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daemon(3)                  Library Functions Manual                  daemon(3)

NAME
       daemon - run in the background

LIBRARY
       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       int daemon(int nochdir, int noclose);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

       daemon():
           Since glibc 2.21:
               _DEFAULT_SOURCE
           In glibc 2.19 and 2.20:
               _DEFAULT_SOURCE || (_XOPEN_SOURCE && _XOPEN_SOURCE < 500)
           Up to and including glibc 2.19:
               _BSD_SOURCE || (_XOPEN_SOURCE && _XOPEN_SOURCE < 500)

DESCRIPTION
       The daemon() function is for programs wishing to detach themselves from
       the controlling terminal and run in the background as system daemons.

       If nochdir is zero, daemon() changes the process's current working  di-
       rectory to the root directory ("/"); otherwise, the current working di-
       rectory is left unchanged.

       If noclose is zero, daemon() redirects standard input, standard output,
       and  standard  error  to  /dev/null;  otherwise, no changes are made to
       these file descriptors.

RETURN VALUE
       (This function forks, and if the fork(2)  succeeds,  the  parent  calls
       _exit(2),  so that further errors are seen by the child only.)  On suc-
       cess daemon() returns zero.  If an error occurs,  daemon()  returns  -1
       and  sets errno to any of the errors specified for the fork(2) and set-
       sid(2).

ATTRIBUTES
       For an  explanation  of  the  terms  used  in  this  section,  see  at-
       tributes(7).

       +--------------------------------------------+---------------+---------+
       |Interface                                   | Attribute     | Value   |
       +--------------------------------------------+---------------+---------+
       |daemon()                                    | Thread safety | MT-Safe |
       +--------------------------------------------+---------------+---------+

VERSIONS
       A similar function appears on the BSDs.

       The  glibc  implementation can also return -1 when /dev/null exists but
       is not a character device with the expected major  and  minor  numbers.
       In this case, errno need not be set.

STANDARDS
       None.

HISTORY
       4.4BSD.

BUGS
       The  GNU  C library implementation of this function was taken from BSD,
       and does not employ the  double-fork  technique  (i.e.,  fork(2),  set-
       sid(2),  fork(2)) that is necessary to ensure that the resulting daemon
       process is not a session leader.  Instead, the resulting  daemon  is  a
       session  leader.  On systems that follow System V semantics (e.g., Lin-
       ux), this means that if the daemon opens a terminal that is not already
       a controlling terminal for another session, then that terminal will in-
       advertently become the controlling terminal for the daemon.

SEE ALSO
       fork(2), setsid(2), daemon(7), logrotate(8)

Linux man-pages 6.04              2023-03-30                         daemon(3)

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