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NAME

       epoll_ctl - control interface for an epoll file descriptor

LIBRARY

       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <sys/epoll.h>

       int epoll_ctl(int epfd, int op, int fd,
                     struct epoll_event *_Nullable event);

DESCRIPTION

       This  system  call  is  used to add, modify, or remove entries in the interest list of the
       epoll(7) instance referred to by the file descriptor epfd.  It requests that the operation
       op be performed for the target file descriptor, fd.

       Valid values for the op argument are:

       EPOLL_CTL_ADD
              Add  an  entry  to the interest list of the epoll file descriptor, epfd.  The entry
              includes the file descriptor, fd,  a  reference  to  the  corresponding  open  file
              description (see epoll(7) and open(2)), and the settings specified in event.

       EPOLL_CTL_MOD
              Change  the  settings  associated  with fd in the interest list to the new settings
              specified in event.

       EPOLL_CTL_DEL
              Remove (deregister) the target file descriptor fd  from  the  interest  list.   The
              event argument is ignored and can be NULL (but see BUGS below).

       The  event  argument  describes  the  object linked to the file descriptor fd.  The struct
       epoll_event is described in epoll_event(3type).

       The data member of the epoll_event structure specifies data that the  kernel  should  save
       and then return (via epoll_wait(2)) when this file descriptor becomes ready.

       The  events  member  of the epoll_event structure is a bit mask composed by ORing together
       zero or more event types, returned by epoll_wait(2), and input  flags,  which  affect  its
       behaviour, but aren't returned.  The available event types are:

       EPOLLIN
              The associated file is available for read(2) operations.

       EPOLLOUT
              The associated file is available for write(2) operations.

       EPOLLRDHUP (since Linux 2.6.17)
              Stream  socket  peer  closed  connection,  or shut down writing half of connection.
              (This flag is especially useful for writing simple code  to  detect  peer  shutdown
              when using edge-triggered monitoring.)

       EPOLLPRI
              There  is  an  exceptional condition on the file descriptor.  See the discussion of
              POLLPRI in poll(2).

       EPOLLERR
              Error condition happened on the associated file descriptor.   This  event  is  also
              reported for the write end of a pipe when the read end has been closed.

              epoll_wait(2)  will  always report for this event; it is not necessary to set it in
              events when calling epoll_ctl().

       EPOLLHUP
              Hang up happened on the associated file descriptor.

              epoll_wait(2) will always wait for this event; it is not necessary  to  set  it  in
              events when calling epoll_ctl().

              Note that when reading from a channel such as a pipe or a stream socket, this event
              merely indicates that the peer closed its end of  the  channel.   Subsequent  reads
              from the channel will return 0 (end of file) only after all outstanding data in the
              channel has been consumed.

       And the available input flags are:

       EPOLLET
              Requests edge-triggered notification  for  the  associated  file  descriptor.   The
              default  behavior  for  epoll  is  level-triggered.  See epoll(7) for more detailed
              information about edge-triggered and level-triggered notification.

       EPOLLONESHOT (since Linux 2.6.2)
              Requests one-shot notification for the associated file descriptor.  This means that
              after  an  event  notified  for  the  file  descriptor  by  epoll_wait(2), the file
              descriptor is disabled in the interest list and no other events will be reported by
              the  epoll  interface.   The user must call epoll_ctl() with EPOLL_CTL_MOD to rearm
              the file descriptor with a new event mask.

       EPOLLWAKEUP (since Linux 3.5)
              If EPOLLONESHOT and EPOLLET are clear and the  process  has  the  CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND
              capability,  ensure  that  the system does not enter "suspend" or "hibernate" while
              this event is pending or  being  processed.   The  event  is  considered  as  being
              "processed"  from the time when it is returned by a call to epoll_wait(2) until the
              next call to epoll_wait(2) on the same epoll(7) file  descriptor,  the  closure  of
              that  file descriptor, the removal of the event file descriptor with EPOLL_CTL_DEL,
              or the clearing of EPOLLWAKEUP for the event file  descriptor  with  EPOLL_CTL_MOD.
              See also BUGS.

       EPOLLEXCLUSIVE (since Linux 4.5)
              Sets  an exclusive wakeup mode for the epoll file descriptor that is being attached
              to the target file descriptor, fd.  When a wakeup event occurs and  multiple  epoll
              file  descriptors are attached to the same target file using EPOLLEXCLUSIVE, one or
              more of the epoll file descriptors will receive an event with  epoll_wait(2).   The
              default  in  this  scenario  (when EPOLLEXCLUSIVE is not set) is for all epoll file
              descriptors to receive an  event.   EPOLLEXCLUSIVE  is  thus  useful  for  avoiding
              thundering herd problems in certain scenarios.

