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SIGNALFD(2)		   Linux Programmer's Manual		   SIGNALFD(2)



NAME
       signalfd - create a file descriptor for accepting signals

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sys/signalfd.h>

       int signalfd(int fd, const sigset_t *mask, int flags);

DESCRIPTION
       signalfd() creates a file descriptor that can be used to accept signals
       targeted at the caller.	This provides an alternative to the use	 of  a
       signal  handler	or sigwaitinfo(2), and has the advantage that the file
       descriptor may be monitored by select(2), poll(2), and epoll(7).

       The mask argument specifies the set of signals that the	caller	wishes
       to accept via the file descriptor.  This argument is a signal set whose
       contents can be initialized using the macros described in sigsetops(3).
       Normally,  the  set  of	signals to be received via the file descriptor
       should be blocked using sigprocmask(2), to prevent  the	signals	 being
       handled according to their default dispositions.	 It is not possible to
       receive SIGKILL or SIGSTOP signals  via	a  signalfd  file  descriptor;
       these signals are silently ignored if specified in mask.

       If  the	fd argument is -1, then the call creates a new file descriptor
       and associates the signal set specified in mask with that file descrip-
       tor.   If  fd is not -1, then it must specify a valid existing signalfd
       file descriptor, and mask is used to replace the signal set  associated
       with that file descriptor.

       Starting with Linux 2.6.27, the following values may be bitwise ORed in
       flags to change the behavior of signalfd():

       SFD_NONBLOCK  Set the O_NONBLOCK file status flag on the new open  file
		     description.   Using  this	 flag  saves  extra  calls  to
		     fcntl(2) to achieve the same result.

       SFD_CLOEXEC   Set the close-on-exec (FD_CLOEXEC) flag on the  new  file
		     descriptor.  See the description of the O_CLOEXEC flag in
		     open(2) for reasons why this may be useful.

       In Linux up to version 2.6.26, the flags argument is unused,  and  must
       be specified as zero.

       signalfd() returns a file descriptor that supports the following opera-
       tions:

       read(2)
	      If one or more of the signals specified in mask is  pending  for
	      the  process,  then  the	buffer	supplied to read(2) is used to
	      return one or more signalfd_siginfo structures (see below)  that
	      describe	the  signals.	The read(2) returns information for as
	      many signals as are pending and will fit in the supplied buffer.
	      The  buffer  must	 be  at	 least sizeof(struct signalfd_siginfo)
	      bytes.  The return value of the read(2) is the total  number  of
	      bytes read.

	      As  a  consequence  of the read(2), the signals are consumed, so
	      that they are no longer pending for the process (i.e., will  not
	      be  caught by signal handlers, and cannot be accepted using sig-
	      waitinfo(2)).

	      If none of the signals in mask is pending for the process,  then
	      the  read(2)  either  blocks until one of the signals in mask is
	      generated for the process, or fails with the error EAGAIN if the
	      file descriptor has been made nonblocking.

       poll(2), select(2) (and similar)
	      The file descriptor is readable (the select(2) readfds argument;
	      the poll(2) POLLIN flag) if one or more of the signals  in  mask
	      is pending for the process.

	      The  signalfd  file  descriptor  also  supports  the other file-
	      descriptor  multiplexing	 APIs:	 pselect(2),   ppoll(2),   and
	      epoll(7).

       close(2)
	      When  the	 file  descriptor  is  no longer required it should be
	      closed.  When all file descriptors associated with the same sig-
	      nalfd  object  have  been	 closed,  the resources for object are
	      freed by the kernel.

   The signalfd_siginfo structure
       The format of the signalfd_siginfo structure(s)	returned  by  read(2)s
       from a signalfd file descriptor is as follows:

