.\" Copyright (C) 2007 Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>

.\" with some input from Stepan Kasal <kasal@ucw.cz>

.\"

.\" Some content retained from an earlier version of this page:

.\" Copyright (C) 1998 Andries Brouwer (aeb@cwi.nl)

.\" Modifications for 2.2 and 2.4 Copyright (C) 2002 Ian Redfern

.\" <redferni@logica.com>

.\"

.\" %%%LICENSE_START(VERBATIM)

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.\" manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are

.\" preserved on all copies.

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.\" manual page may be incorrect or out-of-date.  The author(s) assume no

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.\" the use of the information contained herein.  The author(s) may not

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.\"

.TH SYSCALLS 2 2018-02-02 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"

.SH NAME

syscalls \- Linux system calls

.SH SYNOPSIS

Linux system calls.

.SH DESCRIPTION

The system call is the fundamental interface between an application

and the Linux kernel.

.SS System calls and library wrapper functions

System calls are generally not invoked directly,

but rather via wrapper functions in glibc (or perhaps some other library).

For details of direct invocation of a system call, see

.BR intro (2).

Often, but not always, the name of the wrapper function is the same

as the name of the system call that it invokes.

For example, glibc contains a function

.BR truncate ()

which invokes the underlying "truncate" system call.

.PP

Often the glibc wrapper function is quite thin, doing little work

other than copying arguments to the right registers

before invoking the system call,

and then setting

.I errno

appropriately after the system call has returned.

(These are the same steps that are performed by

.BR syscall (2),

which can be used to invoke system calls

for which no wrapper function is provided.)

Note: system calls indicate a failure by returning a negative error

number to the caller;

when this happens,

the wrapper function negates the returned error number

(to make it positive), copies it to

.IR errno ,

and returns \-1 to the caller of the wrapper.

.PP

Sometimes, however, the wrapper function does some extra work

before invoking the system call.

For example, nowadays there are (for reasons described below) two

related system calls,

.BR truncate (2)

and

.BR truncate64 (2),

and the glibc

.BR truncate ()

wrapper function checks which of those system calls

are provided by the kernel and determines which should be employed.

.SS System call list

Below is a list of the Linux system calls.

In the list, the

.I Kernel

column indicates the kernel version

for those system calls that were new in Linux 2.2,

or have appeared since that kernel version.

Note the following points:

.IP * 3

Where no kernel version is indicated,

the system call appeared in kernel 1.0 or earlier.

.IP *

Where a system call is marked "1.2"

this means the system call probably appeared in a 1.1.x kernel version,

and first appeared in a stable kernel with 1.2.

(Development of the 1.2 kernel was initiated from a branch of kernel

1.0.6 via the 1.1.x unstable kernel series.)

.IP *

Where a system call is marked "2.0"

this means the system call probably appeared in a 1.3.x kernel version,

and first appeared in a stable kernel with 2.0.

(Development of the 2.0 kernel was initiated from a branch of kernel

1.2.x, somewhere around 1.2.10,

via the 1.3.x unstable kernel series.)

.\" Was kernel 2.0 started from a branch of 1.2.10?

.\" At least from the timestamps of the tarballs of

.\" of 1.2.10 and 1.3.0, that's how it looks, but in

.\" fact the diff doesn't seem very clear, the

.\" 1.3.0 .tar.bz is much bigger (2.0 MB) than the

.\" 1.2.10 .tar.bz2 (1.8 MB), and AEB points out the

.\" timestamps of some files in 1.3.0 seem to be older

.\" than those in 1.2.10.  All of this suggests

.\" that there might not have been a clean branch point.

.IP *

Where a system call is marked "2.2"

this means the system call probably appeared in a 2.1.x kernel version,

and first appeared in a stable kernel with 2.2.0.

(Development of the 2.2 kernel was initiated from a branch of kernel

2.0.21 via the 2.1.x unstable kernel series.)

.IP *

Where a system call is marked "2.4"

this means the system call probably appeared in a 2.3.x kernel version,

and first appeared in a stable kernel with 2.4.0.

