xref: /freebsd-13.1/lib/libc/sys/_exit.2 (revision fbbd9655)
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.\"     @(#)_exit.2	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
29.\" $FreeBSD$
30.\"
31.Dd September 8, 2016
32.Dt EXIT 2
33.Os
34.Sh NAME
35.Nm _exit
36.Nd terminate the calling process
37.Sh LIBRARY
38.Lb libc
39.Sh SYNOPSIS
40.In unistd.h
41.Ft void
42.Fn _exit "int status"
43.Sh DESCRIPTION
44The
45.Fn _exit
46system call
47terminates a process with the following consequences:
48.Bl -bullet
49.It
50All of the descriptors open in the calling process are closed.
51This may entail delays, for example, waiting for output to drain;
52a process in this state may not be killed, as it is already dying.
53.It
54If the parent process of the calling process has an outstanding
55.Xr wait 2
56call
57or catches the
58.Dv SIGCHLD
59signal,
60it is notified of the calling process's termination and
61the
62.Fa status
63is set as defined by
64.Xr wait 2 .
65.It
66The parent process-ID of all of the calling process's existing child
67processes are set to the process-ID of the calling process's reaper;
68the reaper (normally the initialization process)
69inherits each of these processes
70(see
71.Xr procctl 2 ,
72.Xr init 8
73and the
74.Sx DEFINITIONS
75section of
76.Xr intro 2 ) .
77.It
78If the termination of the process causes any process group
79to become orphaned (usually because the parents of all members
80of the group have now exited; see
81.Dq orphaned process group
82in
83.Xr intro 2 ) ,
84and if any member of the orphaned group is stopped,
85the
86.Dv SIGHUP
87signal and the
88.Dv SIGCONT
89signal are sent to all members of the newly-orphaned process group.
90.It
91If the process is a controlling process (see
92.Xr intro 2 ) ,
93the
94.Dv SIGHUP
95signal is sent to the foreground process group of the controlling terminal,
96and all current access to the controlling terminal is revoked.
97.El
98.Pp
99Most C programs call the library routine
100.Xr exit 3 ,
101which flushes buffers, closes streams, unlinks temporary files, etc.,
102before
103calling
104.Fn _exit .
105.Sh RETURN VALUES
106The
107.Fn _exit
108system call
109can never return.
110.Sh SEE ALSO
111.Xr fork 2 ,
112.Xr sigaction 2 ,
113.Xr wait 2 ,
114.Xr exit 3 ,
115.Xr init 8
116.Sh STANDARDS
117The
118.Fn _exit
119system call is expected to conform to
120.St -p1003.1-90 .
121.Sh HISTORY
122The
123.Fn _exit
124function appeared in
125.At v7 .
126