	   struct signalfd_siginfo {
	       uint32_t ssi_signo;    /* Signal number */
	       int32_t	ssi_errno;    /* Error number (unused) */
	       int32_t	ssi_code;     /* Signal code */
	       uint32_t ssi_pid;      /* PID of sender */
	       uint32_t ssi_uid;      /* Real UID of sender */
	       int32_t	ssi_fd;	      /* File descriptor (SIGIO) */
	       uint32_t ssi_tid;      /* Kernel timer ID (POSIX timers)
	       uint32_t ssi_band;     /* Band event (SIGIO) */
	       uint32_t ssi_overrun;  /* POSIX timer overrun count */
	       uint32_t ssi_trapno;   /* Trap number that caused signal */
	       int32_t	ssi_status;   /* Exit status or signal (SIGCHLD) */
	       int32_t	ssi_int;      /* Integer sent by sigqueue(3) */
	       uint64_t ssi_ptr;      /* Pointer sent by sigqueue(3) */
	       uint64_t ssi_utime;    /* User CPU time consumed (SIGCHLD) */
	       uint64_t ssi_stime;    /* System CPU time consumed
					 (SIGCHLD) */
	       uint64_t ssi_addr;     /* Address that generated signal
					 (for hardware-generated signals) */
	       uint16_t ssi_addr_lsb; /* Least significant bit of address
					 (SIGBUS; since Linux 2.6.37)
	       uint8_t	pad[X];	      /* Pad size to 128 bytes (allow for
					 additional fields in the future) */
	   };

       Each  of	 the  fields  in  this structure is analogous to the similarly
       named field in the siginfo_t structure.	 The  siginfo_t	 structure  is
       described  in  sigaction(2).   Not  all	fields	in  the	 returned sig-
       nalfd_siginfo structure will be valid for a specific signal; the set of
       valid  fields can be determined from the value returned in the ssi_code
       field.  This field is the analog of the siginfo_t  si_code  field;  see
       sigaction(2) for details.

   fork(2) semantics
       After  a	 fork(2),  the	child  inherits	 a  copy  of the signalfd file
       descriptor.  A read(2) from the	file  descriptor  in  the  child  will
       return information about signals queued to the child.

   Semantics of file descriptor passing
       As with other file descriptors, signalfd file descriptors can be passed
       to another process via a UNIX domain  socket  (see  unix(7)).   In  the
       receiving  process,  a  read(2)	from the received file descriptor will
       return information about signals queued to that process.

   execve(2) semantics
       Just like any other file descriptor, a signalfd file descriptor remains
       open  across  an execve(2), unless it has been marked for close-on-exec
       (see fcntl(2)).	Any signals that were available for reading before the
       execve(2) remain available to the newly loaded program.	(This is anal-
       ogous to traditional signal semantics, where a blocked signal  that  is
       pending remains pending across an execve(2).)

   Thread semantics
       The  semantics  of signalfd file descriptors in a multithreaded program
       mirror the standard semantics for signals.   In	other  words,  when  a
       thread  reads from a signalfd file descriptor, it will read the signals
       that are directed to  the  thread  itself  and  the  signals  that  are
       directed	 to  the  process  (i.e., the entire thread group).  (A thread
       will not be able to read signals that are directed to other threads  in
       the process.)

RETURN VALUE
       On  success,  signalfd()	 returns  a  signalfd file descriptor; this is
       either a new file descriptor (if fd was -1), or fd if fd	 was  a	 valid
       signalfd file descriptor.  On error, -1 is returned and errno is set to
       indicate the error.

ERRORS
       EBADF  The fd file descriptor is not a valid file descriptor.

       EINVAL fd is not a valid signalfd file descriptor.

       EINVAL flags is invalid; or, in	Linux  2.6.26  or  earlier,  flags  is
	      nonzero.

       EMFILE The per-process limit on the number of open file descriptors has
	      been reached.

       ENFILE The system-wide limit on the total number of open files has been
	      reached.

       ENODEV Could not mount (internal) anonymous inode device.

       ENOMEM There  was  insufficient	memory	to  create a new signalfd file
	      descriptor.

VERSIONS
       signalfd() is available on Linux since kernel 2.6.22.  Working  support
       is  provided  in	 glibc since version 2.8.  The signalfd4() system call
       (see NOTES) is available on Linux since kernel 2.6.27.

CONFORMING TO
       signalfd() and signalfd4() are Linux-specific.

NOTES
       A process can create multiple signalfd file descriptors.	 This makes it
       possible	 to  accept  different	signals on different file descriptors.
       (This may be useful if monitoring the file descriptors using select(2),
       poll(2),	 or  epoll(7): the arrival of different signals will make dif-
       ferent file descriptors ready.)	If a signal appears  in	 the  mask  of
       more  than one of the file descriptors, then occurrences of that signal
       can be read (once) from any one of the file descriptors.

