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SHMCTL(2) Linux Programmer's Manual SHMCTL(2)
NAME
shmctl - shared memory control
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/ipc.h>
#include <sys/shm.h>
int shmctl(int shmid, int cmd, struct shmid_ds *buf);
DESCRIPTION
shmctl() performs the control operation specified by cmd on the shared memory segment whose identifier is given in shmid.
The buf argument is a pointer to a shmid_ds structure, defined in <sys/shm.h> as follows:
struct shmid_ds {
struct ipc_perm shm_perm; /* Ownership and permissions */
size_t shm_segsz; /* Size of segment (bytes) */
time_t shm_atime; /* Last attach time */
time_t shm_dtime; /* Last detach time */
time_t shm_ctime; /* Last change time */
pid_t shm_cpid; /* PID of creator */
pid_t shm_lpid; /* PID of last shmat(2)/shmdt(2) */
shmatt_t shm_nattch; /* No. of current attaches */
...
};
The ipc_perm structure is defined in <sys/ipc.h> as follows (the highlighted fields are settable using IPC_SET):
struct ipc_perm {
key_t __key; /* Key supplied to shmget(2) */
uid_t uid; /* Effective UID of owner */
gid_t gid; /* Effective GID of owner */
uid_t cuid; /* Effective UID of creator */
gid_t cgid; /* Effective GID of creator */
unsigned short mode; /* Permissions + SHM_DEST and
SHM_LOCKED flags */
unsigned short __seq; /* Sequence number */
};
Valid values for cmd are:
IPC_STAT Copy information from the kernel data structure associated with shmid into the shmid_ds structure pointed to by
buf. The caller must have read permission on the shared memory segment.
IPC_SET Write the values of some members of the shmid_ds structure pointed to by buf to the kernel data structure asso-
ciated with this shared memory segment, updating also its shm_ctime member. The following fields can be
changed: shm_perm.uid, shm_perm.gid, and (the least significant 9 bits of) shm_perm.mode. The effective UID of
the calling process must match the owner (shm_perm.uid) or creator (shm_perm.cuid) of the shared memory seg-
ment, or the caller must be privileged.
IPC_RMID Mark the segment to be destroyed. The segment will only actually be destroyed after the last process detaches
it (i.e., when the shm_nattch member of the associated structure shmid_ds is zero). The caller must be the
owner or creator, or be privileged. If a segment has been marked for destruction, then the (nonstandard)
SHM_DEST flag of the shm_perm.mode field in the associated data structure retrieved by IPC_STAT will be set.
The caller must ensure that a segment is eventually destroyed; otherwise its pages that were faulted in will remain in
memory or swap.
IPC_INFO (Linux-specific)
Returns information about system-wide shared memory limits and parameters in the structure pointed to by buf.
This structure is of type shminfo (thus, a cast is required), defined in <sys/shm.h> if the _GNU_SOURCE feature
test macro is defined:
struct shminfo {
unsigned long shmmax; /* Maximum segment size */
unsigned long shmmin; /* Minimum segment size;
always 1 */
unsigned long shmmni; /* Maximum number of segments */
unsigned long shmseg; /* Maximum number of segments
that a process can attach;
unused within kernel */
unsigned long shmall; /* Maximum number of pages of
shared memory, system-wide */
};
The shmmni, shmmax, and shmall settings can be changed via /proc files of the same name; see proc(5) for
details.
SHM_INFO (Linux-specific)
Returns a shm_info structure whose fields contain information about system resources consumed by shared memory.
This structure is defined in <sys/shm.h> if the _GNU_SOURCE feature test macro is defined:
struct shm_info {
int used_ids; /* # of currently existing
segments */
unsigned long shm_tot; /* Total number of shared
memory pages */
unsigned long shm_rss; /* # of resident shared
memory pages */
unsigned long shm_swp; /* # of swapped shared
memory pages */
unsigned long swap_attempts;
/* Unused since Linux 2.4 */
unsigned long swap_successes;
/* Unused since Linux 2.4 */
};
SHM_STAT (Linux-specific)
Returns a shmid_ds structure as for IPC_STAT. However, the shmid argument is not a segment identifier, but
instead an index into the kernel's internal array that maintains information about all shared memory segments
on the system.
