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kvm_getprocs(3)

NAME

     kvm_getprocs, kvm_getargv, kvm_getenvv -- access user process state

LIBRARY

     Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm, -lkvm)

SYNOPSIS

     #include <kvm.h>
     #include <sys/param.h>
     #include <sys/sysctl.h>
     #include <sys/user.h>

     struct kinfo_proc *
     kvm_getprocs(kvm_t *kd, int op, int arg, int *cnt);

     char **
     kvm_getargv(kvm_t *kd, const struct kinfo_proc *p, int nchr);

     char **
     kvm_getenvv(kvm_t *kd, const struct kinfo_proc *p, int nchr);

DESCRIPTION

     The kvm_getprocs() function returns a (sub-)set of active processes in
     the kernel indicated by kd.  The op and arg arguments constitute a predi-
     cate which limits the set of processes returned.  The value of op
     describes the filtering predicate as follows:

	   KERN_PROC_ALL	 all processes and kernel visible threads
	   KERN_PROC_PROC	 all processes, without threads
	   KERN_PROC_PID	 processes with process ID arg
	   KERN_PROC_PGRP	 processes with process group arg
	   KERN_PROC_SESSION	 processes with session arg
	   KERN_PROC_TTY	 processes with TTY arg
	   KERN_PROC_UID	 processes with effective user ID arg
	   KERN_PROC_RUID	 processes with real user ID arg
	   KERN_PROC_INC_THREAD  modifier to return all kernel visible threads
				 when filtering by process ID, process group,
				 TTY, user ID, and real user ID

     The number of processes found is returned in the reference parameter cnt.
     The processes are returned as a contiguous array of kinfo_proc struc-
     tures.  This memory is locally allocated, and subsequent calls to
     kvm_getprocs() and kvm_close() will overwrite this storage.

     The kvm_getargv() function returns a null-terminated argument vector that
     corresponds to the command line arguments passed to process indicated by
     p.  Most likely, these arguments correspond to the values passed to
     exec(3) on process creation.  This information is, however, deliberately
     under control of the process itself.  Note that the original command name
     can be found, unaltered, in the p_comm field of the process structure
     returned by kvm_getprocs().

     The nchr argument indicates the maximum number of characters, including
     null bytes, to use in building the strings.  If this amount is exceeded,
     the string causing the overflow is truncated and the partial result is
     returned.	This is handy for programs like ps(1) and w(1) that print only
     a one line summary of a command and should not copy out large amounts of
     vector of environment strings.  This data is also alterable by the
     process.

RETURN VALUES

     The kvm_getprocs(), kvm_getargv(), and kvm_getenvv() functions return
     NULL on failure.

BUGS

     These routines do not belong in the kvm interface.

     In order for kvm_getenvv(3) to function correctly, procfs(5) must be
     mounted on /proc.

SEE ALSO

     kvm(3), kvm_close(3), kvm_geterr(3), kvm_nlist(3), kvm_open(3),
     kvm_openfiles(3), kvm_read(3), kvm_write(3)

FreeBSD 5.4		      September 27, 2003		   FreeBSD 5.4

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