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NAME
sysctl, sysctlbyname, sysctlnametomib — get or set system information
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/sysctl.h>
int
sysctl(const int *name, u_int namelen, void *oldp, size_t *oldlenp, const void *newp,
size_t newlen);
int
sysctlbyname(const char *name, void *oldp, size_t *oldlenp, const void *newp,
size_t newlen);
int
sysctlnametomib(const char *name, int *mibp, size_t *sizep);
DESCRIPTION
The sysctl() function retrieves system information and allows processes with appropriate
privileges to set system information. The information available from sysctl() consists of
integers, strings, and tables. Information may be retrieved and set from the command
interface using the sysctl(8) utility.
Unless explicitly noted below, sysctl() returns a consistent snapshot of the data requested.
Consistency is obtained by locking the destination buffer into memory so that the data may
be copied out without blocking. Calls to sysctl() are serialized to avoid deadlock.
The state is described using a ``Management Information Base'' (MIB) style name, listed in
name, which is a namelen length array of integers.
The sysctlbyname() function accepts an ASCII representation of the name and internally looks
up the integer name vector. Apart from that, it behaves the same as the standard sysctl()
function.
The information is copied into the buffer specified by oldp. The size of the buffer is
given by the location specified by oldlenp before the call, and that location gives the
amount of data copied after a successful call and after a call that returns with the error
code ENOMEM. If the amount of data available is greater than the size of the buffer
supplied, the call supplies as much data as fits in the buffer provided and returns with the
error code ENOMEM. If the old value is not desired, oldp and oldlenp should be set to NULL.
The size of the available data can be determined by calling sysctl() with the NULL argument
for oldp. The size of the available data will be returned in the location pointed to by
oldlenp. For some operations, the amount of space may change often. For these operations,
the system attempts to round up so that the returned size is large enough for a call to
return the data shortly thereafter.
To set a new value, newp is set to point to a buffer of length newlen from which the
requested value is to be taken. If a new value is not to be set, newp should be set to NULL
and newlen set to 0.
The sysctlnametomib() function accepts an ASCII representation of the name, looks up the
integer name vector, and returns the numeric representation in the mib array pointed to by
mibp. The number of elements in the mib array is given by the location specified by sizep
before the call, and that location gives the number of entries copied after a successful
call. The resulting mib and size may be used in subsequent sysctl() calls to get the data
associated with the requested ASCII name. This interface is intended for use by
applications that want to repeatedly request the same variable (the sysctl() function runs
in about a third the time as the same request made via the sysctlbyname() function). The
sysctlnametomib() function is also useful for fetching mib prefixes and then adding a final
component. For example, to fetch process information for processes with pid's less than
100:
int i, mib[4];
size_t len;
struct kinfo_proc kp;
/* Fill out the first three components of the mib */
len = 4;
sysctlnametomib("kern.proc.pid", mib, &len);
/* Fetch and print entries for pid's < 100 */
for (i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
mib[3] = i;
len = sizeof(kp);
if (sysctl(mib, 4, &kp, &len, NULL, 0) == -1)
perror("sysctl");
else if (len > 0)
printkproc(&kp);
}
The top level names are defined with a CTL_ prefix in <sys/sysctl.h>, and are as follows.
The next and subsequent levels down are found in the include files listed here, and
described in separate sections below.
Name Next level names Description
CTL_DEBUG sys/sysctl.h Debugging
CTL_VFS sys/mount.h File system
CTL_HW sys/sysctl.h Generic CPU, I/O
CTL_KERN sys/sysctl.h High kernel limits
CTL_MACHDEP sys/sysctl.h Machine dependent
CTL_NET sys/socket.h Networking
CTL_USER sys/sysctl.h User-level
CTL_VM vm/vm_param.h Virtual memory
For example, the following retrieves the maximum number of processes allowed in the system:
int mib[2], maxproc;
size_t len;
mib[0] = CTL_KERN;
mib[1] = KERN_MAXPROC;
len = sizeof(maxproc);
sysctl(mib, 2, &maxproc, &len, NULL, 0);
To retrieve the standard search path for the system utilities:
int mib[2];
size_t len;
char *p;
mib[0] = CTL_USER;
mib[1] = USER_CS_PATH;
sysctl(mib, 2, NULL, &len, NULL, 0);
p = malloc(len);
sysctl(mib, 2, p, &len, NULL, 0);
CTL_DEBUG
The debugging variables vary from system to system. A debugging variable may be added or
deleted without need to recompile sysctl() to know about it. Each time it runs, sysctl()
gets the list of debugging variables from the kernel and displays their current values. The
system defines twenty (struct ctldebug) variables named debug0 through debug19. They are
declared as separate variables so that they can be individually initialized at the location
of their associated variable. The loader prevents multiple use of the same variable by
issuing errors if a variable is initialized in more than one place. For example, to export
the variable dospecialcheck as a debugging variable, the following declaration would be
used:
int dospecialcheck = 1;
struct ctldebug debug5 = { "dospecialcheck", &dospecialcheck };
CTL_VFS
A distinguished second level name, VFS_GENERIC, is used to get general information about all
file systems. One of its third level identifiers is VFS_MAXTYPENUM that gives the highest
valid file system type number. Its other third level identifier is VFS_CONF that returns
configuration information about the file system type given as a fourth level identifier (see
getvfsbyname(3) as an example of its use). The remaining second level identifiers are the
file system type number returned by a statfs(2) call or from VFS_CONF. The third level
identifiers available for each file system are given in the header file that defines the
mount argument structure for that file system.
