1 .\" Copyright 1993 Giorgio Ciucci (giorgio@crcc.it)
3 .\" %%%LICENSE_START(VERBATIM)
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25 .\" Modified Tue Oct 22 17:54:56 1996 by Eric S. Raymond <esr@thyrsus.com>
26 .\" Modified 1 Jan 2002, Martin Schulze <joey@infodrom.org>
27 .\" Modified 4 Jan 2002, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
28 .\" Modified, 27 May 2004, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
29 .\" Added notes on capability requirements
30 .\" Modified, 11 Nov 2004, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
31 .\" Language and formatting clean-ups
32 .\" Added notes on /proc files
33 .\" Rewrote BUGS note about semget()'s failure to initialize
36 .TH SEMGET 2 2012-05-31 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
38 semget \- get a System V semaphore set identifier
41 .B #include <sys/types.h>
42 .B #include <sys/ipc.h>
43 .B #include <sys/sem.h>
46 .BI "int semget(key_t " key ,
52 system call returns the System V semaphore set identifier
53 associated with the argument
57 semaphores is created if
61 or if no existing semaphore set is associated with
74 and a semaphore set already exists for
82 (This is analogous to the effect of the combination
87 Upon creation, the least significant 9 bits of the argument
89 define the permissions (for owner, group and others)
90 for the semaphore set.
91 These bits have the same format, and the same
96 (though the execute permissions are
97 not meaningful for semaphores, and write permissions mean permission
98 to alter semaphore values).
100 The values of the semaphores in a newly created set are indeterminate.
101 (POSIX.1-2001 is explicit on this point.)
102 Although Linux, like many other implementations,
103 initializes the semaphore values to 0,
104 a portable application cannot rely on this:
105 it should explicitly initialize the semaphores to the desired values.
106 .\" In truth, every one of the many implementations that I've tested sets
107 .\" the values to zero, but I suppose there is/was some obscure
108 .\" implementation out there that does not.
110 When creating a new semaphore set,
112 initializes the set's associated data structure,
121 are set to the effective user ID of the calling process.
126 are set to the effective group ID of the calling process.
128 The least significant 9 bits of
130 are set to the least significant 9 bits of
134 is set to the value of
141 is set to the current time.
147 when a semaphore set is not being created.
150 must be greater than 0
151 and less than or equal to the maximum number of semaphores per semaphore set
154 If the semaphore set already exists, the permissions are
156 .\" and a check is made to see if it is marked for destruction.
158 If successful, the return value will be the semaphore set identifier
159 (a nonnegative integer), otherwise \-1
162 indicating the error.
166 will be set to one of the following:
169 A semaphore set exists for
171 but the calling process does not have permission to access the set,
172 and does not have the
177 A semaphore set exists for
187 .\" The semaphore set is marked to be deleted.
191 is less than 0 or greater than the limit on the number
192 of semaphores per semaphore set
194 or a semaphore set corresponding to
198 is larger than the number of semaphores in that set.
201 No semaphore set exists for
209 A semaphore set has to be created but the system does not have
210 enough memory for the new data structure.
213 A semaphore set has to be created but the system limit for the maximum
214 number of semaphore sets
216 or the system wide maximum number of semaphores
221 .\" SVr4 documents additional error conditions EFBIG, E2BIG, EAGAIN,
228 isn't required on Linux or by any version of POSIX.
230 some old implementations required the inclusion of these header files,
231 and the SVID also documented their inclusion.
232 Applications intended to be portable to such old systems may need
233 to include these header files.
234 .\" Like Linux, the FreeBSD man pages still document
235 .\" the inclusion of these header files.
238 isn't a flag field but a
241 If this special value is used for
243 the system call ignores everything but the least significant 9 bits of
245 and creates a new semaphore set (on success).
247 The following limits on semaphore set resources affect the
252 System wide maximum number of semaphore sets: policy dependent
253 (on Linux, this limit can be read and modified via the fourth field of
254 .IR /proc/sys/kernel/sem ).
255 .\" This /proc file is not available in Linux 2.2 and earlier -- MTK
258 Maximum number of semaphores per semid: implementation dependent
259 (on Linux, this limit can be read and modified via the first field of
260 .IR /proc/sys/kernel/sem ).
263 System wide maximum number of semaphores: policy dependent
264 (on Linux, this limit can be read and modified via the second field of
265 .IR /proc/sys/kernel/sem ).
272 was perhaps unfortunate,
274 would more clearly show its function.
276 The semaphores in a set are not initialized by
278 .\" In fact they are initialized to zero on Linux, but POSIX.1-2001
279 .\" does not specify this, and we can't portably rely on it.
280 In order to initialize the semaphores,
282 must be used to perform a
286 operation on the semaphore set.
287 (Where multiple peers do not know who will be the first to
288 initialize the set, checking for a nonzero
290 in the associated data structure retrieved by a
293 operation can be used to avoid races.)
298 .BR capabilities (7),
299 .BR sem_overview (7),
302 This page is part of release 3.64 of the Linux
305 A description of the project,
306 and information about reporting bugs,
308 \%http://www.kernel.org/doc/man\-pages/.