       The signal mask employed by a signalfd file descriptor  can  be	viewed
       via  the	 entry	for the corresponding file descriptor in the process's
       /proc/[pid]/fdinfo directory.  See proc(5) for further details.

   Limitations
       The signalfd mechanism can't be used to receive signals that  are  syn-
       chronously  generated,  such  as	 the  SIGSEGV signal that results from
       accessing an invalid memory address or the SIGFPE signal	 that  results
       from  an	 arithmetic error.  Such signals can be caught only via signal
       handler.

       As described above, in normal usage one blocks the signals that will be
       accepted	 via  signalfd().   If	spawning  a child process to execute a
       helper program (that does not need the signalfd file descriptor), then,
       after the call to fork(2), you will normally want to unblock those sig-
       nals before calling execve(2), so that the helper program can  see  any
       signals	that it expects to see.	 Be aware, however, that this won't be
       possible in the case of a helper program spawned behind the  scenes  by
       any  library  function  that  the program may call.  In such cases, one
       must fall back to using a traditional signal handler that writes	 to  a
       file descriptor monitored by select(2), poll(2), or epoll(7),

   C library/kernel differences
       The  underlying	Linux  system  call  requires  an additional argument,
       size_t sizemask, which specifies the size of the	 mask  argument.   The
       glibc signalfd() wrapper function does not include this argument, since
       it provides the required value for the underlying system call.

       There are two underlying Linux system calls: signalfd()	and  the  more
       recent  signalfd4().  The former system call does not implement a flags
       argument.  The latter system call implements the flags values described
       above.	Starting  with glibc 2.9, the signalfd() wrapper function will
       use signalfd4() where it is available.

BUGS
       In kernels before 2.6.25, the ssi_ptr and ssi_int fields are not filled
       in with the data accompanying a signal sent by sigqueue(3).

EXAMPLE
       The program below accepts the signals SIGINT and SIGQUIT via a signalfd
       file descriptor.	 The program terminates after accepting a SIGQUIT sig-
       nal.  The following shell session demonstrates the use of the program:

	   $ ./signalfd_demo
	   ^C			# Control-C generates SIGINT
	   Got SIGINT
	   ^C
	   Got SIGINT
	   ^\			 # Control-\ generates SIGQUIT
	   Got SIGQUIT
	   $

   Program source

       #include <sys/signalfd.h>
       #include <signal.h>
       #include <unistd.h>
       #include <stdlib.h>
       #include <stdio.h>

       #define handle_error(msg) \
	   do { perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } while (0)

       int
       main(int argc, char *argv[])
       {
	   sigset_t mask;
	   int sfd;
	   struct signalfd_siginfo fdsi;
	   ssize_t s;

	   sigemptyset(&mask);
	   sigaddset(&mask, SIGINT);
	   sigaddset(&mask, SIGQUIT);

	   /* Block signals so that they aren't handled
	      according to their default dispositions */

	   if (sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, &mask, NULL) == -1)
	       handle_error("sigprocmask");

	   sfd = signalfd(-1, &mask, 0);
	   if (sfd == -1)
	       handle_error("signalfd");

	   for (;;) {
	       s = read(sfd, &fdsi, sizeof(struct signalfd_siginfo));
	       if (s != sizeof(struct signalfd_siginfo))
		   handle_error("read");

	       if (fdsi.ssi_signo == SIGINT) {
		   printf("Got SIGINT\n");
	       } else if (fdsi.ssi_signo == SIGQUIT) {
		   printf("Got SIGQUIT\n");
		   exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
	       } else {
		   printf("Read unexpected signal\n");
	       }
	   }
       }

SEE ALSO
       eventfd(2),  poll(2), read(2), select(2), sigaction(2), sigprocmask(2),
       sigwaitinfo(2), timerfd_create(2), sigsetops(3), sigwait(3),  epoll(7),
       signal(7)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 4.10 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, information about reporting bugs,  and  the
       latest	  version     of     this    page,    can    be	   found    at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



Linux				  2016-12-12			   SIGNALFD(2)