Computer Science
CLONE(2) Linux Programmer's Manual CLONE(2)
NAME
__clone - create a child process
SYNOPSIS
#include <sched.h>
int __clone(int (*fn) (void *arg), void *child_stack, int
flags, void *arg)
DESCRIPTION
__clone creates a new process like fork(2) does. Unlike
fork(2), __clone allows the child process to share parts
of its execution context with its parent process, such as
the memory space, the table of file descriptors, and the
table of signal handlers. The main use of __clone is to
implement threads: multiple threads of control in a pro-
gram that run concurrently in a shared memory space.
When the child process is created, it executes the func-
tion application fn(arg). The fn argument is a pointer to
a function that is called by the child process at the
beginning of its execution. The arg argument is passed
back to the fn function.
When the fn(arg) function application returns, the child
process terminates. The integer returned by fn is the
exit code for the child process. The child process may
also terminate explicitely by calling exit(1) or after
receiving a fatal signal.
The child_stack argument specifies the location of the
stack used by the child process. Since the child and par-
ent processes may share memory, it is not possible in gen-
eral for the child process to execute in the same stack as
the parent process. The parent process must therefore set
up memory space for the child stack and pass a pointer to
this space to __clone. Stacks grow downwards on all pro-
cessors that run Linux (except the HP PA processors), so
child_stack usually points to the topmost address of the
memory space set up for the child stack.
The low byte of flags contains the number of the signal
sent to the parent when the child dies. flags may also be
bitwise-or'ed with one or several of the following con-
stants, in order to specify what is shared between the
parent and child processes:
CLONE_VM
If CLONE_VM is set, the parent and the child pro-
cesses run in the same memory space. In particu-
lar, memory writes performed by the parent process
or by the child process are also visible in the
other process. Moreover, any memory mapping or
unmapping performed with mmap(2) or munmap(2) by
the child or parent process also affects the other
process.
If CLONE_VM is not set, the child process runs in a
separate copy of the memory space of the parent at
the time of __clone. Memory writes or file map-
ping/unmapping performed by one of the processes
does not affect the other, as in the case of
fork(2).
CLONE_FS
If CLONE_FS is set, the parent and the child pro-
cesses share the same file system information.
This includes the root of the file system, the cur-
rent working directory, and the umask. Any call to
chroot(2), chdir(2), or umask(2) performed by the
parent or child process also takes effect in the
other process.
If CLONE_FS is not set, the child process works on
a copy of the file system information of the parent
at the time of __clone. Calls to
chroot(2),chdir(2),umask(2) performed later by one
of the processes does not affect the other.
CLONE_FILES
If CLONE_FILES is set, the parent and the child
processes share the same file descriptor table.
File descriptors always refer to the same files in
the parent and in the child process. Any file
descriptor created by the parent process or by the
child process is also valid in the other process.
Similarly, if one of the processes closes a file
descriptor, or changes its associated flags, the
other process is also affected.
If CLONE_FILES is not set, the child process inher-
its a copy of all file descriptors opened in the
parent process at the time of __clone. Operations
on file descriptors performed later by one of the
parent or child processes do not affect the other.
CLONE_SIGHAND
If CLONE_SIGHAND is set, the parent and the child
processes share the same table of signal handlers.
If the parent or child process calls sigaction(2)
to change the behavior associated with a signal,
the behavior is also changed in the other process
as well. However, the parent and child processes
still have distinct signal masks and sets of pend-
ing signals. So, one of them may block or unblock
some signals using sigprocmask(2) without affecting
the other process.
If CLONE_SIGHAND is not set, the child process
inherits a copy of the signal handlers of its par-
ent at the time __clone is called. Calls to sigac-
tion(2) performed later by one of the processes
have no effect on the other process.
CLONE_PID
If CLONE_PID is set, the child process is created
with the same process ID as its parent process.
If CLONE_PID is not set, the child process pos-
sesses a unique process ID, distinct from that of
its parent.
RETURN VALUE
On success, the PID of the child process is returned in
the parent's thread of execution. On failure, a -1 will
be returned in the parent's context, no child process will
be created, and errno will be set appropriately.
ERRORS
EAGAIN Too many processes are already running.
ENOMEM __clone cannot allocate sufficient memory to allo-
cate a task structure for the child, or to copy
those parts of the parent's context that need to be
copied.
BUGS
As of version 2.1.97 of the kernel, the CLONE_PID flag
should not be used, since other parts of the kernel and
most system software still assume that process IDs are
unique.
There is no entry for __clone in libc version 5. libc 6
(a.k.a. glibc 2) provides __clone as described in this
manual page.
CONFORMING TO
The __clone call is Linux-specific and should not be used
in programs intended to be portable. For programming
threaded applications (multiple threads of control in the
same memory space), it is better to use a library imple-
menting the POSIX 1003.1c thread API, such as the Linux-
Threads library. See pthread_create(3thr).
This manual page corresponds to kernels 2.0.x and 2.1.x,
and to glibc 2.0.x.
SEE ALSO
fork(2), pthread_create(3thr).
Linux 2.0.33 25 april 1998 1
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