              If  the  same  file  descriptor  is  in  multiple  epoll  instances,  some with the
              EPOLLEXCLUSIVE flag, and others without, then events will be provided to all  epoll
              instances  that  did  not  specify  EPOLLEXCLUSIVE,  and  at least one of the epoll
              instances that did specify EPOLLEXCLUSIVE.

              The following values may be specified in conjunction with EPOLLEXCLUSIVE:  EPOLLIN,
              EPOLLOUT,  EPOLLWAKEUP,  and EPOLLET.  EPOLLHUP and EPOLLERR can also be specified,
              but this is not required: as usual, these events are always reported if they occur,
              regardless  of  whether  they  are  specified in events.  Attempts to specify other
              values in events yield the error EINVAL.

              EPOLLEXCLUSIVE may be used only in an EPOLL_CTL_ADD operation; attempts  to  employ
              it  with  EPOLL_CTL_MOD  yield  an  error.   If  EPOLLEXCLUSIVE  has been set using
              epoll_ctl(), then a subsequent EPOLL_CTL_MOD on the same epfd, fd  pair  yields  an
              error.  A call to epoll_ctl() that specifies EPOLLEXCLUSIVE in events and specifies
              the target file descriptor fd as an epoll instance will likewise fail.   The  error
              in all of these cases is EINVAL.

RETURN VALUE

       When  successful,  epoll_ctl() returns zero.  When an error occurs, epoll_ctl() returns -1
       and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

       EBADF  epfd or fd is not a valid file descriptor.

       EEXIST op was EPOLL_CTL_ADD, and the supplied file descriptor  fd  is  already  registered
              with this epoll instance.

       EINVAL epfd  is  not an epoll file descriptor, or fd is the same as epfd, or the requested
              operation op is not supported by this interface.

       EINVAL An invalid event type was specified along with EPOLLEXCLUSIVE in events.

       EINVAL op was EPOLL_CTL_MOD and events included EPOLLEXCLUSIVE.

       EINVAL op was EPOLL_CTL_MOD and the EPOLLEXCLUSIVE flag has  previously  been  applied  to
              this epfd, fd pair.

       EINVAL EPOLLEXCLUSIVE was specified in event and fd refers to an epoll instance.

       ELOOP  fd  refers  to an epoll instance and this EPOLL_CTL_ADD operation would result in a
              circular loop of epoll instances monitoring one another or a nesting depth of epoll
              instances greater than 5.

       ENOENT op  was  EPOLL_CTL_MOD  or  EPOLL_CTL_DEL, and fd is not registered with this epoll
              instance.

       ENOMEM There was insufficient memory to handle the requested op control operation.

       ENOSPC The limit imposed  by  /proc/sys/fs/epoll/max_user_watches  was  encountered  while
              trying to register (EPOLL_CTL_ADD) a new file descriptor on an epoll instance.  See
              epoll(7) for further details.

       EPERM  The target file fd does not support epoll.  This error can occur if fd  refers  to,
              for example, a regular file or a directory.

STANDARDS

       Linux.

HISTORY

       Linux 2.6, glibc 2.3.2.

NOTES

       The epoll interface supports all file descriptors that support poll(2).

BUGS

       Before Linux 2.6.9, the EPOLL_CTL_DEL operation required a non-null pointer in event, even
       though this argument is ignored.  Since Linux 2.6.9, event can be specified as  NULL  when
       using  EPOLL_CTL_DEL.  Applications that need to be portable to kernels before Linux 2.6.9
       should specify a non-null pointer in event.

       If EPOLLWAKEUP is specified in flags, but the caller does not have  the  CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND
       capability,  then  the EPOLLWAKEUP flag is silently ignored.  This unfortunate behavior is
       necessary because no validity checks were performed on the flags argument in the  original
       implementation,  and  the addition of the EPOLLWAKEUP with a check that caused the call to
       fail if the caller did not have the CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND capability caused a breakage  in  at
       least  one  existing  user-space  application  that  happened  to randomly (and uselessly)
       specify this bit.  A robust application should therefore double  check  that  it  has  the
       CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND capability if attempting to use the EPOLLWAKEUP flag.

SEE ALSO

       epoll_create(2), epoll_wait(2), poll(2), epoll(7)