CTL_HW
The string and integer information available for the CTL_HW level is detailed below. The
changeable column shows whether a process with appropriate privilege may change the value.
Second level name Type Changeable
HW_MACHINE string no
HW_MODEL string no
HW_NCPU integer no
HW_BYTEORDER integer no
HW_PHYSMEM integer no
HW_USERMEM integer no
HW_PAGESIZE integer no
HW_FLOATINGPT integer no
HW_MACHINE_ARCH string no
HW_REALMEM integer no
HW_MACHINE
The machine class.
HW_MODEL
The machine model
HW_NCPU
The number of cpus.
HW_BYTEORDER
The byteorder (4,321, or 1,234).
HW_PHYSMEM
The bytes of physical memory.
HW_USERMEM
The bytes of non-kernel memory.
HW_PAGESIZE
The software page size.
HW_FLOATINGPT
Nonzero if the floating point support is in hardware.
HW_MACHINE_ARCH
The machine dependent architecture type.
HW_REALMEM
The bytes of real memory.
CTL_KERN
The string and integer information available for the CTL_KERN level is detailed below. The
changeable column shows whether a process with appropriate privilege may change the value.
The types of data currently available are process information, system vnodes, the open file
entries, routing table entries, virtual memory statistics, load average history, and clock
rate information.
Second level name Type Changeable
KERN_ARGMAX integer no
KERN_BOOTFILE string yes
KERN_BOOTTIME struct timeval no
KERN_CLOCKRATE struct clockinfo no
KERN_FILE struct xfile no
KERN_HOSTID integer yes
KERN_HOSTUUID string yes
KERN_HOSTNAME string yes
KERN_JOB_CONTROL integer no
KERN_MAXFILES integer yes
KERN_MAXFILESPERPROC integer yes
KERN_MAXPROC integer no
KERN_MAXPROCPERUID integer yes
KERN_MAXVNODES integer yes
KERN_NGROUPS integer no
KERN_NISDOMAINNAME string yes
KERN_OSRELDATE integer no
KERN_OSRELEASE string no
KERN_OSREV integer no
KERN_OSTYPE string no
KERN_POSIX1 integer no
KERN_PROC node not applicable
KERN_PROF node not applicable
KERN_QUANTUM integer yes
KERN_SAVED_IDS integer no
KERN_SECURELVL integer raise only
KERN_UPDATEINTERVAL integer no
KERN_VERSION string no
KERN_VNODE struct xvnode no
KERN_ARGMAX
The maximum bytes of argument to execve(2).
KERN_BOOTFILE
The full pathname of the file from which the kernel was loaded.
KERN_BOOTTIME
A struct timeval structure is returned. This structure contains the time that the
system was booted.
KERN_CLOCKRATE
A struct clockinfo structure is returned. This structure contains the clock,
statistics clock and profiling clock frequencies, the number of micro-seconds per hz
tick and the skew rate.
KERN_FILE
Return the entire file table. The returned data consists of an array of struct
xfile, whose size depends on the current number of such objects in the system.
KERN_HOSTID
Get or set the host ID.
KERN_HOSTUUID
Get or set the host's universally unique identifier (UUID).
KERN_HOSTNAME
Get or set the hostname.
KERN_JOB_CONTROL
Return 1 if job control is available on this system, otherwise 0.
KERN_MAXFILES
The maximum number of files that may be open in the system.
KERN_MAXFILESPERPROC
The maximum number of files that may be open for a single process. This limit only
applies to processes with an effective uid of nonzero at the time of the open
request. Files that have already been opened are not affected if the limit or the
effective uid is changed.
