sysconf(3)



SYSCONF(3)                 Linux Programmer's Manual                SYSCONF(3)

NAME
       sysconf - get configuration information at run time

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       long sysconf(int name);

DESCRIPTION
       POSIX allows an application to test at compile or run time whether cer-
       tain options are supported, or what the value  is  of  certain  config-
       urable constants or limits.

       At  compile time this is done by including <unistd.h> and/or <limits.h>
       and testing the value of certain macros.

       At run time, one can ask for numerical values using the  present  func-
       tion  sysconf().   One  can ask for numerical values that may depend on
       the filesystem in which a file resides  using  fpathconf(3)  and  path-
       conf(3).  One can ask for string values using confstr(3).

       The  values obtained from these functions are system configuration con-
       stants.  They do not change during the lifetime of a process.

       For options, typically, there is a constant _POSIX_FOO that may be  de-
       fined  in  <unistd.h>.  If it is undefined, one should ask at run time.
       If it is defined to -1, then the option is not supported.  If it is de-
       fined  to  0, then relevant functions and headers exist, but one has to
       ask at run time what degree of support is available.  If it is  defined
       to  a  value other than -1 or 0, then the option is supported.  Usually
       the value (such as 200112L) indicates the year and month of  the  POSIX
       revision  describing  the  option.   Glibc uses the value 1 to indicate
       support as long as the POSIX revision has not been published yet.   The
       sysconf()  argument  will  be  _SC_FOO.   For  a  list  of options, see
       posixoptions(7).

       For variables or limits, typically, there is a constant _FOO, maybe de-
       fined  in  <limits.h>, or _POSIX_FOO, maybe defined in <unistd.h>.  The
       constant will not be defined if the limit is unspecified.  If the  con-
       stant  is  defined,  it  gives  a guaranteed value, and a greater value
       might actually be supported.  If an application wants to take advantage
       of  values which may change between systems, a call to sysconf() can be
       made.  The sysconf() argument will be _SC_FOO.

   POSIX.1 variables
       We give the name of the variable, the name of  the  sysconf()  argument
       used to inquire about its value, and a short description.

       First, the POSIX.1 compatible values.

       ARG_MAX - _SC_ARG_MAX
              The  maximum  length  of  the arguments to the exec(3) family of
              functions.  Must not be less than _POSIX_ARG_MAX (4096).

       CHILD_MAX - _SC_CHILD_MAX
              The maximum number of simultaneous processes per user ID.   Must
              not be less than _POSIX_CHILD_MAX (25).

       HOST_NAME_MAX - _SC_HOST_NAME_MAX
              Maximum length of a hostname, not including the terminating null
              byte, as returned by gethostname(2).   Must  not  be  less  than
              _POSIX_HOST_NAME_MAX (255).

       LOGIN_NAME_MAX - _SC_LOGIN_NAME_MAX
              Maximum  length  of a login name, including the terminating null
              byte.  Must not be less than _POSIX_LOGIN_NAME_MAX (9).

       NGROUPS_MAX - _SC_NGROUPS_MAX
              Maximum number of supplementary group IDs.

       clock ticks - _SC_CLK_TCK
              The number of clock ticks per second.  The  corresponding  vari-
              able  is obsolete.  It was of course called CLK_TCK.  (Note: the
              macro CLOCKS_PER_SEC does not give information:  it  must  equal
              1000000.)

       OPEN_MAX - _SC_OPEN_MAX
              The  maximum number of files that a process can have open at any
              time.  Must not be less than _POSIX_OPEN_MAX (20).

       PAGESIZE - _SC_PAGESIZE
              Size of a page in bytes.  Must not be less than 1.

       PAGE_SIZE - _SC_PAGE_SIZE
              A  synonym  for  PAGESIZE/_SC_PAGESIZE.   (Both   PAGESIZE   and
              PAGE_SIZE are specified in POSIX.)

       RE_DUP_MAX - _SC_RE_DUP_MAX
              The  number  of  repeated  occurrences  of  a  BRE  permitted by
              regexec(3)   and   regcomp(3).    Must   not   be   less    than
              _POSIX2_RE_DUP_MAX (255).

       STREAM_MAX - _SC_STREAM_MAX
              The  maximum  number  of streams that a process can have open at
              any time.  If defined, it has the same value as the  standard  C
              macro FOPEN_MAX.  Must not be less than _POSIX_STREAM_MAX (8).

       SYMLOOP_MAX - _SC_SYMLOOP_MAX
              The  maximum  number of symbolic links seen in a pathname before
              resolution returns ELOOP.  Must not  be  less  than  _POSIX_SYM-
              LOOP_MAX (8).

       TTY_NAME_MAX - _SC_TTY_NAME_MAX
              The maximum length of terminal device name, including the termi-
              nating null byte.  Must not  be  less  than  _POSIX_TTY_NAME_MAX
              (9).

