotas, I guess.
942
943 @end vtable
944
945 Any bits not covered by the above masks should be set off; otherwise,
946 results are undefined.
947
948 The meaning of @var{data} depends on the filesystem type and is controlled
949 entirely by the filesystem driver in the kernel.
950
951 Example:
952
953 @smallexample
954 @group
955 #include <sys/mount.h>
956
957 mount("/dev/hdb", "/cdrom", "iso9660", MS_MGC_VAL | MS_RDONLY | MS_NOSUID, "");
958
959 mount("/dev/hda2", "/mnt", "", MS_MGC_VAL | MS_REMOUNT, "");
960
961 @end group
962 @end smallexample
963
964 Appropriate arguments for @code{mount} are conventionally recorded in
965 the @file{fstab} table. @xref{Mount Information}.
966
967 The return value is zero if the mount or remount is successful. Otherwise,
968 it is @code{-1} and @code{errno} is set appropriately. The values of
969 @code{errno} are filesystem dependent, but here is a general list:
970
971 @table @code
972 @item EPERM
973 The process is not superuser.
974 @item ENODEV
975 The file system type @var{fstype} is not known to the kernel.
976 @item ENOTBLK
977 The file @var{dev} is not a block device special file.
978 @item EBUSY
979
980 @itemize @bullet
981
982 @item
983 The device is already mounted.
984
985 @item
986 The mount point is busy. (E.g. it is some process' working directory or
987 has a filesystem mounted on it already).
988
989 @item
990 The request is to remount read-only, but there are files open for writing.
991 @end itemize
992
993 @item EINVAL
994 @itemize @bullet
995
996 @item
997 A remount was attempted, but there is no filesystem mounted over the
998 specified mount point.
999
1000 @item
1001 The supposed filesystem has an invalid superblock.
1002
1003 @end itemize
1004
1005 @item EACCES
1006 @itemize @bullet
1007
1008 @item
1009 The filesystem is inherently read-only (possibly due to a switch on the
1010 device) and the process attempted to mount it read/write (by setting the
1011 @code{MS_RDONLY} bit off).
1012
1013 @item
1014 @var{special_file} or @var{dir} is not accessible due to file permissions.
1015
1016 @item
1017 @var{special_file} is not accessible because it is in a filesystem that is
1018 mounted with the @code{MS_NODEV} option.
1019
1020 @end itemize
1021
1022 @item EM_FILE
1023 The table of dummy devices is full. @code{mount} needs to create a
1024 dummy device (aka ``unnamed'' device) if the filesystem being mounted is
1025 not one that uses a device.
1026
1027 @end table
1028
1029 @end deftypefun
1030
1031
1032 @deftypefun {int} umount2 (const char *@var{file}, int @var{flags})
1033 @standards{GNU, sys/mount.h}
1034 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
1035 @c Direct syscall.
1036
1037 @code{umount2} unmounts a filesystem.
1038
1039 You can identify the filesystem to unmount either by the device special
1040 file that contains the filesystem or by the mount point. The effect is
1041 the same. Specify either as the string @var{file}.
1042
1043 @var{flags} contains the one-bit field identified by the following
1044 mask macro:
1045
1046 @vtable @code
1047
1048 @item MNT_FORCE
1049 This bit on means to force the unmounting even if the filesystem is
1050 busy, by making it unbusy first. If the bit is off and the filesystem is
1051 busy, @code{umount2} fails with @code{errno} = @code{EBUSY}. Depending
1052 on the filesystem, this may override all, some, or no busy conditions.
1053
1054 @end vtable
1055
1056 All other bits in @var{flags} should be set to zero; otherwise, the result
1057 is undefined.
1058
1059 Example:
1060
1061 @smallexample
1062 @group
1063 #include <sys/mount.h>
1064
1065 umount2("/mnt", MNT_FORCE);
1066
1067 umount2("/dev/hdd1", 0);
1068
1069 @end group
1070 @end smallexample
1071
1072 After the filesystem is unmounted, the directory that was the mount point
1073 is visible, as are any files in it.
1074
1075 As part of unmounting, @code{umount2} syncs the filesystem.
1076
1077 If the unmounting is successful, the return value is zero. Otherwise, it
1078 is @code{-1} and @code{errno} is set accordingly:
1079
1080 @table @code
1081 @item EPERM
1082 The process is not superuser.
1083 @item EBUSY
1084 The filesystem cannot be unmounted because it is busy. E.g. it contains
1085 a directory that is some process's working directory or a file that some
1086 process has open. With some filesystems in some cases, you can avoid
1087 this failure with the @code{MNT_FORCE} option.
1088
1089 @item EINVAL
1090 @var{file} validly refers to a file, but that file is neither a mount
1091 point nor a device special file of a currently mounted filesystem.
1092
1093 @end table
1094
1095 This function is not available on all systems.
1096 @end deftypefun
1097
1098 @deftypefun {int} umount (const char *@var{file})
1099 @standards{SVID, sys/mount.h}
1100 @standards{GNU, sys/mount.h}
1101 @safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
1102 @c Direct syscall or wrapper for umount2.
1103
1104 @code{umount} does the same thing as @code{umount2} with @var{flags} set
1105 to zeroes. It is more widely available than @code{umount2} but since it
1106 lacks the possibility to forcefully unmount a filesystem is deprecated
1107 when @code{umount2} is also available.
1108 @end deftypefun