KERN_MAXPROC
The maximum number of concurrent processes the system will allow.
KERN_MAXPROCPERUID
The maximum number of concurrent processes the system will allow for a single
effective uid. This limit only applies to processes with an effective uid of
nonzero at the time of a fork request. Processes that have already been started are
not affected if the limit is changed.
KERN_MAXVNODES
The maximum number of vnodes available on the system.
KERN_NGROUPS
The maximum number of supplemental groups.
KERN_NISDOMAINNAME
The name of the current YP/NIS domain.
KERN_OSRELDATE
The kernel release version in the format MmmRxx, where M is the major version, mm is
the two digit minor version, R is 0 if release branch, otherwise 1, and xx is
updated when the available APIs change.
The userland release version is available from <osreldate.h>; parse this file if you
need to get the release version of the currently installed userland.
KERN_OSRELEASE
The system release string.
KERN_OSREV
The system revision string.
KERN_OSTYPE
The system type string.
KERN_POSIX1
The version of IEEE Std 1003.1 (“POSIX.1”) with which the system attempts to comply.
KERN_PROC
Return selected information about specific running processes.
For the following names, an array of struct kinfo_proc structures is returned, whose
size depends on the current number of such objects in the system.
Third level name Fourth level is:
KERN_PROC_ALL None
KERN_PROC_PID A process ID
KERN_PROC_PGRP A process group
KERN_PROC_TTY A tty device
KERN_PROC_UID A user ID
KERN_PROC_RUID A real user ID
If the third level name is KERN_PROC_ARGS then the command line argument array is
returned in a flattened form, i.e., zero-terminated arguments follow each other.
The total size of array is returned. It is also possible for a process to set its
own process title this way. If the third level name is KERN_PROC_PATHNAME, the path
of the process' text file is stored. For KERN_PROC_PATHNAME, a process ID of -1
implies the current process.
Third level name Fourth level is:
KERN_PROC_ARGS A process ID
KERN_PROC_PATHNAME A process ID
KERN_PROF
Return profiling information about the kernel. If the kernel is not compiled for
profiling, attempts to retrieve any of the KERN_PROF values will fail with ENOENT.
The third level names for the string and integer profiling information is detailed
below. The changeable column shows whether a process with appropriate privilege may
change the value.
Third level name Type Changeable
GPROF_STATE integer yes
GPROF_COUNT u_short[] yes
GPROF_FROMS u_short[] yes
GPROF_TOS struct tostruct yes
GPROF_GMONPARAM struct gmonparam no
The variables are as follows:
GPROF_STATE
Returns GMON_PROF_ON or GMON_PROF_OFF to show that profiling is running or
stopped.
GPROF_COUNT
Array of statistical program counter counts.
GPROF_FROMS
Array indexed by program counter of call-from points.
GPROF_TOS
Array of struct tostruct describing destination of calls and their counts.
GPROF_GMONPARAM
Structure giving the sizes of the above arrays.
KERN_QUANTUM
The maximum period of time, in microseconds, for which a process is allowed to run
without being preempted if other processes are in the run queue.
KERN_SAVED_IDS
Returns 1 if saved set-group and saved set-user ID is available.
KERN_SECURELVL
The system security level. This level may be raised by processes with appropriate
privilege. It may not be lowered.
KERN_VERSION
The system version string.
KERN_VNODE
Return the entire vnode table. Note, the vnode table is not necessarily a
consistent snapshot of the system. The returned data consists of an array whose
size depends on the current number of such objects in the system. Each element of
the array consists of a struct xvnode.
CTL_NET
The string and integer information available for the CTL_NET level is detailed below. The
changeable column shows whether a process with appropriate privilege may change the value.
Second level name Type Changeable
PF_ROUTE routing messages no
PF_INET IPv4 values yes
PF_INET6 IPv6 values yes
PF_ROUTE
Return the entire routing table or a subset of it. The data is returned as a
sequence of routing messages (see route(4) for the header file, format and meaning).
The length of each message is contained in the message header.
The third level name is a protocol number, which is currently always 0. The fourth
level name is an address family, which may be set to 0 to select all address
families. The fifth, sixth, and seventh level names are as follows:
Fifth level Sixth level Seventh level
NET_RT_FLAGS rtflags None
NET_RT_DUMP None None or fib number
NET_RT_IFLIST 0 or if_index None
NET_RT_IFMALIST 0 or if_index None
NET_RT_IFLISTL 0 or if_index None
The NET_RT_IFMALIST name returns information about multicast group memberships on
all interfaces if 0 is specified, or for the interface specified by if_index.
