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clone

CLONE(2)                   Linux Programmer's Manual                  CLONE(2)



NAME
       clone - create a child process

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sched.h>

       int clone(int (*fn)(void *), void *child_stack, int flags, void *arg);

       _syscall2(int, clone, int, flags, void *, child_stack);


DESCRIPTION
       clone  creates  a  new  process, just like fork(2).  clone is a library
       function layered on top of the  underlying  clone  system  call,  here-
       inafter  referred to as sys_clone.  A description of sys_clone is given
       towards the end of this page.

       Unlike fork(2), these calls allow the child process to share  parts  of
       its  execution  context  with  the  calling process, such as the memory
       space, the table of file descriptors, and the table of signal handlers.
       (Note  that on this manual page, "calling process" normally corresponds
       to "parent process".  But see the description of CLONE_PARENT below.)

       The main use of clone is to implement threads: multiple threads of con-
       trol in a program that run concurrently in a shared memory space.

       When  the child process is created with clone, it executes the function
       application fn(arg).  (This differs from fork(2), where execution  con-
       tinues  in the child from the point of the fork(2) call.)  The fn argu-
       ment is a pointer to a function that is called by the child process  at
       the  beginning  of its execution.  The arg argument is passed to the fn
       function.

       When the fn(arg) function application returns, the child process termi-
       nates.   The integer returned by fn is the exit code for the child pro-
       cess.  The child process  may  also  terminate  explicitly  by  calling
       exit(2) 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 calling process may share  mem-
       ory,  it  is  not possible for the child process to execute in the same
       stack as the calling process.  The calling 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 processors 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.  If this signal is specified as anything
       other than SIGCHLD, then the parent process must specify the __WALL  or
       __WCLONE options when waiting for the child with wait(2).  If no signal
       is specified, then the parent process is not signaled  when  the  child
       terminates.

       flags  may  also  be bitwise-or'ed with one or several of the following
       constants, in order to specify what is shared between the calling  pro-
       cess and the child process:


       CLONE_PARENT
              (Linux  2.4  onwards) If CLONE_PARENT is set, then the parent of
              the new child (as returned by getppid(2)) will be  the  same  as
              that of the calling process.

              If  CLONE_PARENT  is not set, then (as with fork(2)) the child's
              parent is the calling process.

              Note that it is the parent process, as returned  by  getppid(2),
              which  is  signaled  when  the  child  terminates,  so  that  if
              CLONE_PARENT is set, then the parent  of  the  calling  process,
              rather than the calling process itself, will be signaled.


       CLONE_FS
              If CLONE_FS is set, the caller and the child processes share the
              same file system information.  This includes  the  root  of  the
              file  system, the current working directory, and the umask.  Any
              call to chroot(2), chdir(2), or umask(2) performed by the  call-
              ing  process or the 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 calling process at the time of
              the clone call.  Calls to  chroot(2),  chdir(2),  umask(2)  per-
              formed  later  by  one  of the processes do not affect the other
              process.


       CLONE_FILES
              If CLONE_FILES is set, the calling process and  the  child  pro-
              cesses  share  the same file descriptor table.  File descriptors
              always refer to the same files in the calling process and in the
              child  process.  Any file descriptor created by the calling pro-
              cess 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 inherits a copy of
              all file descriptors opened in the calling process at  the  time
              of  clone.   Operations  on  file descriptors performed later by
              either the calling process or the child process  do  not  affect
              the other process.


       CLONE_SIGHAND
              If  CLONE_SIGHAND is set, the calling process and the child pro-
              cesses share the same table of signal handlers.  If the  calling
              process or child process calls sigaction(2) to change the behav-
              ior associated with a signal, the behavior  is  changed  in  the
              other  process  as well.  However, the calling process and child
              processes still have distinct signal masks and sets  of  pending
              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 the calling process at the time clone
              is called.  Calls to sigaction(2) performed later by one of  the
              processes have no effect on the other process.


       CLONE_PTRACE
              If  CLONE_PTRACE  is specified, and the calling process is being
              traced, then trace the child also (see ptrace(2)).


       CLONE_VFORK
              If CLONE_VFORK is set, the execution of the calling  process  is
              suspended  until the child releases its virtual memory resources
              via a call to execve(2) or _exit(2) (as with vfork(2)).

              If CLONE_VFORK is not set then both the calling process and  the
              child  are schedulable after the call, and an application should
              not rely on execution occurring in any particular order.


       CLONE_VM
              If CLONE_VM is set, the calling process and the child  processes
              run in the same memory space.  In particular, memory writes per-
              formed by the calling 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
              calling 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 calling process at the  time  of
              clone.   Memory  writes or file mappings/unmappings performed by
              one of the processes do not affect the other, as with fork(2).


       CLONE_PID
              If CLONE_PID is set, the child process is created with the  same
              process ID as the calling process.

              If  CLONE_PID  is  not set, the child process possesses a unique
              process ID, distinct from that of the calling process.

              This flag can only be specified by the system boot process  (PID
              0).


       CLONE_THREAD
              (Linux  2.4 onwards) If CLONE_THREAD is set, the child is placed
              in the same thread group as the calling process.

              If CLONE_THREAD is not set, then the child is placed in its  own
              (new) thread group, whose ID is the same as the process ID.

              (Thread  groups  are  feature  added in Linux 2.4 to support the
              POSIX threads notion of a set of threads sharing a  single  PID.
              In  Linux  2.4, calls to getpid(2) return the thread group ID of
              the caller.)

              If this flag is specified in Linux 2.4.7 onwards, the parent  of
              the  child  is  made the same as the caller's parent (i.e., this
              flag includes the effect of the CLONE_PARENT flag).

       The sys_clone system call corresponds more closely to fork(2)  in  that
       execution  in  the  child  continues from the point of the call.  Thus,
       sys_clone only requires the flags and child_stack arguments, which have
       the same meaning as for clone.  (Note that the order of these arguments
       differs from clone.)

       Another difference for sys_clone is that the child_stack  argument  may
       be  zero,  in  which case copy-on-write semantics ensure that the child
       gets separate copies of stack pages when either  process  modifies  the
       stack.  In this case, for correct operation, the CLONE_VM option should
       not be specified.


RETURN VALUE
       On success, the PID of the child process is returned  in  the  caller's
       thread of execution.  On failure, a -1 will be returned in the caller's
       context, no child process will be created, and errno will be set appro-
       priately.


ERRORS
       EAGAIN Too many processes are already running.

       ENOMEM Cannot  allocate  sufficient memory to allocate a task structure
              for the child, or to copy those parts of  the  caller's  context
              that need to be copied.

       EINVAL Returned   by   clone   when  a  zero  value  is  specified  for
              child_stack.

       EPERM  CLONE_PID was specified by a process with a non-zero PID.

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 and sys_clone calls are Linux-specific and should not be used
       in programs intended to be portable.  For programming threaded applica-
       tions  (multiple  threads  of  control in the same memory space), it is
       better to use a library implementing the POSIX 1003.1c thread API, such
       as  the  LinuxThreads  library  (included in glibc2).  See pthread_cre-
       ate(3).

       This manual page corresponds to kernels 2.0.x, 2.1.x, 2.2.x, 2.4.x, and
       to glibc 2.0.x and 2.1.x.


SEE ALSO
       fork(2), wait(2), pthread_create(3)



Linux 2.4                         2001-06-26                          CLONE(2)