(Development of the 2.4 kernel was initiated from a branch of

kernel 2.2.8 via the 2.3.x unstable kernel series.)

.IP *

Where a system call is marked "2.6"

this means the system call probably appeared in a 2.5.x kernel version,

and first appeared in a stable kernel with 2.6.0.

(Development of kernel 2.6 was initiated from a branch

of kernel 2.4.15 via the 2.5.x unstable kernel series.)

.IP *

Starting with kernel 2.6.0, the development model changed,

and new system calls may appear in each 2.6.x release.

In this case, the exact version number where the system call appeared

is shown.

This convention continues with the 3.x kernel series,

which followed on from kernel 2.6.39, and the 4.x kernel series,

which followed on from kernel 3.19.

.IP *

In some cases, a system call was added to a stable kernel

series after it branched from the previous stable kernel

series, and then backported into the earlier stable kernel series.

For example some system calls that appeared in 2.6.x were also backported

into a 2.4.x release after 2.4.15.

When this is so, the version where the system call appeared

in both of the major kernel series is listed.

.PP

The list of system calls that are available as at kernel 4.11

(or in a few cases only on older kernels) is as follows:

.\"

.\" Looking at scripts/checksyscalls.sh in the kernel source is

.\" instructive about x86 specifics.

.\"

.ad l

.TS

l2 le l

---

l l l.

\fBSystem call\fP	\fBKernel\fP	\fBNotes\fP

\fB_llseek\fP(2)	1.2

\fB_newselect\fP(2)	2.0

\fB_sysctl\fP(2)	2.0

\fBaccept\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBaccept4\fP(2)	2.6.28

\fBaccess\fP(2)	1.0

\fBacct\fP(2)	1.0

\fBadd_key\fP(2)	2.6.10

\fBadjtimex\fP(2)	1.0

\fBalarm\fP(2)	1.0

\fBalloc_hugepages\fP(2)	2.5.36	Removed in 2.5.44

\fBbdflush\fP(2)	1.2	T{

Deprecated (does nothing)

.br

since 2.6

T}

\fBbind\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBbpf\fP(2)	3.18

\fBbrk\fP(2)	1.0

\fBcacheflush\fP(2)	1.2	Not on x86

\fBcapget\fP(2)	2.2

\fBcapset\fP(2)	2.2

\fBchdir\fP(2)	1.0

\fBchmod\fP(2)	1.0

\fBchown\fP(2)	2.2	T{

See \fBchown\fP(2) for

.br

version details

T}

\fBchown32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBchroot\fP(2)	1.0

\fBclock_adjtime\fP(2)	2.6.39

\fBclock_getres\fP(2)	2.6

\fBclock_gettime\fP(2)	2.6

\fBclock_nanosleep\fP(2)	2.6

\fBclock_settime\fP(2)	2.6

\fBclone\fP(2)	1.0

\fBclose\fP(2)	1.0

\fBconnect\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBcopy_file_range\fP(2)	4.5

\fBcreat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBcreate_module\fP(2)	1.0	Removed in 2.6

\fBdelete_module\fP(2)	1.0

\fBdup\fP(2)	1.0

\fBdup2\fP(2)	1.0

\fBdup3\fP(2)	2.6.27

\fBepoll_create\fP(2)	2.6

\fBepoll_create1\fP(2)	2.6.27

\fBepoll_ctl\fP(2)	2.6

\fBepoll_pwait\fP(2)	2.6.19

\fBepoll_wait\fP(2)	2.6

\fBeventfd\fP(2)	2.6.22

\fBeventfd2\fP(2)	2.6.27

\fBexecve\fP(2)	1.0

\fBexecveat\fP(2)	3.19

\fBexit\fP(2)	1.0

\fBexit_group\fP(2)	2.6

\fBfaccessat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBfadvise64\fP(2)	2.6

.\" Implements \fBposix_fadvise\fP(2)

\fBfadvise64_64\fP(2)	2.6

\fBfallocate\fP(2)	2.6.23

\fBfanotify_init\fP(2)	2.6.37

\fBfanotify_mark\fP(2)	2.6.37

.\" The fanotify calls were added in Linux 2.6.36,

.\" but disabled while the API was finalized.

