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fork - create a child process
#include <sys/types.h> #include <unistd.h> |
fork() creates a child process that differs from the parent process only in its PID and PPID, and in the fact that resource utilizations are set to 0. File locks and pending signals are not inherited.
Under Linux, fork() is implemented using copy-on-write pages, so the only penalty that it incurs is the time and memory required to duplicate the parents page tables, and to create a unique task structure for the child.
On success, the PID of the child process is returned in the parents thread of execution, and a 0 is returned in the childs thread of execution. On failure, a -1 will be returned in the parents context, no child process will be created, and errno will be set appropriately.
Error Code | Description |
---|---|
EAGAIN | fork() cannot allocate sufficient memory to copy the parents page tables and allocate a task structure for the child. |
EAGAIN | It was not possible to create a new process because the callers RLIMIT_NPROC resource limit was encountered. To exceed this limit, the process must have either the CAP_SYS_ADMIN or the CAP_SYS_RESOURCE capability. |
ENOMEM | fork() failed to allocate the necessary kernel structures because memory is tight. |
SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.
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