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fork(2)

NAME

     fork -- create a new process

LIBRARY

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <unistd.h>

     pid_t
     fork(void);

DESCRIPTION

     The fork() system call causes creation of a new process.  The new process
     (child process) is an exact copy of the calling process (parent process)
     except for the following:

	   o   The child process has a unique process ID.

	   o   The child process has a different parent process ID (i.e., the
	       process ID of the parent process).

	   o   The child process has its own copy of the parent's descriptors.
	       These descriptors reference the same underlying objects, so
	       that, for instance, file pointers in file objects are shared
	       between the child and the parent, so that an lseek(2) on a
	       descriptor in the child process can affect a subsequent read(2)
	       or write(2) by the parent.  This descriptor copying is also
	       used by the shell to establish standard input and output for
	       newly created processes as well as to set up pipes.

	   o   The child process' resource utilizations are set to 0; see
	       setrlimit(2).

	   o   All interval timers are cleared; see setitimer(2).

RETURN VALUES

     Upon successful completion, fork() returns a value of 0 to the child
     process and returns the process ID of the child process to the parent
     process.  Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned to the parent process, no
     child process is created, and the global variable errno is set to indi-
     cate the error.

ERRORS

     The fork() system call will fail and no child process will be created if:

     [EAGAIN]		The system-imposed limit on the total number of pro-
			cesses under execution would be exceeded.  The limit
			is given by the sysctl(3) MIB variable KERN_MAXPROC.
			(The limit is actually ten less than this except for
			the super user).

     [EAGAIN]		The user is not the super user, and the system-imposed
			limit on the total number of processes under execution
			by a single user would be exceeded.  The limit is
			given by the sysctl(3) MIB variable

SEE ALSO

     execve(2), rfork(2), setitimer(2), setrlimit(2), vfork(2), wait(2)

HISTORY

     The fork() function appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

FreeBSD 5.4			 June 4, 1993			   FreeBSD 5.4

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