xref: /freebsd/lib/libsys/_exit.2 (revision 783d3ff6)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1993
2.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
13.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
14.\"    without specific prior written permission.
15.\"
16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
17.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
18.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
19.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
20.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
21.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
22.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
23.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
24.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
25.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
26.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
27.\"
28.Dd September 8, 2016
29.Dt EXIT 2
30.Os
31.Sh NAME
32.Nm _exit
33.Nd terminate the calling process
34.Sh LIBRARY
35.Lb libc
36.Sh SYNOPSIS
37.In unistd.h
38.Ft void
39.Fn _exit "int status"
40.Sh DESCRIPTION
41The
42.Fn _exit
43system call
44terminates a process with the following consequences:
45.Bl -bullet
46.It
47All of the descriptors open in the calling process are closed.
48This may entail delays, for example, waiting for output to drain;
49a process in this state may not be killed, as it is already dying.
50.It
51If the parent process of the calling process has an outstanding
52.Xr wait 2
53call
54or catches the
55.Dv SIGCHLD
56signal,
57it is notified of the calling process's termination and
58the
59.Fa status
60is set as defined by
61.Xr wait 2 .
62.It
63The parent process-ID of all of the calling process's existing child
64processes are set to the process-ID of the calling process's reaper;
65the reaper (normally the initialization process)
66inherits each of these processes
67(see
68.Xr procctl 2 ,
69.Xr init 8
70and the
71.Sx DEFINITIONS
72section of
73.Xr intro 2 ) .
74.It
75If the termination of the process causes any process group
76to become orphaned (usually because the parents of all members
77of the group have now exited; see
78.Dq orphaned process group
79in
80.Xr intro 2 ) ,
81and if any member of the orphaned group is stopped,
82the
83.Dv SIGHUP
84signal and the
85.Dv SIGCONT
86signal are sent to all members of the newly-orphaned process group.
87.It
88If the process is a controlling process (see
89.Xr intro 2 ) ,
90the
91.Dv SIGHUP
92signal is sent to the foreground process group of the controlling terminal,
93and all current access to the controlling terminal is revoked.
94.El
95.Pp
96Most C programs call the library routine
97.Xr exit 3 ,
98which flushes buffers, closes streams, unlinks temporary files, etc.,
99before
100calling
101.Fn _exit .
102.Sh RETURN VALUES
103The
104.Fn _exit
105system call
106can never return.
107.Sh SEE ALSO
108.Xr fork 2 ,
109.Xr sigaction 2 ,
110.Xr wait 2 ,
111.Xr exit 3 ,
112.Xr init 8
113.Sh STANDARDS
114The
115.Fn _exit
116system call is expected to conform to
117.St -p1003.1-90 .
118.Sh HISTORY
119The
120.Fn _exit
121function appeared in
122.At v7 .
123