\fBfchdir\fP(2)	1.0

\fBfchmod\fP(2)	1.0

\fBfchmodat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBfchown\fP(2)	1.0

\fBfchown32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBfchownat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBfcntl\fP(2)	1.0

\fBfcntl64\fP(2)	2.4

\fBfdatasync\fP(2)	2.0

\fBfgetxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBfinit_module\fP(2)	3.8

\fBflistxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBflock\fP(2)	2.0

\fBfork\fP(2)	1.0

\fBfree_hugepages\fP(2)	2.5.36	Removed in 2.5.44

\fBfremovexattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBfsetxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBfstat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBfstat64\fP(2)	2.4

\fBfstatat64\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBfstatfs\fP(2)	1.0

\fBfstatfs64\fP(2)	2.6

\fBfsync\fP(2)	1.0

\fBftruncate\fP(2)	1.0

\fBftruncate64\fP(2)	2.4

\fBfutex\fP(2)	2.6

\fBfutimesat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBget_kernel_syms\fP(2)	1.0	Removed in 2.6

\fBget_mempolicy\fP(2)	2.6.6

\fBget_robust_list\fP(2)	2.6.17

\fBget_thread_area\fP(2)	2.6

\fBgetcpu\fP(2)	2.6.19

\fBgetcwd\fP(2)	2.2

\fBgetdents\fP(2)	2.0

\fBgetdents64\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgetegid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetegid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgeteuid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgeteuid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgetgid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetgid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgetgroups\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetgroups32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgetitimer\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetpeername\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBgetpagesize\fP(2)	2.0	Not on x86

\fBgetpgid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetpgrp\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetpid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetppid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetpriority\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetrandom\fP(2)	3.17

\fBgetresgid\fP(2)	2.2

\fBgetresgid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgetresuid\fP(2)	2.2

\fBgetresuid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgetrlimit\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetrusage\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetsid\fP(2)	2.0

\fBgetsockname\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBgetsockopt\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBgettid\fP(2)	2.4.11

\fBgettimeofday\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetuid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBgetuid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBgetunwind\fP(2)	2.4.8	ia64; deprecated

\fBgetxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBinit_module\fP(2)	1.0

\fBinotify_add_watch\fP(2)	2.6.13

\fBinotify_init\fP(2)	2.6.13

\fBinotify_init1\fP(2)	2.6.27

\fBinotify_rm_watch\fP(2)	2.6.13

\fBio_cancel\fP(2)	2.6

\fBio_destroy\fP(2)	2.6

\fBio_getevents\fP(2)	2.6

\fBio_setup\fP(2)	2.6

\fBio_submit\fP(2)	2.6

\fBioctl\fP(2)	1.0

\fBioperm\fP(2)	1.0

\fBiopl\fP(2)	1.0

\fBioprio_get\fP(2)	2.6.13

\fBioprio_set\fP(2)	2.6.13

\fBipc\fP(2)	1.0

.\" Implements System V IPC calls

\fBkcmp\fP(2)	3.5

\fBkern_features\fP(2)	3.7	Sparc64

.\" FIXME . document kern_features():

.\" commit 517ffce4e1a03aea979fe3a18a3dd1761a24fafb

\fBkexec_file_load\fP(2)	3.17

\fBkexec_load\fP(2)	2.6.13

.\" The entry in the syscall table was reserved starting in 2.6.7

.\" Was named sys_kexec_load() from 2.6.7 to 2.6.16

\fBkeyctl\fP(2)	2.6.10

\fBkill\fP(2)	1.0

\fBlchown\fP(2)	1.0	T{

See \fBchown\fP(2) for

.br

version details

T}

\fBlchown32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBlgetxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBlink\fP(2)	1.0

\fBlinkat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBlisten\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBlistxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBllistxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBlookup_dcookie\fP(2)	2.6

\fBlremovexattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBlseek\fP(2)	1.0

\fBlsetxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBlstat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBlstat64\fP(2)	2.4

\fBmadvise\fP(2)	2.4

\fBmbind\fP(2)	2.6.6

.\" \fBmemory_ordering\fP(2)	???	Sparc64

\fBmembarrier\fP(2)	3.17

\fBmemfd_create\fP(2)	3.17

\fBmigrate_pages\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBmincore\fP(2)	2.4

\fBmkdir\fP(2)	1.0

\fBmkdirat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBmknod\fP(2)	1.0

\fBmknodat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBmlock\fP(2)	2.0

\fBmlock2\fP(2)	4.4

\fBmlockall\fP(2)	2.0

\fBmmap\fP(2)	1.0

\fBmmap2\fP(2)	2.4

\fBmodify_ldt\fP(2)	1.0

\fBmount\fP(2)	1.0

\fBmove_pages\fP(2)	2.6.18

\fBmprotect\fP(2)	1.0

\fBmq_getsetattr\fP(2)	2.6.6

.\" Implements \fBmq_getattr\fP(3) and \fBmq_setattr\fP(3)

\fBmq_notify\fP(2)	2.6.6

\fBmq_open\fP(2)	2.6.6

\fBmq_timedreceive\fP(2)	2.6.6

\fBmq_timedsend\fP(2)	2.6.6

\fBmq_unlink\fP(2)	2.6.6

\fBmremap\fP(2)	2.0

\fBmsgctl\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBmsgget\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBmsgrcv\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBmsgsnd\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBmsync\fP(2)	2.0

.\" \fBmultiplexer\fP(2)	??	__NR_multiplexer reserved on

.\"		PowerPC, but unimplemented?

\fBmunlock\fP(2)	2.0

\fBmunlockall\fP(2)	2.0

\fBmunmap\fP(2)	1.0

\fBname_to_handle_at\fP(2)	2.6.39

\fBnanosleep\fP(2)	2.0

\fBnfsservctl\fP(2)	2.2	Removed in 3.1

\fBnice\fP(2)	1.0

\fBoldfstat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBoldlstat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBoldolduname\fP(2)	1.0

\fBoldstat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBolduname\fP(2)	1.0

\fBopen\fP(2)	1.0

\fBopen_by_handle_at\fP(2)	2.6.39

\fBopenat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBpause\fP(2)	1.0

\fBpciconfig_iobase\fP(2)	2.2.15; 2.4	Not on x86

.\" Alpha, PowerPC, ARM; not x86

\fBpciconfig_read\fP(2)	2.0.26; 2.2	Not on x86

.\" , PowerPC, ARM; not x86

\fBpciconfig_write\fP(2)	2.0.26; 2.2	Not on x86

.\" , PowerPC, ARM; not x86

\fBperf_event_open\fP(2)	2.6.31	T{

Was perf_counter_open() in

.br

2.6.31; renamed in 2.6.32

T}

\fBpersonality\fP(2)	1.2

\fBperfctr\fP(2)	2.2	Sparc; removed in 2.6.34

.\"	commit c7d5a0050773e98d1094eaa9f2a1a793fafac300 removed perfctr()

\fBperfmonctl\fP(2)	2.4	ia64

\fBpipe\fP(2)	1.0

\fBpipe2\fP(2)	2.6.27

\fBpivot_root\fP(2)	2.4

\fBpkey_alloc\fP(2)	4.8

\fBpkey_free\fP(2)	4.8

\fBpkey_mprotect\fP(2)	4.8

\fBpoll\fP(2)	2.0.36; 2.2

\fBppc_rtas\fP(2)	2.6.2	PowerPC only

\fBppc_swapcontext\fP(2)	2.6.3	PowerPC only

\fBppoll\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBprctl\fP(2)	2.2

\fBpread64\fP(2)		T{

Added as "pread" in 2.2;

