1SETSID(3P)                 POSIX Programmer's Manual                SETSID(3P)
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PROLOG

6       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
7       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the  corresponding
8       Linux  manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9       not be implemented on Linux.
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11

NAME

13       setsid — create session and set process group ID
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SYNOPSIS

16       #include <unistd.h>
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18       pid_t setsid(void);
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DESCRIPTION

21       The setsid() function shall  create  a  new  session,  if  the  calling
22       process  is not a process group leader. Upon return the calling process
23       shall be the session leader of this new session, shall be  the  process
24       group leader of a new process group, and shall have no controlling ter‐
25       minal. The process group ID of the calling process shall be  set  equal
26       to  the process ID of the calling process. The calling process shall be
27       the only process in the new process group and the only process  in  the
28       new session.
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RETURN VALUE

31       Upon  successful completion, setsid() shall return the value of the new
32       process group ID of the calling process. Otherwise, it shall return  −1
33       and set errno to indicate the error.
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ERRORS

36       The setsid() function shall fail if:
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38       EPERM  The  calling  process  is already a process group leader, or the
39              process group ID of a process other  than  the  calling  process
40              matches the process ID of the calling process.
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42       The following sections are informative.
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EXAMPLES

45       None.
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APPLICATION USAGE

48       None.
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RATIONALE

51       The setsid() function is similar to the setpgrp() function of System V.
52       System V, without job control, groups processes into process groups and
53       creates new process groups via setpgrp(); only one process group may be
54       part of a login session.
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56       Job control allows multiple process groups within a login  session.  In
57       order  to  limit  job control actions so that they can only affect pro‐
58       cesses in the same login session, this volume of POSIX.1‐2008 adds  the
59       concept  of a session that is created via setsid().  The setsid() func‐
60       tion also creates the initial process group contained in  the  session.
61       Additional  process groups can be created via the setpgid() function. A
62       System V process group would correspond to a  POSIX  System  Interfaces
63       session  containing  a single POSIX process group. Note that this func‐
64       tion requires that the calling process not be a process  group  leader.
65       The  usual  way  to ensure this is true is to create a new process with
66       fork() and have it call setsid().  The fork() function guarantees  that
67       the  process  ID of the new process does not match any existing process
68       group ID.
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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

71       None.
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SEE ALSO

74       getsid(), setpgid(), setpgrp()
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76       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <sys_types.h>, <unistd.h>
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79       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in  electronic  form
80       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
81       -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX),  The  Open  Group  Base
82       Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri‐
83       cal and Electronics Engineers,  Inc  and  The  Open  Group.   (This  is
84       POSIX.1-2008  with  the  2013  Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the
85       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
86       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
87       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained  online
88       at http://www.unix.org/online.html .
89
90       Any  typographical  or  formatting  errors that appear in this page are
91       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
92       files  to  man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.ker
93       nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
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97IEEE/The Open Group                  2013                           SETSID(3P)
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