FORK(2) Linux Programmer's Manual FORK(2)NAMEfork - create a child process
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
pid_t fork(void);
DESCRIPTIONfork() creates a child process that differs from the parent process
only in its PID and PPID, and in the fact that resource utilizations
are set to 0. File locks and pending signals are not inherited.
Under Linux, fork() is implemented using copy-on-write pages, so the
only penalty that it incurs is the time and memory required to dupli‐
cate the parent's page tables, and to create a unique task structure
for the child.
RETURN VALUE
On success, the PID of the child process is returned in the parent's
thread of execution, and a 0 is returned in the child's thread of exe‐
cution. On failure, a -1 will be returned in the parent's context, no
child process will be created, and errno will be set appropriately.
ERRORS
EAGAIN fork() cannot allocate sufficient memory to copy the parent's
page tables and allocate a task structure for the child.
EAGAIN It was not possible to create a new process because the caller's
RLIMIT_NPROC resource limit was encountered. To exceed this
limit, the process must have either the CAP_SYS_ADMIN or the
CAP_SYS_RESOURCE capability.
ENOMEM fork() failed to allocate the necessary kernel structures
because memory is tight.
CONFORMING TO
SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.
EXAMPLE
See pipe(2) and wait(2).
SEE ALSOclone(2), execve(2), setrlimit(2), unshare(2), vfork(2), wait(2), capa‐
bilities(7)Linux 2.6.6 2004-05-27 FORK(2)