.br

renamed "pread64" in 2.6

T}

\fBpreadv\fP(2)	2.6.30

\fBpreadv2\fP(2)	4.6

\fBprlimit64\fP(2)	2.6.36

\fBprocess_vm_readv\fP(2)	3.2

\fBprocess_vm_writev\fP(2)	3.2

\fBpselect6\fP(2)	2.6.16

.\" Implements \fBpselect\fP(2)

\fBptrace\fP(2)	1.0

\fBpwrite64\fP(2)		T{

Added as "pwrite" in 2.2;

.br

renamed "pwrite64" in 2.6

T}

\fBpwritev\fP(2)	2.6.30

\fBpwritev2\fP(2)	4.6

\fBquery_module\fP(2)	2.2	Removed in 2.6

\fBquotactl\fP(2)	1.0

\fBread\fP(2)	1.0

\fBreadahead\fP(2)	2.4.13

\fBreaddir\fP(2)	1.0

.\" Supersedes \fBgetdents\fP(2)

\fBreadlink\fP(2)	1.0

\fBreadlinkat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBreadv\fP(2)	2.0

\fBreboot\fP(2)	1.0

\fBrecv\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBrecvfrom\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBrecvmsg\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBrecvmmsg\fP(2)	2.6.33

\fBremap_file_pages\fP(2)	2.6	Deprecated since 3.16

\fBremovexattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBrename\fP(2)	1.0

\fBrenameat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBrenameat2\fP(2)	3.15

\fBrequest_key\fP(2)	2.6.10

\fBrestart_syscall\fP(2)	2.6

\fBrmdir\fP(2)	1.0

\fBrt_sigaction\fP(2)	2.2

\fBrt_sigpending\fP(2)	2.2

\fBrt_sigprocmask\fP(2)	2.2

\fBrt_sigqueueinfo\fP(2)	2.2

\fBrt_sigreturn\fP(2)	2.2

\fBrt_sigsuspend\fP(2)	2.2

\fBrt_sigtimedwait\fP(2)	2.2

\fBrt_tgsigqueueinfo\fP(2)	2.6.31

\fBs390_runtime_instr\fP(2)	3.7	s390 only

\fBs390_pci_mmio_read\fP(2)	3.19	s390 only

\fBs390_pci_mmio_write\fP(2)	3.19	s390 only

\fBs390_sthyi\fP(2)	4.15	s390 only

\fBsched_get_priority_max\fP(2)	2.0

\fBsched_get_priority_min\fP(2)	2.0

\fBsched_getaffinity\fP(2)	2.6

\fBsched_getattr\fP(2)	3.14

\fBsched_getparam\fP(2)	2.0

\fBsched_getscheduler\fP(2)	2.0

\fBsched_rr_get_interval\fP(2)	2.0

\fBsched_setaffinity\fP(2)	2.6

\fBsched_setattr\fP(2)	3.14

\fBsched_setparam\fP(2)	2.0

\fBsched_setscheduler\fP(2)	2.0

\fBsched_yield\fP(2)	2.0

\fBseccomp\fP(2)	3.17

\fBselect\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsemctl\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBsemget\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBsemop\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBsemtimedop\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.22

\fBsend\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBsendfile\fP(2)	2.2

\fBsendfile64\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.19

\fBsendmmsg\fP(2)	3.0

\fBsendmsg\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBsendto\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBset_mempolicy\fP(2)	2.6.6

\fBset_robust_list\fP(2)	2.6.17

\fBset_thread_area\fP(2)	2.6

\fBset_tid_address\fP(2)	2.6

.\" See http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/1/83

.\" "[PATCH] remove sys_set_zone_reclaim()"

\fBsetdomainname\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetfsgid\fP(2)	1.2

\fBsetfsgid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetfsuid\fP(2)	1.2

\fBsetfsuid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetgid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetgid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetgroups\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetgroups32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsethostname\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetitimer\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetns\fP(2)	3.0

\fBsetpgid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetpriority\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetregid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetregid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetresgid\fP(2)	2.2

\fBsetresgid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetresuid\fP(2)	2.2

\fBsetresuid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetreuid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetreuid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetrlimit\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetsid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetsockopt\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBsettimeofday\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetuid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsetuid32\fP(2)	2.4