The NET_RT_IFLISTL is like NET_RT_IFLIST, just returning message header structs with
additional fields allowing the interface to be extended without breaking binary
compatibility. The NET_RT_IFLISTL uses 'l' versions of the message header
structures: struct if_msghdrl and struct ifa_msghdrl.
PF_INET
Get or set various global information about the IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4).
The third level name is the protocol. The fourth level name is the variable name.
The currently defined protocols and names are:
Protocol Variable Type Changeable
icmp bmcastecho integer yes
icmp maskrepl integer yes
ip forwarding integer yes
ip redirect integer yes
ip ttl integer yes
udp checksum integer yes
The variables are as follows:
icmp.bmcastecho
Returns 1 if an ICMP echo request to a broadcast or multicast address is to
be answered.
icmp.maskrepl
Returns 1 if ICMP network mask requests are to be answered.
ip.forwarding
Returns 1 when IP forwarding is enabled for the host, meaning that the host
is acting as a router.
ip.redirect
Returns 1 when ICMP redirects may be sent by the host. This option is
ignored unless the host is routing IP packets, and should normally be
enabled on all systems.
ip.ttl The maximum time-to-live (hop count) value for an IP packet sourced by the
system. This value applies to normal transport protocols, not to ICMP.
udp.checksum
Returns 1 when UDP checksums are being computed and checked. Disabling UDP
checksums is strongly discouraged.
For variables net.inet.*.ipsec, please refer to ipsec(4).
PF_INET6
Get or set various global information about the IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6).
The third level name is the protocol. The fourth level name is the variable name.
For variables net.inet6.* please refer to inet6(4). For variables
net.inet6.*.ipsec6, please refer to ipsec(4).
CTL_USER
The string and integer information available for the CTL_USER level is detailed below. The
changeable column shows whether a process with appropriate privilege may change the value.
Second level name Type Changeable
USER_BC_BASE_MAX integer no
USER_BC_DIM_MAX integer no
USER_BC_SCALE_MAX integer no
USER_BC_STRING_MAX integer no
USER_COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX integer no
USER_CS_PATH string no
USER_EXPR_NEST_MAX integer no
USER_LINE_MAX integer no
USER_POSIX2_CHAR_TERM integer no
USER_POSIX2_C_BIND integer no
USER_POSIX2_C_DEV integer no
USER_POSIX2_FORT_DEV integer no
USER_POSIX2_FORT_RUN integer no
USER_POSIX2_LOCALEDEF integer no
USER_POSIX2_SW_DEV integer no
USER_POSIX2_UPE integer no
USER_POSIX2_VERSION integer no
USER_RE_DUP_MAX integer no
USER_STREAM_MAX integer no
USER_TZNAME_MAX integer no
USER_BC_BASE_MAX
The maximum ibase/obase values in the bc(1) utility.
USER_BC_DIM_MAX
The maximum array size in the bc(1) utility.
USER_BC_SCALE_MAX
The maximum scale value in the bc(1) utility.
USER_BC_STRING_MAX
The maximum string length in the bc(1) utility.
USER_COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX
The maximum number of weights that can be assigned to any entry of the LC_COLLATE
order keyword in the locale definition file.
USER_CS_PATH
Return a value for the PATH environment variable that finds all the standard
utilities.
USER_EXPR_NEST_MAX
The maximum number of expressions that can be nested within parenthesis by the
expr(1) utility.
USER_LINE_MAX
The maximum length in bytes of a text-processing utility's input line.
USER_POSIX2_CHAR_TERM
Return 1 if the system supports at least one terminal type capable of all operations
described in IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”), otherwise 0.
USER_POSIX2_C_BIND
Return 1 if the system's C-language development facilities support the C-Language
Bindings Option, otherwise 0.
USER_POSIX2_C_DEV
Return 1 if the system supports the C-Language Development Utilities Option,
otherwise 0.
USER_POSIX2_FORT_DEV
Return 1 if the system supports the FORTRAN Development Utilities Option, otherwise
0.
USER_POSIX2_FORT_RUN
Return 1 if the system supports the FORTRAN Runtime Utilities Option, otherwise 0.
USER_POSIX2_LOCALEDEF
Return 1 if the system supports the creation of locales, otherwise 0.
USER_POSIX2_SW_DEV
Return 1 if the system supports the Software Development Utilities Option, otherwise
0.
