xref: /freebsd-14.2/lib/libc/sys/_exit.2 (revision b2c76c41)
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.\"
30.Dd September 8, 2016
31.Dt EXIT 2
32.Os
33.Sh NAME
34.Nm _exit
35.Nd terminate the calling process
36.Sh LIBRARY
37.Lb libc
38.Sh SYNOPSIS
39.In unistd.h
40.Ft void
41.Fn _exit "int status"
42.Sh DESCRIPTION
43The
44.Fn _exit
45system call
46terminates a process with the following consequences:
47.Bl -bullet
48.It
49All of the descriptors open in the calling process are closed.
50This may entail delays, for example, waiting for output to drain;
51a process in this state may not be killed, as it is already dying.
52.It
53If the parent process of the calling process has an outstanding
54.Xr wait 2
55call
56or catches the
57.Dv SIGCHLD
58signal,
59it is notified of the calling process's termination and
60the
61.Fa status
62is set as defined by
63.Xr wait 2 .
64.It
65The parent process-ID of all of the calling process's existing child
66processes are set to the process-ID of the calling process's reaper;
67the reaper (normally the initialization process)
68inherits each of these processes
69(see
70.Xr procctl 2 ,
71.Xr init 8
72and the
73.Sx DEFINITIONS
74section of
75.Xr intro 2 ) .
76.It
77If the termination of the process causes any process group
78to become orphaned (usually because the parents of all members
79of the group have now exited; see
80.Dq orphaned process group
81in
82.Xr intro 2 ) ,
83and if any member of the orphaned group is stopped,
84the
85.Dv SIGHUP
86signal and the
87.Dv SIGCONT
88signal are sent to all members of the newly-orphaned process group.
89.It
90If the process is a controlling process (see
91.Xr intro 2 ) ,
92the
93.Dv SIGHUP
94signal is sent to the foreground process group of the controlling terminal,
95and all current access to the controlling terminal is revoked.
96.El
97.Pp
98Most C programs call the library routine
99.Xr exit 3 ,
100which flushes buffers, closes streams, unlinks temporary files, etc.,
101before
102calling
103.Fn _exit .
104.Sh RETURN VALUES
105The
106.Fn _exit
107system call
108can never return.
109.Sh SEE ALSO
110.Xr fork 2 ,
111.Xr sigaction 2 ,
112.Xr wait 2 ,
113.Xr exit 3 ,
114.Xr init 8
115.Sh STANDARDS
116The
117.Fn _exit
118system call is expected to conform to
119.St -p1003.1-90 .
120.Sh HISTORY
121The
122.Fn _exit
123function appeared in
124.At v7 .
125