\fBsetup\fP(2)	1.0	Removed in 2.2

\fBsetxattr\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.18

\fBsgetmask\fP(2)	1.0

\fBshmat\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBshmctl\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBshmdt\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBshmget\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBipc\fP(2)

\fBshutdown\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBsigaction\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsigaltstack\fP(2)	2.2

\fBsignal\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsignalfd\fP(2)	2.6.22

\fBsignalfd4\fP(2)	2.6.27

\fBsigpending\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsigprocmask\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsigreturn\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsigsuspend\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsocket\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBsocketcall\fP(2)	1.0

.\" Implements BSD socket calls

\fBsocketpair\fP(2)	2.0	See notes on \fBsocketcall\fP(2)

\fBsplice\fP(2)	2.6.17

\fBspu_create\fP(2)	2.6.16	PowerPC only

\fBspu_run\fP(2)	2.6.16	PowerPC only

\fBssetmask\fP(2)	1.0

\fBstat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBstat64\fP(2)	2.4

\fBstatfs\fP(2)	1.0

\fBstatfs64\fP(2)	2.6

\fBstatx\fP(2)	4.11

\fBstime\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsubpage_prot\fP(2)	2.6.25	PowerPC only

\fBswapoff\fP(2)	1.0

\fBswapon\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsymlink\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsymlinkat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBsync\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsync_file_range\fP(2)	2.6.17

\fBsync_file_range2\fP(2)	2.6.22

.\" PowerPC, ARM, tile

.\" First appeared on ARM, as arm_sync_file_range(), but later renamed

.\" \fBsys_debug_setcontext\fP(2)	???	PowerPC if CONFIG_PPC32

\fBsyncfs\fP(2)	2.6.39

\fBsysfs\fP(2)	1.2

\fBsysinfo\fP(2)	1.0

\fBsyslog\fP(2)	1.0

.\" glibc interface is \fBklogctl\fP(3)

\fBtee\fP(2)	2.6.17

\fBtgkill\fP(2)	2.6

\fBtime\fP(2)	1.0

\fBtimer_create\fP(2)	2.6

\fBtimer_delete\fP(2)	2.6

\fBtimer_getoverrun\fP(2)	2.6

\fBtimer_gettime\fP(2)	2.6

\fBtimer_settime\fP(2)	2.6

\fBtimerfd_create\fP(2)	2.6.25

\fBtimerfd_gettime\fP(2)	2.6.25

\fBtimerfd_settime\fP(2)	2.6.25

\fBtimes\fP(2)	1.0

\fBtkill\fP(2)	2.6; 2.4.22

\fBtruncate\fP(2)	1.0

\fBtruncate64\fP(2)	2.4

\fBugetrlimit\fP(2)	2.4

\fBumask\fP(2)	1.0

\fBumount\fP(2)	1.0

.\" sys_oldumount() -- __NR_umount

\fBumount2\fP(2)	2.2

.\" sys_umount() -- __NR_umount2

\fBuname\fP(2)	1.0

\fBunlink\fP(2)	1.0

\fBunlinkat\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBunshare\fP(2)	2.6.16

\fBuselib\fP(2)	1.0

\fBustat\fP(2)	1.0

\fBuserfaultfd\fP(2)	4.3

\fButime\fP(2)	1.0

\fButimensat\fP(2)	2.6.22

\fButimes\fP(2)	2.2

\fButrap_install\fP(2)	2.2	Sparc only

.\" FIXME . document utrap_install()

.\" There's a man page for Solaris 5.11

\fBvfork\fP(2)	2.2

\fBvhangup\fP(2)	1.0

\fBvm86old\fP(2)	1.0	T{

Was "vm86"; renamed in

2.0.28/2.2

T}

\fBvm86\fP(2)	2.0.28; 2.2

\fBvmsplice\fP(2)	2.6.17

\fBwait4\fP(2)	1.0

\fBwaitid\fP(2)	2.6.10

\fBwaitpid\fP(2)	1.0

\fBwrite\fP(2)	1.0

\fBwritev\fP(2)	2.0

.TE

.ad

.PP

On many platforms, including x86-32, socket calls are all multiplexed

(via glibc wrapper functions) through

.BR socketcall (2)

and similarly System\ V IPC calls are multiplexed through

.BR ipc (2).

