[thirdparty/man-pages.git] / man5 / proc_pid_exe.5

.\" Copyright (C) 1994, 1995, Daniel Quinlan <quinlan@yggdrasil.com>
.\" Copyright (C) 2002-2008, 2017, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
.\" Copyright (C) 2023, Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
.\"
.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
.\"
.TH proc_pid_exe 5 (date) "Linux man-pages (unreleased)"
.SH NAME
/proc/pid/exe \- symbolic link to program pathname
.SH DESCRIPTION
.TP
.IR /proc/ pid /exe
Under Linux 2.2 and later, this file is a symbolic link
containing the actual pathname of the executed command.
This symbolic link can be dereferenced normally; attempting to open
it will open the executable.
You can even type
.IR /proc/ pid /exe
to run another copy of the same executable that is being run by
process
.IR pid .
If the pathname has been unlinked, the symbolic link will contain the
string \[aq]\ (deleted)\[aq] appended to the original pathname.
.\" The following was still true as at kernel 2.6.13
In a multithreaded process, the contents of this symbolic link
are not available if the main thread has already terminated
(typically by calling
.BR pthread_exit (3)).
.IP
Permission to dereference or read
.RB ( readlink (2))
this symbolic link is governed by a ptrace access mode
.B PTRACE_MODE_READ_FSCREDS
check; see
.BR ptrace (2).
.IP
Under Linux 2.0 and earlier,
.IR /proc/ pid /exe
is a pointer to the binary which was executed,
and appears as a symbolic link.
A
.BR readlink (2)
call on this file under Linux 2.0 returns a string in the format:
.IP
.in +4n
.EX
[device]:inode
.EE
.in
.IP
For example, [0301]:1502 would be inode 1502 on device major 03 (IDE,
MFM, etc. drives) minor 01 (first partition on the first drive).
.IP
.BR find (1)
with the
.I \-inum
option can be used to locate the file.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR proc (5)
Commit	Line	Data
86616579 AC	1	.\" Copyright (C) 1994, 1995, Daniel Quinlan <quinlan@yggdrasil.com>
	2	.\" Copyright (C) 2002-2008, 2017, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
	3	.\" Copyright (C) 2023, Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
	4	.\"
	5	.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
	6	.\"
	7	.TH proc_pid_exe 5 (date) "Linux man-pages (unreleased)"
	8	.SH NAME
	9	/proc/pid/exe \- symbolic link to program pathname
	10	.SH DESCRIPTION
	11	.TP
	12	.IR /proc/ pid /exe
	13	Under Linux 2.2 and later, this file is a symbolic link
	14	containing the actual pathname of the executed command.
	15	This symbolic link can be dereferenced normally; attempting to open
	16	it will open the executable.
	17	You can even type
	18	.IR /proc/ pid /exe
	19	to run another copy of the same executable that is being run by
	20	process
	21	.IR pid .
	22	If the pathname has been unlinked, the symbolic link will contain the
	23	string \[aq]\ (deleted)\[aq] appended to the original pathname.
	24	.\" The following was still true as at kernel 2.6.13
	25	In a multithreaded process, the contents of this symbolic link
	26	are not available if the main thread has already terminated
	27	(typically by calling
	28	.BR pthread_exit (3)).
	29	.IP
	30	Permission to dereference or read
	31	.RB ( readlink (2))
	32	this symbolic link is governed by a ptrace access mode
	33	.B PTRACE_MODE_READ_FSCREDS
	34	check; see
	35	.BR ptrace (2).
	36	.IP
	37	Under Linux 2.0 and earlier,
	38	.IR /proc/ pid /exe
	39	is a pointer to the binary which was executed,
	40	and appears as a symbolic link.
	41	A
	42	.BR readlink (2)
	43	call on this file under Linux 2.0 returns a string in the format:
	44	.IP
	45	.in +4n
	46	.EX
	47	[device]:inode
	48	.EE
	49	.in
	50	.IP
	51	For example, [0301]:1502 would be inode 1502 on device major 03 (IDE,
	52	MFM, etc. drives) minor 01 (first partition on the first drive).
	53	.IP
	54	.BR find (1)
	55	with the
	56	.I \-inum
	57	option can be used to locate the file.
	58	.SH SEE ALSO
	59	.BR proc (5)