__clone(2) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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CLONE(2)                  NetBSD System Calls Manual                  CLONE(2)


NAME

     clone - spawn new process with options


LIBRARY

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)


SYNOPSIS

     #include <sched.h>

     pid_t
     clone(int (*func)(void *arg), void *stack, int flags, void *arg);

     pid_t
     __clone(int (*func)(void *arg), void *stack, int flags, void *arg);


DESCRIPTION

     The clone system call (and associated library support code) creates a new
     process in a way that allows the caller to specify several options for
     the new process creation.

     Unlike fork(2) or vfork(2), in which the child process returns to the
     call site, clone causes the child process to begin execution at the func-
     tion specified by func.  The argument arg is passed to the entry point,
     as a means for the parent to provide context to the child.  The stack
     pointer for the child process will be set to stack.  Note that the clone
     interface requires that the application know the stack direction for the
     architecture, and that the caller initialize the stack argument as appro-
     priate for the stack direction.

     The flags argument specifies several options that control how the child
     process is created.  The lower 8 bits of flags specify the signal that is
     to be sent to the parent when the child exits.  The following flags may
     also be specified by bitwise-or'ing them with the signal value:

     CLONE_VM       Share the virtual address space with the parent.  The
                    address space is shared in the same way as vfork(2).

     CLONE_FS       Share the ``file system information'' with the parent.
                    This include the current working directory and file cre-
                    ation mask.

     CLONE_FILES    Share the file descriptor table with the parent.

     CLONE_SIGHAND  Share the signal handler set with the parent.  Note that
                    the signal mask is never shared between the parent and the
                    child, even if CLONE_SIGHAND is set.

     CLONE_VFORK    Preserve the synchronization semantics of vfork(2); the
                    parent blocks until the child exits.

     The clone call returns the pid of the child in the parent's context.  The
     child is provided no return value, since it begins execution at a differ-
     ent address.

     If the child process's entry point returns, the value it returns is
     passed to _exit(2), and the child process exits.  Note that if the child
     process wants to exit directly, it should use _exit(2), and not exit(3),
     since exit(3) will flush and close standard I/O channels, and thereby
     corrupt the parent process's standard I/O data structures (even with
     fork(2) it is wrong to call exit(3) since buffered data would then be
     flushed twice).

     Note that clone is not intended to be used for new native NetBSD applica-
     tions.  It is provided as a means to port software originally written for
     the Linux operating system to NetBSD.


RETURN VALUES

     Same as for fork(2).


ERRORS

     Same as for fork(2).


SEE ALSO

     chdir(2), chroot(2), fork(2), sigaction(2), sigprocmask(2), umask(2),
     vfork(2), wait(2)


HISTORY

     The clone() function call appeared in NetBSD 1.6.  It is compatible with
     the Linux function call of the same name.


BUGS

     The NetBSD implementation of clone does not implement the CLONE_PID
     option that is present in the Linux implementation.

     The NetBSD implementation of clone does not implement the CLONE_PTRACE
     option that is present in the Linux implementation.

NetBSD 2.1                       July 16, 2001                      NetBSD 2.1