       TZNAME_MAX - _SC_TZNAME_MAX
              The  maximum  number  of  bytes in a timezone name.  Must not be
              less than _POSIX_TZNAME_MAX (6).

       _POSIX_VERSION - _SC_VERSION
              indicates the year and month the POSIX.1 standard  was  approved
              in  the  format  YYYYMML;  the value 199009L indicates the Sept.
              1990 revision.

   POSIX.2 variables
       Next, the POSIX.2 values, giving limits for utilities.

       BC_BASE_MAX - _SC_BC_BASE_MAX
              indicates the maximum obase value accepted by the bc(1) utility.

       BC_DIM_MAX - _SC_BC_DIM_MAX
              indicates the maximum value of elements permitted in an array by
              bc(1).

       BC_SCALE_MAX - _SC_BC_SCALE_MAX
              indicates the maximum scale value allowed by bc(1).

       BC_STRING_MAX - _SC_BC_STRING_MAX
              indicates the maximum length of a string accepted by bc(1).

       COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX - _SC_COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX
              indicates the maximum numbers of weights that can be assigned to
              an entry of the LC_COLLATE order keyword in the  locale  defini-
              tion file.

       EXPR_NEST_MAX - _SC_EXPR_NEST_MAX
              is  the maximum number of expressions which can be nested within
              parentheses by expr(1).

       LINE_MAX - _SC_LINE_MAX
              The maximum length of a utility's input line, either from  stan-
              dard  input  or from a file.  This includes space for a trailing
              newline.

       RE_DUP_MAX - _SC_RE_DUP_MAX
              The maximum number of repeated occurrences of a regular  expres-
              sion when the interval notation \{m,n\} is used.

       POSIX2_VERSION - _SC_2_VERSION
              indicates  the  version of the POSIX.2 standard in the format of
              YYYYMML.

       POSIX2_C_DEV - _SC_2_C_DEV
              indicates whether the POSIX.2 C language development  facilities
              are supported.

       POSIX2_FORT_DEV - _SC_2_FORT_DEV
              indicates  whether the POSIX.2 FORTRAN development utilities are
              supported.

       POSIX2_FORT_RUN - _SC_2_FORT_RUN
              indicates whether the POSIX.2  FORTRAN  run-time  utilities  are
              supported.

       _POSIX2_LOCALEDEF - _SC_2_LOCALEDEF
              indicates  whether  the  POSIX.2  creation  of  locales  via lo-
              caledef(1) is supported.

       POSIX2_SW_DEV - _SC_2_SW_DEV
              indicates whether the POSIX.2 software development utilities op-
              tion is supported.

       These values also exist, but may not be standard.

        - _SC_PHYS_PAGES
              The  number of pages of physical memory.  Note that it is possi-
              ble for the product of this value and the value of  _SC_PAGESIZE
              to overflow.

        - _SC_AVPHYS_PAGES
              The number of currently available pages of physical memory.

        - _SC_NPROCESSORS_CONF
              The    number    of    processors    configured.     See    also
              get_nprocs_conf(3).

        - _SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN
              The number of processors currently online (available).  See also
              get_nprocs_conf(3).

RETURN VALUE
       The return value of sysconf() is one of the following:

       *  On  error,  -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the cause of
          the error (for example, EINVAL, indicating that name is invalid).

       *  If name corresponds to a maximum or minimum limit, and that limit is
          indeterminate, -1 is returned and errno is not changed.  (To distin-
          guish an indeterminate limit from an error, set errno to zero before
          the  call,  and  then  check whether errno is nonzero when -1 is re-
          turned.)

       *  If name corresponds to an option, a positive value  is  returned  if
          the  option  is  supported,  and -1 is returned if the option is not
          supported.

       *  Otherwise, the current value of the option  or  limit  is  returned.
          This value will not be more restrictive than the corresponding value
          that was described to the application in  <unistd.h>  or  <limits.h>
          when the application was compiled.

ERRORS
       EINVAL name is invalid.

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

       +----------+---------------+-------------+
       |Interface | Attribute     | Value       |
       +----------+---------------+-------------+
       |sysconf() | Thread safety | MT-Safe env |
       +----------+---------------+-------------+
CONFORMING TO
       POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008.

BUGS
       It is difficult to use ARG_MAX because it is not specified how much  of
       the  argument  space  for exec(3) is consumed by the user's environment
       variables.

       Some returned values may be huge; they are not suitable for  allocating
       memory.

SEE ALSO
       bc(1),  expr(1), getconf(1), locale(1), confstr(3), fpathconf(3), path-
       conf(3), posixoptions(7)

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 5.07 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
       description  of  the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
       latest    version    of    this    page,    can     be     found     at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

GNU                               2019-05-09                        SYSCONF(3)

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