The caller can prevent or allow swapping of a shared memory segment with the following cmd values:
SHM_LOCK (Linux-specific)
Prevent swapping of the shared memory segment. The caller must fault in any pages that are required to be
present after locking is enabled. If a segment has been locked, then the (nonstandard) SHM_LOCKED flag of the
shm_perm.mode field in the associated data structure retrieved by IPC_STAT will be set.
SHM_UNLOCK (Linux-specific)
Unlock the segment, allowing it to be swapped out.
In kernels before 2.6.10, only a privileged process could employ SHM_LOCK and SHM_UNLOCK. Since kernel 2.6.10, an
unprivileged process can employ these operations if its effective UID matches the owner or creator UID of the segment,
and (for SHM_LOCK) the amount of memory to be locked falls within the RLIMIT_MEMLOCK resource limit (see setrlimit(2)).
RETURN VALUE
A successful IPC_INFO or SHM_INFO operation returns the index of the highest used entry in the kernel's internal array
recording information about all shared memory segments. (This information can be used with repeated SHM_STAT operations
to obtain information about all shared memory segments on the system.) A successful SHM_STAT operation returns the iden-
tifier of the shared memory segment whose index was given in shmid. Other operations return 0 on success.
On error, -1 is returned, and errno is set appropriately.
ERRORS
EACCES IPC_STAT or SHM_STAT is requested and shm_perm.mode does not allow read access for shmid, and the calling process
does not have the CAP_IPC_OWNER capability.
EFAULT The argument cmd has value IPC_SET or IPC_STAT but the address pointed to by buf isn't accessible.
EIDRM shmid points to a removed identifier.
EINVAL shmid is not a valid identifier, or cmd is not a valid command. Or: for a SHM_STAT operation, the index value
specified in shmid referred to an array slot that is currently unused.
ENOMEM (In kernels since 2.6.9), SHM_LOCK was specified and the size of the to-be-locked segment would mean that the
total bytes in locked shared memory segments would exceed the limit for the real user ID of the calling process.
This limit is defined by the RLIMIT_MEMLOCK soft resource limit (see setrlimit(2)).
EOVERFLOW
IPC_STAT is attempted, and the GID or UID value is too large to be stored in the structure pointed to by buf.
EPERM IPC_SET or IPC_RMID is attempted, and the effective user ID of the calling process is not that of the creator
(found in shm_perm.cuid), or the owner (found in shm_perm.uid), and the process was not privileged (Linux: did not
have the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability).
Or (in kernels before 2.6.9), SHM_LOCK or SHM_UNLOCK was specified, but the process was not privileged (Linux: did
not have the CAP_IPC_LOCK capability). (Since Linux 2.6.9, this error can also occur if the RLIMIT_MEMLOCK is 0
and the caller is not privileged.)
CONFORMING TO
SVr4, POSIX.1-2001.
NOTES
The IPC_INFO, SHM_STAT and SHM_INFO operations are used by the ipcs(1) program to provide information on allocated
resources. In the future these may modified or moved to a /proc file system interface.
Linux permits a process to attach (shmat(2)) a shared memory segment that has already been marked for deletion using shm-
ctl(IPC_RMID). This feature is not available on other Unix implementations; portable applications should avoid relying
on it.
Various fields in a struct shmid_ds were typed as short under Linux 2.2 and have become long under Linux 2.4. To take
advantage of this, a recompilation under glibc-2.1.91 or later should suffice. (The kernel distinguishes old and new
calls by an IPC_64 flag in cmd.)
SEE ALSO
mlock(2), setrlimit(2), shmget(2), shmop(2), capabilities(7), svipc(7)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.25 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, and information about
reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux 2008-08-07 SHMCTL(2)
