man-pages/man2/sysctl.2

.\" Copyright (C) 1996 Andries Brouwer (aeb@cwi.nl)
.\"
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.\" Written 11 April 1996 by Andries Brouwer <aeb@cwi.nl>
.\" 960412: Added comments from Stephen Tweedie
.\" Modified Tue Oct 22 22:28:41 1996 by Eric S. Raymond <esr@thyrsus.com>
.\" Modified Mon Jan  5 20:31:04 1998 by aeb.
.\"
.TH SYSCTL 2 1996-04-11 "Linux 1.3.85" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
.SH NAME
sysctl \- read/write system parameters
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B #include <unistd.h>
.br
.B #include <linux/unistd.h>
.br
.B #include <linux/sysctl.h>
.br
.B #include <errno.h>
.sp
.B _syscall1(int, _sysctl, struct __sysctl_args *, args)
          /* Using \fBsyscall\fP(2) may be preferable; see \fBintro\fP(2) */
.sp
.BI "int _sysctl(struct __sysctl_args *" args );
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.BR _sysctl ()
call reads and/or writes kernel parameters. For example, the hostname,
or the maximum number of open files. The argument has the form
.PP
.nf
struct __sysctl_args {
    int *name;        /* integer vector describing variable */
    int nlen;         /* length of this vector */
    void *oldval;     /* 0 or address where to store old value */
    size_t *oldlenp;  /* available room for old value,
                         overwritten by actual size of old value */
    void *newval;     /* 0 or address of new value */
    size_t newlen;    /* size of new value */
};
.fi
.PP
This call does a search in a tree structure, possibly resembling
a directory tree under
.IR /proc/sys ,
and if the requested item is found calls some appropriate routine
to read or modify the value.
.SH EXAMPLE
.nf
#include <linux/unistd.h>
#include <linux/types.h>
#include <linux/sysctl.h>

_syscall1(int, _sysctl, struct __sysctl_args *, args);
int sysctl(int *name, int nlen, void *oldval, size_t *oldlenp,
           void *newval, size_t newlen)
{
    struct __sysctl_args args = { name, nlen, oldval, oldlenp, 
                                  newval, newlen };
    return _sysctl(&args);
}

#define SIZE(x) sizeof(x)/sizeof(x[0])
#define OSNAMESZ 100

char osname[OSNAMESZ];
int osnamelth;
int name[] = { CTL_KERN, KERN_OSTYPE };

int
main(void)
{
    osnamelth = sizeof(osname);
    if (sysctl(name, SIZE(name), osname, &osnamelth, 0, 0))
        perror("sysctl");
    else
        printf("This machine is running %*s\en", osnamelth, osname);
    return 0;
}
.fi
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
Upon successful completion,
.BR _sysctl ()
returns 0. Otherwise, a value of \-1 is returned and
.I errno
is set to indicate the error.
.SH ERRORS
.TP
.B EFAULT
The invocation asked for the previous value by setting
.I oldval
non-NULL, but allowed zero room in
.IR oldlenp .
.TP
.B ENOTDIR
.I name
was not found.
.TP
.B EPERM
No search permission for one of the encountered `directories',
or no read permission where
.I oldval
was non-zero, or no write permission where
.I newval
was non-zero.
.SH "CONFORMING TO"
This call is Linux specific, and should not be used in programs
intended to be portable.
A
.BR sysctl ()
call has been present in Linux since version 1.3.57. It originated in
4.4BSD. Only Linux has the
.I /proc/sys
mirror, and the object naming schemes differ between Linux and 4.4BSD,
but the declaration of the
.BR sysctl (2)
function is the same in both.
.SH BUGS
The object names vary between kernel versions.
THIS MAKES THIS SYSTEM CALL WORTHLESS FOR APPLICATIONS.
Use the
.I /proc/sys
interface instead.
.br
Not all available objects are properly documented.
.br
It is not yet possible to change operating system by writing to
.IR /proc/sys/kernel/ostype .
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR proc (5)