unix(4)
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UNIX(4) NetBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual UNIX(4)
NAME
unix -- UNIX-domain protocol family
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/un.h>
DESCRIPTION
The UNIX-domain protocol family is a collection of protocols that pro-
vides local (on-machine) interprocess communication through the normal
socket(2) mechanisms. The UNIX-domain family supports the SOCK_STREAM,
SOCK_SEQPACKET, and SOCK_DGRAM socket types and uses filesystem pathnames
for addressing.
ADDRESSING
UNIX-domain addresses are variable-length filesystem pathnames of at most
104 characters. The include file <sys/un.h> defines this address:
struct sockaddr_un {
u_char sun_len;
u_char sun_family;
char sun_path[104];
};
Binding a name to a UNIX-domain socket with bind(2) causes a socket file
to be created in the filesystem. This file is not removed when the
socket is closed--unlink(2) must be used to remove the file.
The length of UNIX-domain address, required by bind(2) and connect(2),
can be calculated by the macro SUN_LEN() defined in <sys/un.h>. The
sun_path field must be terminated by a NUL character to be used with
SUN_LEN(), but the terminating NUL is not part of the address. The
NetBSD kernel ignores any user-set value in the sun_len member of the
structure.
The UNIX-domain protocol family does not support broadcast addressing or
any form of ``wildcard'' matching on incoming messages. All addresses
are absolute- or relative-pathnames of other UNIX-domain sockets. Normal
filesystem access-control mechanisms are also applied when referencing
pathnames; e.g., the destination of a connect(2) or sendto(2) must be
writable.
PROTOCOLS
The UNIX-domain protocol family comprises simple transport protocols that
support the SOCK_STREAM, SOCK_SEQPACKET, and SOCK_DGRAM abstractions.
SOCK_STREAM and SOCK_SEQPACKET sockets also support the communication of
UNIX file descriptors through the use of the msg_control field in the msg
argument to sendmsg(2) and recvmsg(2).
Any valid descriptor may be sent in a message. The file descriptor(s) to
be passed are described using a struct cmsghdr that is defined in the
include file <sys/socket.h>. The type of the message is SCM_RIGHTS, and
the data portion of the messages is an array of integers representing the
file descriptors to be passed. The number of descriptors being passed is
defined by the length field of the message; the length field is the sum
of the size of the header plus the size of the array of file descriptors.
The received descriptor is a duplicate of the sender's descriptor, as if
it were created with a call to dup(2). Per-process descriptor flags, set
with fcntl(2), are not passed to a receiver. Descriptors that are await-
ing delivery, or that are purposely not received, are automatically
closed by the system when the destination socket is closed.
A UNIX-domain socket supports several SOL_LOCAL level options for use
with setsockopt(2) and getsockopt(2):
The LOCAL_CREDS option may be enabled on a SOCK_DGRAM, SOCK_SEQPACKET, or
a SOCK_STREAM socket. This option provides a mechanism for the receiver
to receive the credentials of the process as a recvmsg(2) control mes-
sage. The msg_control field in the msghdr structure points to a buffer
that contains a cmsghdr structure followed by a variable length sockcred
structure, defined in <sys/socket.h> as follows:
struct sockcred {
pid_t sc_pid; /* process id */
uid_t sc_uid; /* real user id */
uid_t sc_euid; /* effective user id */
gid_t sc_gid; /* real group id */
gid_t sc_egid; /* effective group id */
int sc_ngroups; /* number of supplemental groups */
gid_t sc_groups[1]; /* variable length */
};
The LOCAL_PEEREID option may be used with getsockopt(2) to get the PID
and effective user and group IDs of a SOCK_STREAM or SOCK_SEQPACKET peer
when it did connect(2) or bind(2). The returned structure is
struct unpcbid {
pid_t unp_pid; /* process id */
uid_t unp_euid; /* effective user id */
gid_t unp_egid; /* effective group id */
};
as defined in <sys/un.h>.
The SOCKCREDSIZE() macro computes the size of the sockcred structure for
a specified number of groups. The cmsghdr fields have the following val-
ues:
cmsg_len = CMSG_LEN(SOCKCREDSIZE(ngroups))
cmsg_level = SOL_SOCKET
cmsg_type = SCM_CREDS
EXAMPLES
The following code fragment shows how to bind a socket to pathname:
const char *pathname = "/path/to/socket";
struct sockaddr_un addr;
int ret;
memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
addr.sun_family = AF_LOCAL;
if (strlen(pathname) >= sizeof(addr.sun_path))
goto too_long;
strncpy(addr.sun_path, pathname, sizeof(addr.sun_path));
ret = bind(s, (const struct sockaddr *)&addr, SUN_LEN(&addr));
if (ret != 0)
goto bind_failed;
...
COMPATIBILITY
The sun_len field exists only in system derived from 4.4BSD. On systems
which don't have the SUN_LEN() macro, the following definition is recom-
mended:
#ifndef SUN_LEN
#define SUN_LEN(su) sizeof(struct(sockaddr_un))
#endif
SEE ALSO
socket(2), CMSG_DATA(3), intro(4)
Stuart Sechrest, An Introductory 4.4BSD Interprocess Communication
Tutorial. (see /usr/share/doc/reference/ref3/sockets)
Samuel J. Leffler, Robert S. Fabry, William N. Joy, Phil Lapsley, Steve
Miller, and Chris Torek, Advanced 4.4BSD IPC Tutorial. (see
/usr/share/doc/reference/ref3/sockets-advanced)
HISTORY
The sc_pid field was introduced in NetBSD 8.0.
NetBSD 10.99 June 28, 2022 NetBSD 10.99
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