.PP

Although slots are reserved for them in the system call table,

the following system calls are not implemented in the standard kernel:

.BR afs_syscall (2), \" __NR_afs_syscall is 53 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR break (2),       \" __NR_break is 17 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR ftime (2),       \" __NR_ftime is 35 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR getpmsg (2),     \" __NR_getpmsg is 188 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR gtty (2),        \" __NR_gtty is 32 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR idle (2),        \" __NR_idle is 112 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR lock (2),        \" __NR_lock is 53 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR madvise1 (2),    \" __NR_madvise1 is 219 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR mpx (2),         \" __NR_mpx is 66 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR phys (2),        \" Slot has been reused

.BR prof (2),        \" __NR_prof is 44 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR profil (2),      \" __NR_profil is 98 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR putpmsg (2),     \" __NR_putpmsg is 189 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.\" __NR_security is 223 on Linux 2.4/i386; absent on 2.6/i386, present

.\" on a couple of 2.6 architectures

.BR security (2),    \" __NR_security is 223 on Linux 2.4/i386

.\" The security call is for future use.

.BR stty (2),        \" __NR_stty is 31 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

.BR tuxcall (2),     \" __NR_tuxcall is 184 on x86_64, also on PPC and alpha

.BR ulimit (2),      \" __NR_ulimit is 58 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

and

.BR vserver (2)      \" __NR_vserver is 273 on Linux 2.6.22/i386

(see also

.BR unimplemented (2)).

However,

.BR ftime (3),

.BR profil (3),

and

.BR ulimit (3)

exist as library routines.

The slot for

.BR phys (2)

is in use since kernel 2.1.116 for

.BR umount (2);

.BR phys (2)

will never be implemented.

The

.BR getpmsg (2)

and

.BR putpmsg (2)

calls are for kernels patched to support STREAMS,

and may never be in the standard kernel.

.PP

There was briefly

.BR set_zone_reclaim (2),

added in Linux 2.6.13, and removed in 2.6.16;

this system call was never available to user space.

.SH NOTES

.PP

Roughly speaking, the code belonging to the system call

with number __NR_xxx defined in

.I /usr/include/asm/unistd.h

can be found in the Linux kernel source in the routine

.IR sys_xxx ().

(The dispatch table for i386 can be found in

.IR /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/kernel/entry.S .)

There are many exceptions, however, mostly because

older system calls were superseded by newer ones,

and this has been treated somewhat unsystematically.

On platforms with

proprietary operating-system emulation,

such as parisc, sparc, sparc64, and alpha,

there are many additional system calls; mips64 also contains a full

set of 32-bit system calls.

.PP

Over time, changes to the interfaces of some system calls have been

necessary.

One reason for such changes was the need to increase the size of

structures or scalar values passed to the system call.

Because of these changes, certain architectures

(notably, longstanding 32-bit architectures such as i386)

now have various groups of related system calls (e.g.,

.BR truncate (2)

and

.BR truncate64 (2))

which perform similar tasks, but which vary in

details such as the size of their arguments.

(As noted earlier, applications are generally unaware of this:

the glibc wrapper functions do some work to ensure that the right

system call is invoked, and that ABI compatibility is

preserved for old binaries.)

Examples of systems calls that exist in multiple versions are

the following:

.IP * 3

By now there are three different versions of

.BR stat (2):

.IR sys_stat ()

(slot

.IR __NR_oldstat ),

.IR sys_newstat ()

(slot

.IR __NR_stat ),

and

.IR sys_stat64 ()

(slot

.IR __NR_stat64 ),

with the last being the most current.

.\" e.g., on 2.6.22/i386: __NR_oldstat 18, __NR_stat 106, __NR_stat64 195

.\" The stat system calls deal with three different data structures,

.\" defined in include/asm-i386/stat.h: __old_kernel_stat, stat, stat64

A similar story applies for

.BR lstat (2)

and

.BR fstat (2).

.IP *

Similarly, the defines

.IR __NR_oldolduname ,

.IR __NR_olduname ,

and

.I __NR_uname

refer to the routines

.IR sys_olduname (),

.IR sys_uname ()

and

.IR sys_newuname ().

.IP *

In Linux 2.0, a new version of

.BR vm86 (2)

appeared, with the old and the new kernel routines being named

.IR sys_vm86old ()

and

.IR sys_vm86 ().

.IP *

In Linux 2.4, a new version of

.BR getrlimit (2)

appeared, with the old and the new kernel routines being named

.IR sys_old_getrlimit ()

(slot

.IR __NR_getrlimit )

and

.IR sys_getrlimit ()

(slot

.IR __NR_ugetrlimit ).

.IP *

Linux 2.4 increased the size of user and group IDs from 16 to 32 bits.

.\" 64-bit off_t changes: ftruncate64, *stat64,

.\" fcntl64 (because of the flock structure), getdents64, *statfs64

To support this change, a range of system calls were added

(e.g.,

.BR chown32 (2),

.BR getuid32 (2),

.BR getgroups32 (2),

.BR setresuid32 (2)),

superseding earlier calls of the same name without the

"32" suffix.

.IP *

Linux 2.4 added support for applications on 32-bit architectures

to access large files (i.e., files for which the sizes and

file offsets can't be represented in 32 bits.)

To support this change, replacements were required for system calls

that deal with file offsets and sizes.

Thus the following system calls were added:

.BR fcntl64 (2),

.BR getdents64 (2),

.BR stat64 (2),

.BR statfs64 (2),

.BR truncate64 (2),

and their analogs that work with file descriptors or

symbolic links.

These system calls supersede the older system calls

which, except in the case of the "stat" calls,

have the same name without the "64" suffix.

.IP

On newer platforms that only have 64-bit file access and 32-bit UIDs/GIDs

(e.g., alpha, ia64, s390x, x86-64), there is just a single version of

the UID/GID and file access system calls.

On platforms (typically, 32-bit platforms) where the *64 and *32 calls exist,

the other versions are obsolete.

.IP *

The

.I rt_sig*

calls were added in kernel 2.2 to support the addition

of real-time signals (see

.BR signal (7)).

These system calls supersede the older system calls of the same

name without the "rt_" prefix.

.IP *

The

.BR select (2)

and

.BR mmap (2)

system calls use five or more arguments,

which caused problems in the way

argument passing on the i386 used to be set up.

Thus, while other architectures have

.IR sys_select ()

and

.IR sys_mmap ()

corresponding to

.I __NR_select

and

.IR __NR_mmap ,

on i386 one finds

.IR old_select ()

and

.IR old_mmap ()

(routines that use a pointer to an

argument block) instead.

These days passing five arguments

is not a problem any more, and there is a

.I __NR__newselect

.\" (used by libc 6)

that corresponds directly to

.IR sys_select ()

and similarly

.IR __NR_mmap2 .

.\" .PP

.\" Two system call numbers,

.\" .IR __NR__llseek

.\" and

.\" .IR __NR__sysctl

.\" have an additional underscore absent in

.\" .IR sys_llseek ()

.\" and

.\" .IR sys_sysctl ().

.\"

.\" In kernel 2.1.81,

.\" .BR lchown (2)

.\" and

.\" .BR chown (2)

.\" were swapped; that is,

.\" .BR lchown (2)

.\" was added with the semantics that were then current for

.\" .BR chown (2),

.\" and the semantics of the latter call were changed to what

.\" they are today.

.SH SEE ALSO

.BR intro (2),

.BR syscall (2),

.BR unimplemented (2),

.BR errno (3),

.BR libc (7),

.BR vdso (7)

.SH COLOPHON

This page is part of release 4.15 of the Linux

.I man-pages

project.

A description of the project,

information about reporting bugs,

and the latest version of this page,

can be found at

\%https://www.kernel.org/doc/man\-pages/.