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SHMGET(2) Linux Programmer's Manual SHMGET(2)
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_CREAT to 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_EXCL used 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.
A valid segment identifier, shmid, is returned on success, -1 on error.
On failure, errno is set to one of the following:
EACCES The user does not have permission to access the shared memory segment,
and does not have the CAP_IPC_OWNER capability.
EEXIST IPC_CREAT | IPC_EXCL was specified and the segment exists.
EINVAL 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.
ENFILE The system limit on the total number of open files has been reached.
ENOENT No segment exists for the given key, and IPC_CREAT was not specified.
ENOMEM No memory could be allocated for segment overhead.
ENOSPC 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).
EPERM The SHM_HUGETLB flag was specified, but the caller was not privileged
(did not have the CAP_IPC_LOCK capability).
SVr4, POSIX.1-2001.
SHM_HUGETLB is a nonportable Linux extension.
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:
SHMALL System wide maximum of shared memory pages (on Linux, this limit can be
read and modified via /proc/sys/kernel/shmall).
SHMMAX Maximum size in bytes for a shared memory segment: policy dependent (on
Linux, this limit can be read and modified via
/proc/sys/kernel/shmmax).
SHMMIN Minimum size in bytes for a shared memory segment: implementation
dependent (currently 1 byte, though PAGE_SIZE is the effective minimum
size).
SHMMNI System 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).
Until version 2.3.30 Linux would return EIDRM for a shmget() on a shared
memory segment scheduled for deletion.
The name choice IPC_PRIVATE was perhaps unfortunate, IPC_NEW would more
clearly show its function.
shmat(2), shmctl(2), shmdt(2), ftok(3), capabilities(7), shm_overview(7),
svipc(7)
This page is part of release 3.32 of the Linux man-pages project. A
description of the project, and information about reporting bugs, can be found
at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux 2006-05-02 SHMGET(2)
HTML rendering created 2010-12-03 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface