shmget — allocates a shared memory segment
#include <sys/ipc.h> #include <sys/shm.h>
| int
            shmget( | key_t key, | 
| size_t size, | |
| int shmflg ); | 
shmget() returns the
      identifier of the shared memory segment associated with the
      value of the argument key. A new shared memory
      segment, with size equal to the value of size rounded up to a multiple
      of PAGE_SIZE, is created if
      key has the value
      IPC_PRIVATE or key isn't IPC_PRIVATE, no shared memory segment
      corresponding to key
      exists, and IPC_CREAT is
      specified in shmflg.
If shmflg
      specifies both IPC_CREAT and
      IPC_EXCL and a shared memory
      segment already exists for key, then shmget() fails with errno set to EEXIST. (This is analogous to the effect
      of the combination O_CREAT |
      O_EXCL for open(2).)
The value shmflg
      is composed of:
IPC_CREATto create a new segment. If this flag is not used,
            then shmget() will find
            the segment associated with key and check to see if
            the user has permission to access the segment.
IPC_EXCLused with IPC_CREAT to
            ensure failure if the segment already exists.
mode_flags(least significant 9 bits) specifying the
            permissions granted to the owner, group, and world.
            These bits have the same format, and the same meaning,
            as the mode
            argument of open(2). Presently,
            the execute permissions are not used by the system.
SHM_HUGETLB (since Linux
          2.6)Allocate the segment using "huge pages." See the
            kernel source file Documentation/vm/hugetlbpage.txt for
            further information.
SHM_NORESERVE (since Linux
          2.6.15)This flag serves the same purpose as the mmap(2) MAP_NORESERVE flag. Do not reserve
            swap space for this segment. When swap space is
            reserved, one has the guarantee that it is possible to
            modify the segment. When swap space is not reserved one
            might get SIGSEGV upon a
            write if no physical memory is available. See also the
            discussion of the file /proc/sys/vm/overcommit_memory in
            proc(5).
When a new shared memory segment is created, its contents
      are initialized to zero values, and its associated data
      structure, shmid_ds
      (see shmctl(2)), is initialized
      as follows:
shm_perm.cuid and
            shm_perm.uid
            are set to the effective user ID of the calling
            process.
shm_perm.cgid and
            shm_perm.gid
            are set to the effective group ID of the calling
            process.
The least significant 9 bits of shm_perm.mode are set
            to the least significant 9 bit of shmflg.
shm_segsz
            is set to the value of size.
shm_lpid,
            shm_nattch,
            shm_atime and
            shm_dtime are
            set to 0.
shm_ctime
            is set to the current time.
If the shared memory segment already exists, the permissions are verified, and a check is made to see if it is marked for destruction.
On failure, errno is set to
      one of the following:
The user does not have permission to access the
            shared memory segment, and does not have the
            CAP_IPC_OWNER
            capability.
IPC_CREAT | IPC_EXCL was specified and the segment exists.
A new segment was to be created and size < SHMMIN or size > SHMMAX, or no new segment was to be
            created, a segment with given key existed, but
            size is greater
            than the size of that segment.
The system limit on the total number of open files has been reached.
No segment exists for the given key, and IPC_CREAT was not specified.
No memory could be allocated for segment overhead.
All possible shared memory IDs have been taken
            (SHMMNI), or allocating a
            segment of the requested size would cause the
            system to exceed the system-wide limit on shared memory
            (SHMALL).
The SHM_HUGETLB flag
            was specified, but the caller was not privileged (did
            not have the CAP_IPC_LOCK
            capability).
IPC_PRIVATE isn't a flag
      field but a key_t type. If this
      special value is used for key, the system call ignores
      everything but the least significant 9 bits of shmflg and creates a new shared
      memory segment (on success).
The following limits on shared memory segment resources
      affect the shmget() call:
SHMALLSystem wide maximum of shared memory pages (on
            Linux, this limit can be read and modified via
            /proc/sys/kernel/shmall).
SHMMAXMaximum size in bytes for a shared memory segment:
            policy dependent (on Linux, this limit can be read and
            modified via /proc/sys/kernel/shmmax).
SHMMINMinimum size in bytes for a shared memory segment:
            implementation dependent (currently 1 byte, though
            PAGE_SIZE is the
            effective minimum size).
SHMMNISystem wide maximum number of shared memory
            segments: implementation dependent (currently 4096, was
            128 before Linux 2.3.99; on Linux, this limit can be
            read and modified via /proc/sys/kernel/shmmni).
The implementation has no specific limits for the
      per-process maximum number of shared memory segments
      (SHMSEG).
The name choice IPC_PRIVATE
      was perhaps unfortunate, IPC_NEW would more clearly show its
      function.
This page is part of release 3.33 of the Linux man-pages project. A
      description of the project, and information about reporting
      bugs, can be found at http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/.
| Copyright (c) 1993 Luigi P. Bai (lpbsoftint.com) July 28, 1993 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Since the Linux kernel and libraries are constantly changing, this manual page may be incorrect or out-of-date. The author(s) assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. The author(s) may not have taken the same level of care in the production of this manual, which is licensed free of charge, as they might when working professionally. Formatted or processed versions of this manual, if unaccompanied by the source, must acknowledge the copyright and authors of this work. Modified Wed Jul 28 10:57:35 1993, Rik Faith <faithcs.unc.edu> Modified Sun Nov 28 16:43:30 1993, Rik Faith <faithcs.unc.edu> with material from Giorgio Ciucci <giorgiocrcc.it> Portions Copyright 1993 Giorgio Ciucci <giorgiocrcc.it> Modified Tue Oct 22 22:03:17 1996 by Eric S. Raymond <esrthyrsus.com> Modified, 8 Jan 2003, Michael Kerrisk, <mtk.manpagesgmail.com> Removed EIDRM from errors - that can't happen... Modified, 27 May 2004, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpagesgmail.com> Added notes on capability requirements Modified, 11 Nov 2004, Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpagesgmail.com> Language and formatting clean-ups Added notes on /proc files |