USER_POSIX2_UPE
Return 1 if the system supports the User Portability Utilities Option, otherwise 0.
USER_POSIX2_VERSION
The version of IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) with which the system attempts to comply.
USER_RE_DUP_MAX
The maximum number of repeated occurrences of a regular expression permitted when
using interval notation.
USER_STREAM_MAX
The minimum maximum number of streams that a process may have open at any one time.
USER_TZNAME_MAX
The minimum maximum number of types supported for the name of a timezone.
CTL_VM
The string and integer information available for the CTL_VM level is detailed below. The
changeable column shows whether a process with appropriate privilege may change the value.
Second level name Type Changeable
VM_LOADAVG struct loadavg no
VM_TOTAL struct vmtotal no
VM_PAGEOUT_ALGORITHM integer yes
VM_SWAPPING_ENABLED integer maybe
VM_V_CACHE_MAX integer yes
VM_V_CACHE_MIN integer yes
VM_V_FREE_MIN integer yes
VM_V_FREE_RESERVED integer yes
VM_V_FREE_TARGET integer yes
VM_V_INACTIVE_TARGET integer yes
VM_V_PAGEOUT_FREE_MIN integer yes
VM_LOADAVG
Return the load average history. The returned data consists of a struct loadavg.
VM_TOTAL
Return the system wide virtual memory statistics. The returned data consists of a
struct vmtotal.
VM_PAGEOUT_ALGORITHM
0 if the statistics-based page management algorithm is in use or 1 if the near-LRU
algorithm is in use.
VM_SWAPPING_ENABLED
1 if process swapping is enabled or 0 if disabled. This variable is permanently set
to 0 if the kernel was built with swapping disabled.
VM_V_CACHE_MAX
Maximum desired size of the cache queue.
VM_V_CACHE_MIN
Minimum desired size of the cache queue. If the cache queue size falls very far
below this value, the pageout daemon is awakened.
VM_V_FREE_MIN
Minimum amount of memory (cache memory plus free memory) required to be available
before a process waiting on memory will be awakened.
VM_V_FREE_RESERVED
Processes will awaken the pageout daemon and wait for memory if the number of free
and cached pages drops below this value.
VM_V_FREE_TARGET
The total amount of free memory (including cache memory) that the pageout daemon
tries to maintain.
VM_V_INACTIVE_TARGET
The desired number of inactive pages that the pageout daemon should achieve when it
runs. Inactive pages can be quickly inserted into process address space when
needed.
VM_V_PAGEOUT_FREE_MIN
If the amount of free and cache memory falls below this value, the pageout daemon
will enter "memory conserving mode" to avoid deadlock.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, the value 0 is returned; otherwise the value -1 is returned and
the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.
FILES
<sys/sysctl.h> definitions for top level identifiers, second level kernel and
hardware identifiers, and user level identifiers
<sys/socket.h> definitions for second level network identifiers
<sys/gmon.h> definitions for third level profiling identifiers
<vm/vm_param.h> definitions for second level virtual memory identifiers
<netinet/in.h> definitions for third level IPv4/IPv6 identifiers and fourth level
IPv4/v6 identifiers
<netinet/icmp_var.h> definitions for fourth level ICMP identifiers
<netinet/icmp6.h> definitions for fourth level ICMPv6 identifiers
<netinet/udp_var.h> definitions for fourth level UDP identifiers
ERRORS
The following errors may be reported:
[EFAULT] The buffer name, oldp, newp, or length pointer oldlenp contains an
invalid address.
[EINVAL] The name array is less than two or greater than CTL_MAXNAME.
[EINVAL] A non-null newp is given and its specified length in newlen is too large
or too small.
[ENOMEM] The length pointed to by oldlenp is too short to hold the requested
value.
[ENOMEM] The smaller of either the length pointed to by oldlenp or the estimated
size of the returned data exceeds the system limit on locked memory.
[ENOMEM] Locking the buffer oldp, or a portion of the buffer if the estimated size
of the data to be returned is smaller, would cause the process to exceed
its per-process locked memory limit.
[ENOTDIR] The name array specifies an intermediate rather than terminal name.
[EISDIR] The name array specifies a terminal name, but the actual name is not
terminal.
[ENOENT] The name array specifies a value that is unknown.
[EPERM] An attempt is made to set a read-only value.
[EPERM] A process without appropriate privilege attempts to set a value.
SEE ALSO
confstr(3), kvm(3), sysconf(3), sysctl(8)
HISTORY
The sysctl() function first appeared in 4.4BSD.